I used to think too curiously and meaninglessly all the time when I was looking at windows to see the world behind of the transparent glass. Everything on the side, everything coming to my eyes, I thought all of those things were not so much real as just imagination. Sometimes people who are in front of the transparent window would like better to give some meaning to something on the opposite side of the window than to themselves. It’s a very one-way communication, and they also don’t care about the transparent wall so much. But it’s a stubborn fact that the transparent window is a kind of real boundary even if it has perfect transparency. The invisible boundary, the transparent wall is always able to be in between you and I or someone, but what’s the meaning for itself and us? If we can make and see our imagination on it during watching something through the window, what kind of story and interaction can be figured on it? And isn’t there any other invisible wall between you and I? All of the questions and imaginations from myself gave me inspiration to start to think of this project, and that’s the opportunity and beginning for my project. The concept and experiments presented in this thesis project as interactive window are the new sociable communication story with our imagination through integrating our sensibility into the invisible space with digital media technologies, and I hope that we’ll be able to explore new methods and properties of interactive communication with this first step of my project.

When I was a child, especially in a rainy day, I used to draw something on the steamed window with my finger. Actually it was not drawing. It was a kind of making another window on the window. It didn’t matter what kind of images they were, I just enjoyed seeing the world of outside through the images on the window and having lots of imaginations.
I want to express and draw stories from the imagination of people who are watching windows, and imaging something from the different side of it on the transparent space that even can be ignored by them. And I want them to interact with them.
That’s my entire project!

With the interactive images made by the transparent wall and people, I hope that they can get some rest time to think about themselves and their stories with the different experience, and share the experiences with the others. This is the reason for my project, Interactive Window. Various people, different stories, many ways of thinking, and the gestures are making interactive images on the transparent window, and I’m very exciting to see and feel how they are having interactivities with the meaning of images. And with this interesting social communication experience, my project is going to be one basic example of possibility for the new interactive design style to express something on the transparent space. For my project, the transparent window means That’s the Interactive Window.

I hope this first story of my project will be able to be a part of the first step to make a new interactive environment that can see, share, and feel with more people, and this hope is the biggest meaning that my project and I have.
The first story that is presented by flower, you and I, and the interaction.
For the people who are living in this being complicated society, I just want them to get a chance to have composure to understand each other and to think about our nature, community, and us. And this is meaning of the first story. People’s gesture is being their stories, and the stories are being interaction to make images. And finally the interaction makes another stories and images. I think not only flower is one of the most beautiful images in nature, but the shape of itself also is very enough to describe the beauty and composure of nature, and I’ll try to simplify the beautiful shapes came from nature to present on the transparent window with white, symbolic color of pure.

I’m not a scientist. I’m not an excellent programmer.
I believe we are not able to make people understand something that we don’t even understand. For this reason, I try to make images and stories that can be sympathized with you easily, and know what the easiest interaction for my project.

Simplification and easy understanding! I believe the interactive communication should be formed on the basis of these two important things, and I also try to give consequence to this confidence for the main notion of my project. And for the next step of my project, I wish I could share with your experiences and stories with me, and talk about that with you.

Anyone!

ROJECT DESCRIPTION

People think of so many things when they see something through the window from where ever outside or inside. But what is the transparent window to them? What’s the meaning of it to the people?

I want to express and draw stories from the imagination of people who are watching windows and imaging something from the different side of it on the transparent space that even can be ignored by them. The transparent window has a meaning of infinity space to show our imagination. To make a project that has an easy way of communication with people, to make people understand easily what the interaction is for this project, I’ll try to simplify every parts and structure.

There is a transparent windowthat has been attached with transparent screen film, and a wooden support holds the window. In the wooden support, proximity sensors are installed to detect the people’s motion in the specific distance, and all the sensors are connected to the main circuit board with the microchip to be controlled. After starting to detect the motion, the data is going to be sent to the microcontroller, and then computer starts to work with the program, Max/MSP jitter, to make flower images on the window. Finally, on the window, all of the flowers are interacted with user’s motion, and they can also see and control those images by their walking or motion in the specific distance from the window.


Software:
Max/MSP Jitter / Processing / Pic program / Photoshop & Illustrator / AfterEffect / Final Cut Pro / MAYA

Hardware:
Proximity sensor / 75% transparent Photopolymer film
Transparent acrylic board(for the window) / Main circuit board / Microcontroller / Computer / Projector

ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT
For the next story of this project, I hope that I can found the ways that more people can enjoy their imagination and be interacted. With more stories, more beautiful images, and more various experiences of interaction on the transparent space, I’d like to share them with people, and talk with them to make another possibility for the next. This is the first step. This is an experimental try for making a different style of interactive communication form. But I think it already has a lot of possibilities.

Who knows?
We can install this anywhere we want.
In galleries, we can install this Interactive window in front of various kinds of work, and we can use it as a information screen.
In schools, how pleasure to see children who enjoy the interaction with images on the window.
In NYC, if people can see stories of beautiful images that are interacted with them on the windows of buildings when they are walking on the street?
And what else?
The white flower images of this project even could be a logo symbol of Microsoft or Nike.
Who knows?