Karl D.D. Willis

Spatial Sketch @ TEI 2010

I just got back from presenting Spatial Sketch at the Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI) conference at the MIT Media Lab. There were a number of interesting projects, which you can check on the site itself, the TEI blog, and Core77 also has a good article.

Alchemy: Experiments in Interactive Drawing, Creativity, & Serendipity

Alchemy: Experiments in Interactive Drawing, Creativity, & Serendipity (PDF 572k) – A demo paper presented at the ACM Creativity & Cognition 2009 Conference in Berkeley, USA. The abstract is as follows: - This paper presents an overview of Alchemy, an experimental drawing application aimed at exploring how we can sketch, draw, and create on computers in new [...]

12Pixels ‘Color’ Released in Japan

A new version of 12Pixels has been released in Japan in association with Sony Style. This version features a whole range of new features including drawing with colour, saving ‘emoji’ for use with Japanese email, and ranking/commenting drawings. Above is a short clip of Ivan and myself promoting 12Pixels on the TV show of Japanese [...]

Spatial Sketch

Spatial Sketchis a software application for creating 3D sketches in physical space and transforming them into real world objects as a series of laser cut slices. The idea is to bridge between physical movement and physical form, exploring the creative possibilities of digital fabrication. The initial iteration shown here demonstrates the design and creation of a lamp shade using gestural movement and its fabrication using a series of radial slices cut from cardboard and acrylic.

Spatial Sketch: Bridging Between Movement & Fabrication (PDF 500k) - A paper presented at the 2010 Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction conference in Cambridge, MA. The abstract is as follows:

Spatial Sketch is a three-dimensional (3D) sketch application that bridges between physical movement and the fabrication of objects in the real world via cut planar materials. This paper explores the rationale and details behind the development of the Spatial Sketch application, and presents our observations from user testing and a hands-on lamp shade design workshop. Finally we reflect upon the relevance of embodied forms of human computer interaction for use in digital fabrication.

This project was developed as part of the Igarashi Design Interface Project, together with Juncong Lin.

12Pixels featured in Dime Magazine Japan

12Pixels has just been featured in a two-page article in Japan’s ‘Dime Magazine‘. The article also features a write up on 12Pixels co-creator Ivan Poupyrev and his various talents and escapades.

Light x Sound

Light x Sound is a follow on work from Light Tracer created in collaboration with Japanese sound designer/performance artist Taeji Sawai, and was first exhibited in March 2009 at the Axis Gallery in Tokyo.

Light x Sound invites adults and children alike to interact, play, and create with light. As participants enter the installation space they are presented with a series of coloured light pens and invited to draw, write, and trace to produce imagery and sound in physical space.

BoxBeat in Art World China

I just received a copy of Art World China in the post today, they have a small write up on BoxBeat – check it out.

12Pixels Japan Release / New Scientist

I am pleased to announce that 12Pixels has been released in Japan in association with Sony Style. Visit the official Sony Style site to download 12Pixels for Docomo, AU, or Softbank phones. 12Pixels has also been covered in the March 7, 2009 issue of New Scientist magazine. Visit the New Scientist website to check out the [...]

Shadow Follower

Shadow Follower is an experimental drawing robot designed to follow the shadow created by your hand or any other object.

The original idea stems from Herbert Simon's metaphor of an ant walking on a beach. Although when looking at an ant from above their path seems very complex, Simon suggests it stems from simple local interactions such as 'see a rock, turn left'.

If we imagine that the rock could be your foot or mine, and replace the ant with some device like a robot, then that is essentially 'interactivity'. My interest is in finding the richness, complexity, and creativity in such interactions.

Alchemy

Alchemy is an open source drawing application developed by myself in collaboration with Jacob Hina from mid-2007. The project is aimed at exploring how we can sketch, draw, and create on computers in new ways. Alchemy isn’t software for creating finished artwork, but rather a sketching environment that focuses on the absolute initial stage of the creation process. Shown above are some example concept art pieces created by Alchemy users, Chris Waller and Nicolas Francoeur, and a video of renowned concept artist Andrew Jones demoing Alchemy in Shanghai.

The project received generous funding from the Exploratory Software Project here in Tokyo. For more information or to download it and give it a try, check out the Alchemy website.