Liquids, smoke, and soap bubbles: reflections on materials for ephemeral user interfaces

Authors:

Axel Sylvester

Tanja Dring

Albrecht Schmidt

Summary:

Goal: Tangible ephemeral interface design with soap, bubble and smoke.

Setup - a round table - 20 inch in diameter, bubbles can be blown on the surface which stays on it for minutes together. The movement of the bubbles can be tracked with the camera beneath the table. The user moves the bubbles using either moist hand or slightly blowing the bubble. In a first application bubbles are used to influence the brightness and hue of the

surrounding room light. The room illumination gets brighter the bigger a recognized bubble is. Hue is set according to the position of a recognized bubble using the x and y axis to

bring up blue and red tones

Discussion:

Interesting mode of interaction. I could see applications in fun filled games for children.