Installable Art Installations —

Google opens code for building interactive experiences in physical spaces

The Java-based framework can be used to program responsive art installations.

Google opens code for building interactive experiences in physical spaces

Google has released a new software framework that aims to give programmers the ability to create interactive experiences in physical spaces. It could potentially be used to build interactive art installations or games that involve physical interaction.

The framework, which is called Interactive Spaces, is distributed under the permissive Apache license and is available for download from a Mercurial repository hosted on Google Code. The search giant announced the new framework in a post on its official open source software blog.

Interactive Spaces is implemented primarily in Java, but it has a scripting bridge that supports JavaScript and Python. The framework provides a high-level architecture for building "activities" that respond to events in a room.

In the announcement, Google described a sample Interactive Spaces installation where ceiling-mounted cameras tracked the position of individuals in a room so that the software could display colored lights on the floor where they are standing.

Google says that it plans to add support for Processing, a popular programming tool for generating art and graphical presentations. That would make it possible to create sophisticated visualizations that people can interact with in a physical space.

The concept is intriguing and the availability of source code under a permissive license will open the door for a lot of experimentation. Now all Google needs is some creative minds to pick the concept up.

Channel Ars Technica