Awesome Interactive

A volumetric display is one that can create the illusion of 3D images without glasses or a headset. Developed at UPNA LAB in Spain, FlexiVol is an innovative volumetric display which allows users to interact directly with images. The display projects images on oscillating elastic diffuser bands and detects gestures to manipulate digital objects in 3D space.

Engineers from Apple Computer created an experimental robot that looks like a desk lamp but can interact with people and its environment in playful ways. Clearly inspired by Pixar’s classic Luxo Jr., the upgraded Anglepoise lamp uses AI tech to aim its beam at a subject and even nudge around small objects. Read the original research paper on Arxiv.

Kinetic art studio Breakfast created this series exploring the origins of video gaming and the multi-billion-dollar industry it has evolved into. Billion Dollar Arcade uses an array of mechanical dots to play Pong, Breakout, and Space Invaders, along with real-time stock market data tracking the industry’s valuation. For sale in a limited edition of eight each.

GiiKER’s interactive puzzle game combines the digital and tactile worlds by displaying a puzzle arrangement on its LED screen, then asking you to solve it by sliding the pieces into the proper positions. It comes loaded with more than 500 challenges. Great for kids and adults and an excellent alternative to playing on phones.

This little quadruped robot is a marvel of miniaturization. It can balance and walk around and also responds to your touch and other interactions. It plays games, can remind you to take a break from work, and even does tricks like a tiny robodog. The KT2 can also play in robot-on-robot battles and is programmable using an easy-to-use app.

Art collective teamLab has interactive installations around the world. For their Borderless project, they created a series of light sculptures that immerse visitors in brilliant beams of light and colorful projections. Versions of the installation are in Tokyo, Japan, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with another location coming to Hamburg, Germany, in 2025.

One of the challenges of VR gaming is the lack of freedom to walk around without running into walls. Freeaim hopes to change that with these motorized shoes, which let you walk in a small area while providing the sensation of covering large distances. They offer three movement modes and are sort of like a wearable version of Disney’s Holotile floor.

AI tools like ChatGPT are incredibly powerful. Backed by large language models, these systems can create convincingly detailed text, write code, and answer questions. Interaction designer Arvind Sanjeev turned a Brother electric typewriter into an interface to GPT-3. Users can type a prompt, and the AI types its response on the same sheet of paper.

This interactive installation reminds us of the Master Control Program in TRON. But instead of displaying the face of some omniscient computer, the pixels of FLUX 2023 display images of whoever stands in front of its cameras. The 20-foot-tall display was created by Ksawery Kirklewski, with sound by Arkadiusz Krupiński and tech mgmt. by Jakub Kirklewski.

Mathematician and maker Henry Segerman shows off more of his fascinating interactive mechanisms. This series of interlocking straight gears uses a rack-and-pinion mechanism to transmit motion. Henry posted the models to 3D print your own recursive racks on Printables.

Composer and artist Sky Macklay shows off her Harmonitree, a wonderfully inventive musical instrument that plays harmonicas. It uses a tree-shaped inflatable airbag to push air through its harmonicas and can be left to make music on its own, but it is best when given a big hug for interactive sounds. She’s also built one that triggers with motion sensors.

This brief, time-lapse video shows an artist creating an incredible modern coffee table with built-in LED lighting that reacts to motion. He created its hexagonal cutouts using a CNC milling machine and filled them with resin. We couldn’t find the builder’s name but found a similar design from Axes: Garage.

Taking a hike through the great outdoors can be a relaxing and serene experience. But if you’re squeamish about bugs and other wildlife, you’re better off staying indoors. Thanks to the Molski Brothers’ A Trail Tale, you can experience a hike along the Appalachian Trail without leaving the comfort of your web browser. (Thanks Rob!)

This interactive educational system helps students learn about the physical properties of structures. It combines a set of beams, levers, pivot points, and other parts that attach to a backboard which work in concert with augmented reality projections to show the physics at play when forces are applied.

Argentina artist Felipe Pantone is known for eye-catching artworks that play with shades of color. His Subtractive Variability series is especially fascinating with its layered gradient color discs that reveal different color schemes as they’re rotated. He’s made other variants which are similarly awesome to watch.

NYC design collective Breakfast shows off another one of their amazing kinetic artworks. As its clock-like hand rotates, it uses electromagnets to push and pull steel pins into place, displaying silhouetted images of those who have stood in front of its camera.