This interactive installation was inspired by a moment of sadness where I was alone and wished that there was someone who could lend a shoulder. It was during then when I remembered how as a child, when I was by myself, I would imagine that there was someone there to play with me. In this piece, I tried to create a friend who people could interact with, but like the imaginary friend that I would imagine playing with, does not truly exist — much like the virtual world online today.

 

This work was created using openFrameworks and Kinect. It was my first time using openFrameworks/C++, so getting the concept to work was very challenging. I used a Gesture Recognition Toolkit by Nick Gillian to recognize gestures using the Xbox Kinect. Whenever I had questions about using his code, he was very quick to respond, which I am beyond grateful. Needless to say, I am a big fan of the open-source community and hope one day to be able to contribute something back.

 

This work was exhibited in the Sense. No Boundaries exhibit at the Redtory Art District in Guangzhou, December 21st – January 5th, 2013.