Remote Interactive Graffiti


We present an installation that allows distributed internet
participants to “draw” on a public scene using light. The
iLight system is a camera/projector system designed for remote collaboration. Using a familiar digital drawing interface, remote users “draw” on a live video image of a real-life object or scene. Graphics drawn by the user are then projected onto the scene, where they are visible in the camera image. Because camera distortions are corrected and the video is aligned with the image canvas, drawn graphics appear exactly where desired. Thus the remote users may
harmlessly mark a physical object to serve their own their
artistic and/or expressive needs. We also describe how local
participants may interact with remote users through the
projected images. Besides the intrinsic “neat factor” of action at a distance, this installation serves as an experiment in how multiple users from different locales and cultures can create a social space that interacts with a physical one, as well as raising issues of free expression in a non-destructive context.