Three DreamDrops were constructed with felt and paper. The felt gives them the form, and the paper provides a window into the virtual words. The Drops are suspended by their “tails” from the ceiling at three heights. The red Drop is hung the highest, the blue Drop is lower, and the green Drop is suspended the lowest.

Visitors walking among the DreamDrops can see the three animated worlds. The red world looks like clouds at sunset, the blue world looks like the depths of the oceans, and the green world looks like a lush, tropical forest. The three worlds are populated by “boids,” a flock/school of animated critters that dash about in small groups.

Visitors are invited to poke their heads up into DreamDrops. They’ll see bursts of color and dynamic sparks triggered by their motion detected by a Microsoft Kinect sensor. People can interact with the boids, who playfully investigate the human visitors, calling out with a futuristic wail. A hand clap gesture will trigger a colorful tunnel effect transporting visitors to other worlds.

Rob and Kristina explore the threshold between personal and public space in the technology era with their installation. The installation allows people to experience a private environment of light and color in a public arena.

Several open-source software projects were used in this installation:

• OpenFrameworks - an open-source C++ library for creative coding

• ofxKinectNui - Sadam Fujioka’s addon using the Microsoft Kinect

• ofxMSAFluid - an addon for solving and drawing 2Dfluid systems by Memo Akten

• ofxBoids - a flocking motion addon by Satoshi Okami

Rob and Kristina would like to thank Jennifer Lim for her help with this installation.