{Interactive Web Design Blog}

I will be the first to admit that I was not a huge fan of the Olympics taking over our city, in fact I was one of the locals that seriously considered heading out on vacation to avoid the “Olympic madness” that everyone anticipated taking over Vancouver.

But as a Vancouver Web Design student with a passion for new media and interactive design, my mind is being blown every time I turn around. The ground breaking installations and interactive art that are being featured all around the city should put Vancouver on the map when it comes to interactive design innovation.

I plan to roam about the city to see and test out as much of the Interactive Media as I can. I will be making daily posts on Robot Salmon about my discoveries. Here is the installation that is on the top of my list today.

Vectorial Elevation is an interactive artwork that allows you to direct powerful light beams and transform Vancouver’s skyline between February 4 to 28, 2010. This installation will light up the sky every night, but don’t think for a second that it is as simple as just a few high powered spot lights on timers!

The installation is currently considered one of the world’s largest interactive artworks. It was created by the Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.

It is a totally interactive installation in every sense of the word. Anyone can go online and design a light pattern that will be blasted into the sky through the website. As users you will be engaged in the experience beyond just creating a light pattern. A personal webpage is automatically created for each participant, documenting their participation and displaying views from 4 project webcams.

The technology that this “simple” installation utilizes goes beyond something that I could have imagined in my wildest interactive media dreams. You will need to have Google Earth set up on your computer to design your light pattern.

Some of the tech specs for the set up:
The lights: Xenon 10kW robotic searchlights, four webcams, Linux servers, GPS, Google Earth 3D DMX interface, custom-software.
The Interactive area covers: 1,000 x 1,000 meters, visibility 15 Km radius (depending on atmospheric conditions)

Today we are all aware that Internet connects people all around the world and this Interactive media display takes advantage of that at every turn. When the searchlights shine someone’s design into the cloudy night sky above Vancouver during the 2010 Winter games, four Axis webcams will take digital pictures from the control room on the West End, the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, a high rise on Beach avenue and the Vanier Park Marina.

The images that are generated are watermarked with the participant’s information (the design team has built a custom-made application to do this) When the pictures are taken, a web page is built for the participant and an email is sent out with their new custom URL. The personal web page displays both the real and virtual images of the user’s design as well as their name, location, date, time and comments.

They also have a Flash applet to allow visitors to see the four project cameras in real time. The video is subtitled with the name and location of the participant whose design is currently in the sky.check it out for yourself.

I can only imagine all the time and effort it took to implement this awe inspiring Interactive Media installation. As an Information Architect enthusiast I was excited to browse through the website and learn more about the process they took when developing the project.

Check out the website for Vectorial Elevation

This installation is part of CODE, the Cultural Olympiad’s Digital Edition. If you are a designer, a developer, a web specialist, or interested in interactive media in any way, you should head out the door right now to check out the CODE venues.
Check out the info on other Code Live events and installations around Vancouver

If seeing all of this amazing Interactive Design has got you thinking that you would love to get involved in this field of work check out my program at Capilano University Interactive Design

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