Picture Frame

Picture Frames are two or more physical and/or digital picture frames that interact with one another as an ambient display. Co-workers, friends or loved ones separated by distance use the Picture Frame as a way to make others aware of their presence in a non-intrusive manner and/or to communicate emotional content. Touching one frame causes lights to blink on its partners. A digital frame simulates the behaviour of the physical one, and also displays the name of the person who sent the touch. Any 5"x7" picture may be inserted into the Picture Frame.

At the heart of each frame is a conductivity sensor that recognizes touch, and 8 LEDs for the lights, all connected to an Interface Kit. Because frames can be connected to different computers, I use the Grouplab Shared Dictionary as the underlying distributed system, where a notification is sent every time the sensor is touched. This project re-implements the Lumitouch frames from the Tangible Media Group's website.

see the video

The Creator

Kathryn Elliot created this for her short assignment as part a senior-level human computer interaction class at the University of Calgary.

Created in March, 2002

Next exhibit: Planitarium