The openFrameworks workshop/hack lab organised by Joey Scully and myself with the kind help and support of Culture Lab has now come and gone. Joel, Memo and Chris all came from their various points around London and the globe (Chris travelled in from Madrid especially) and lots of designing, prototyping and general love for geometry took place over three happy days. The value of paper prototyping, role play and bodystorming have all surfaced as the real benefits for interaction designers who attended the sessions. They got a real appreciation of how much this part of the cycle of working with a client brief made a difference in being able to conceptualise your idea and try and start to prototype it in code. For me, the revelation was working for the first time with the Fiducial markers and engine of Reactivision, which I can say is very smoothly integrated into openFrameworks and hints at the many possibilities for functions to which it could be directed!
Some of the workshop participants try bodystorming on stage
There was a brief flash of wonderment and digital inspiration down at Seven Stories on the Wednesday evening, when Joel, Memo and Chris displayed some of their incredible interactive pieces for an invited audience of 40, who enjoyed a glass of wine whilst viewing Baroque Masks, Body Paint and Delicate Boundaries from Joel, Memo and Chris respectively. Due to the health and safety considerations that must dictate what can stay in a gallery so open to the public (and particularly young children), these exhibits have proven to be all too fleeting, although there is a willingness to try and make them happen again some time in the future, with some perseverance and energy from all the partners!
Workshop participant works on openFrameworks application
