Reactive Shadows
In this immersive experience, visitors use their own virtual shadows to reveal hidden messages about the secret formula, while a mysterious figure attempts to thwart their efforts.
Visitors enter an area of the exhibit that calls into question everything they think they know about the secret formula, and introduces them into a world of rumors and speculation, mystery and lore. Greeting them are the Reactive Shadows interactives, two ten-foot-tall projection surfaces covered in changing numbers and letters—perhaps a jumbled code.
Microsoft Kinect depth-sensing cameras capture visitor images and mirror them back as “virtual shadows.” These shadows reveal inner layers of the projected videos, empowering them to decode rumors and speculations about the secret formula. As they play in front of Reactive Shadows, visitors hear dozens of different voices whispering rumors and hearsay, delivered to exact locations through tightly focused directional speakers.
Periodically, the mysterious man in the hat who has been present throughout the exhibit walks between the two displays and stops to play with guest’s shadows, making them expand and contract, lifting them up and putting them in his pocket. The question remains at this point in the story: Is the man in the hat there to help us crack the code, or keep the secret hidden from us?