Another Cool Kinect Hack from Chris O'Shea: Body Swap

chrisoshea.org/​body-swap

"Have you ever wanted to pull the strings of your friends and family like a puppet? Do you wish you were as small as a child again, or as big as an adult?

This installation transforms your body movements into control of another person. Dance around, jump in the air, do anything you like to make them look silly. However don’t forget, they are doing it to you at the same time.

Two people stand in front of the screen, are captured by the camera and turned into paper cut-out versions of themselves. The images are then swapped, so that you each take control of the other. The aesthetic is of a low polygon 90′s video game. Music plays and prompts you to act out to the audience and each other.

Two players of different height, such as father and son, see a reversal of scale. The youngest magically becomes big, and the adult shrinks to the proportions of the child.

Commissioned by Barbican Creative Learning for the Barbican Weekender Festival 2011, a big thank you to the whole team.

Using the XBox Kinect camera, custom written software in C++ and used openFrameworks, the excellent OpenNI for the full body skeletal tracking, plus a little openCV."

Magic Kinect Hack for Kids: Little Magic Stories | Chris O'Shea

Home > Installations > Little Magic Stories

Little Magic Stories

Bringing the imagination of children to life through storytelling, performance and technology.

This installation aims to encourage children to use their creativity to bring stories to life. It helps to improve their confidence in self expression and develops literacy and speaking skills. The installation allows them to create a performance from within their imagination, on stage, in front of an audience of family and friends.

The use of technology literally brings their drawings to life on stage, allowing them to interact and respond to their creations in real time. By using a holographic projection film; sets, characters and objects appear to float on stage alongside the performers. A camera and custom software track the performers, allowing the scene to react in a playful & more dynamic way.

For children who show disinterest in writing stories and drawing, but love to play video games, this project hopes to inspire them to participate, creating their own immersive worlds that they can be proud to express their own creations through.