In 2020 Sean Clark from Interact Digital Arts was asked by Leicester City Council to create a Xmas interactive to run on the large projector in Green Dragon Square. The result was the "Snowflake Wall". This year he has added a new "Santa Puppets" piece that lets you control a giant Santa on the big screen.

As well as being fun things for people to play with while visiting in Leicester city centre, the projects are designed to demonstrate the potential of new technologies. such as the Internet of Things and AI. Both of these are used used by Sean Clark in his digital artworks.

If you have any questions or feedback on this work please send a message to Sean Clark on seanc@interactdigitalarts.uk. We hope that you find the interactives fun!

The Snowflake Wall was bery popular in 2020 and is back for 2021. When you scan the on-screen QR code with your mobile phone you are presented with the Snowflake Creator. You can then design your own snowflake and send it to the big screen. You can now run your own copy of the snowflake wall on your computer by following the link below. Remember to scan the QR code on your phone to open the Snowflake Creator. No personal information is captured when you use the Snowflake Creator.

The Snowflake Wall makes use of MQTT, a technology commonly used in Internet of Things (IoT) applications,. It allows short messages (in this case, snowflakes) to be efficiently transmitted over the internet to multiple receivers (such as Snowflake Walls).

The project is supported by Leicester City Council. It is provided without a warranty of any kind.

artthings.io/snowflakes

Open on a computer, then scan QR code on mobile.

Take control of a giant Santa Puppets on the big screen! A video camera is used to allow you to control the puppet just by moving your head, body and arms. Up to three people can use the interactive screen at any one time to create a troupe of dancing Santas.

You can try the Santa Puppets at home by following the link below on your computer. You will need to accept the request to use your camera. No video images are captured from your camera or stored when using the Santa Puppets.

Santa Puppets uses Machine Learning to analyse your body movements and then translate them into movements on the screen in real-time. Machine Learning is a type of Artificial Intelligence software that allows patterns (such as postures) to be found in data sets (such as a video stream) extremely quickly,

The project is supported by Leicester City Council. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

artthings.io/santa

Optimised for computers.

The Elfie Maker [Beta] uses the same technology as the Santa Puppets to turn you into an elf. It is intended to run on your mobile phone. Simply scan the QR Code and you should see yourself on the screen. Press the photo button to save your "Elfie" on your mobile device. You will need to accept the request to use your camera.

If you want to share your Elfie on social media then please use the hashtag #leicesterelfie.

You can run the Elfie Maker on your computer by following the link below. The only images captured from your camera are the ones you choose to take. They are only stored on your own device.

This is an experimental project and not endorsed by Leicester City Council. It is provided without warranty of any kind by Interact Digital Arts Ltd and may be withdrawn at any time.

artthings.io/elfie

Optimised for mobile.