Part game, part animation, this new project from artist Eric John Olson may mark the beginning of interactive television programming. Called Childhood Ghosts, mixes hand drawn frames with openFrameworks software to produce a responsive animation controlled by the user’s actions. Not only is it appealing because the low-fi charm of the child-like drawings mixing with the high-tech interactive capabilities, but you could also see this format being incorporated into some sort of Kinect-powered video game, television program or other learning initiative.It looks like something you might find on the Sesame Street of the future—cutting from the show’s familiar puppets to a short animation on the number 4. Instead of the traditional, linear animation formats, this one is capable of reacting to audience participation, encouraging kids to dance or skip, fly by fluttering their arms, or go on some Calvin and Hobbes-style adventure hopping across streams and through woodland. The technology isn’t there just yet, but with something like the Kinect bringing motion sensor technology into the home, this vision of children’s programming doesn’t seem all that unlikely. And it would be great for big kids to play around with too. Someone get on that.
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Is Interactive The Future Of Kids' TV?
An interactive animation built with openFrameworks that might make a great educational tool for toddlers.