Vlny is a cultural project and a series of events in eastern Slovakia focused on contemporary art, light installations, projections and visual experiences. As part of our events, we create site-specific installations and experiment with different ways of connecting digital visuals with physical spaces and audiences.
TouchDesigner has become one of the tools we use to create and develop these experiences. We would like to share one of the interactive installations we presented during Vlny Festival in Bardejov, Slovakia.
For this installation, we created a real-time visual experience using a camera placed in front of the projection. The camera captured visitors and their movement, while TouchDesigner transformed the live image into an abstract, particle-based visual projected onto the wall.
As visitors moved, raised their hands or changed their position in front of the camera, the projected image reacted immediately. Their bodies and movements became part of the composition, continuously changing the shapes, structures and movement of the visual.
The installation was intentionally simple from the visitor's perspective: there were no instructions or controllers. People could discover the interaction naturally just by stepping in front of the camera and experimenting with their own movement.
For us, this is also what makes TouchDesigner interesting as a tool for Vlny. It allows us to move beyond prerecorded projections and create installations in which visitors can directly influence what they see.
