Creating Digital Graffities with Tangible Interactions
The fusion of creativity and technology often leads to remarkable breakthroughs that redefine the way we perceive and interact with the world around us. One such breakthrough took center stage at the recent Interior Design Show — a digital graffiti experience called Graffiti+ left attendees entranced.
Graffiti+
Vancouver-based art and design studio, Tangible Interactions, showcased their brainchild, Graffiti+, as part of the Interior Design Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre from Sept 24–29 2023. Graffiti+ is a digital graffiti experience designed to ‘capture the thrill and creative freedom of graffiti without the constraints’. It is an accessible platform that allows anyone, regardless of their artistic skill, to explore, create, and share in the world of graffiti.
Children and adults alike gravitated towards the giant screen, paint cans and the inviting colors. Graffiti+ by Tangible Interaction was the perfect blend of technology and creativity where your art comes alive with the press of a button. I was captivated by the concept and the execution of such an experience. Here’s some of my thoughts on a my brief interaction with this tangible experience.
Blending street culture and interior spaces
The traditional notion of graffiti, once confined to urban streets and physical surfaces, has undergone a digital revolution. The experience feels relatively authentic in how the action occurs but is void of the toxic fumes and the mess which makes the experience more accessible for people like me who grew up with Asthma.
I’m speculating that the technological system behind the scenes consists of some sort of infrared signal capturing when the person uses the modified spray can to paint. The received signal is then projected back in real-time to create the graffiti.
The user experience
As a tangible interaction, the UX of this piece is extremely important. From onboarding to controls to feedback, everything makes or breaks the experience.
Onboarding
The experience felt very natural since it mimics the act of creating an actual graffiti. Anyone who knows how spray cans work or have seen someone use it would be able to pick it up within seconds and be able to use this tool. The process was intuitive since the participant’s movements directly translated into strokes of digital paint on the large interactive screen.
The simplicity and intuitiveness of the onboarding process was truly inspiring. Users could follow social cues of people around them using the same product, mimicking their actions and being onboarded very effectively.
Controls
The precise control of the can was also very impressive. The control box on the side enabled the participants to manipulate the nozzle size, type, color, and effects. You also had the option to save or clear the canvas allowing for flexibility, customization and loads of possibility.
The purpose behind this product is to communicate and collaborate while bringing people together. There was a small hiccup when people were collaborating at the event. The moment of confusion when a group of people playing tic-tac-toe were taken aback when their game was erased by by a kid who reset the whole canvas at the other end of the screen. This was an unconventional issue that no one could have foreseen but was amusing nonetheless.
Feedback
The real-time response time for this product is accurate and fast. As users begin to draw or paint, the system responds in real-time, providing immediate visual feedback to their actions.
One obstacle that was found as a hinderance was that the spray can was to be held at a particular distance from the screen; the stroke continuity broke as soon as one moved even a little further away from the screen. When you think of the experience of using a stylus to a screen, the interaction is more smooth because you are conditioned to put the stylus to a compatible digital screen in order for it to work. Plus, the pressure sensitivity with a stylus is a separate discussion altogether. But when it comes to a spray can that is to be used at a distance and not touching the screen… how far away should you have the cutoff in order for it to still be a smooth, interactive experience?
Translating a multi-sensory experience digitally
The experience is a living work of art in the way that people can draw over already created art. The overall experience was very mesmerising. However, the use of dimension in this version of the product was somewhat unsettling. The canvas gives the illusion of a 3D room where you’d think that the graffiti would also be 3 dimensional. Even though the stroke itself has some depth to it, it still feels like a 2D experience when you are creating it. The output from the activity feels visually sound but the background of the canvas seems deceiving somehow.
All in all, the experience is still exciting. In its attempt to make street art accessible, Graffiti+ blurs the boundaries between the physical and the digital; very seamlessly.
A conversation with Alex Beim, the brains behind Tangible and Graffiti+, revealed that there are different versions of the product available for install. Some are touch screen, some 2D, some (actually) 3D, some mimicking the spray can effect, etc. Looking forward to seeing more tangible interaction experiences from Tangible Interaction.
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