Windows, as an important part of a building, are an important communication channel between the inside and outside world. In recent years, up-close interaction (“Interactive public ambient displays: transitioning from implicit to explicit, public to personal, interaction with multiple users” – Daniel Vogel, Ravin Balakrishnan) becomes more and more and more important in the field of commercial window displays (e.g. Nike’s kinect-powered window displays at Selfridges). But interactive window display has serious problems about homogenization. Most interactive window displays still rely on “touch” interaction. Only few make use of motion sensing input devices – the most popular being the Kinect – to create interactive environments. The interaction mostly happens with a projection.
In my research project I propose to improve the interactive system of a window display – by using the Leap Motion capture system. It creates interaction between users and the lighting situation in the display window. Users can control the lighting through gestures, getting a new experience of display window interaction. And obviously, this new interaction mode will attract more attention of viewers, to make the viewers impressed with the brand or products.