At the Interior Design Show (IDS) in Toronto earlier in 2012, visitors were welcomed by a multifaceted entrance installation using projection technology and interactivity.
The visual display, dubbed ‘StripTease,’ was developed by local architectural firm Raw Design using gesture-recognition technology from Toronto-based GestureTek, 50 double-sided MicroTiles from Christie Digital Systems Canada in Kitchener, Ont., and content developed by Toronto-based Acid Integrations.
The MicroTiles evoked a city skyline while two external control units (ECUs) drove the interactive content. Two Christie projectors were used to display a 15.8 x 5.8-m (52 x 19-ft) ‘screen’ on 1,300 strips of felt.
IDS attendees at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) could view a live video feed of themselves interacting with the MicroTiles’ content. The project marked the first time an installation at IDS integrated visually dynamic content with interactive ‘play’ technologies.
“The incorporation of an interactive component added a particular richness to the experience,” says Raw partner and principal architect Roland Rom Colthoff, “with the potential for rotating through digital art across an expansive, malleable canvas. We particularly liked that the images on the MicroTiles were not limited to simple rectangles, but could take on complex shapes.”
For its part, Christie saw the show as a way to introduce its digital signage and projection technologies to the Canadian architecture and design communities.
