The Viscous Display

The Viscous Display created by Lily Shirvanee and Glorianna Davenport is a transient adaptive interface for collective play in public space.

Grounded on Henri Lefevre analysis of production of space as a social phenomenon, the viscous display proposes a space with transient meanings by exhanging social information through adaptive public interfaces.

Abstract: The Viscous Display explores the exchange of social information through transient public interfaces. Shaped by principles of ‘underground public art’, the Viscous Display is conceived as a novel mobile communication medium, where messages can be shared in public spaces. Inspired by biological learning systems; the Viscous Display learns sensorial information that form along traces of a participant’s touch and maps this information onto a flexible display.
Because it is made up of inexpensive materials, the Viscous Display is also a disposable artifact that may be collected in public spaces. It combines multi-modal sensing, learning algorithms, and a pliable silicone display.

Paper

Viscous display's web site

Pixel-graphic style in a physical display

Snoil is a physical display made by Martin frey that takes advantage of our experience playing with Tetris-like game, in this case the reference is to the classic arcade Snake game. Now it is slightly more complex than that because the fluid is attracted by magnets to create fluid bumps.
Images and animations can be produced in a pixel-graphic style as well as plain pixel-typography.

SnOil has pixel-like graphic features and is physically implemented using electronic components such as electro magnets, controllers, multiplexers, tilt sensors and so forth. Tiles of electro magnets make the system highly scalable. Each magnet has its x and y position. It works like the snake game in the video demo, but this type of interface can definitly go beyond its reference frame.

In the area of materialized pixels, Daniel Rozin creates a series of awesome mechanical mirrors.


Wooden Mirror in Wired Magazine

830 square pieces of wood, 830 servo motors, control electronics, video camera, computer, wood frame.
Size - W 67” x H 80” x D 10” (170cm , 203cm, 25cm). Built in 1999, this is the first mechanical mirror I built. This piece explores the line between digital and physical, using a warm and natural material such as wood to portray the abstract notion of digital pixels. 1999

Video of the interactive wooden mirror


Shiny Balls Mirror

921 hexagonal black-anodized aluminum tube extrusion, 921 chrome-plated plastic balls, 819 motors, control electronics, video camera, computer. Size - W 56" x H 50" x D 20" (142cm, 127cm, 50cm)
The third addition to the mechanical mirror group, Shiny Balls Mirror displays a crisp and clean facade of aluminum and chrome utilizing the jewel-like reflections on its balls to form the reflection of the viewer twice: Once on each ball and once on the entire piece. 2003

Video of the interactive shiny balls mirror


Shiny Balls Mirror - detail

Found on core77.