Drawing in the lamposcope

Abstract

The Lamposcope is a low-cost mixed reality system that enables a shared experience of art or design communication and collaboration mediated by light. Two participants in different places share a single drawing, to which they can contribute using familiar materials such as pencils, pens and oil pastels. Their collaboration is facilitated and mediated by a simple camera/projector system built into the armature of an ordinary desk lamp, which creates an interactive video link. At each end the Lamposcope captures the drawing occurring at that end, and projects the drawing from the other. The drawings are transmitted over the Internet and then superimposed at each end. At the completion of the collaboration each participant is left with half of the physical drawing, and an ephemeral digital representation of the whole drawing. The demonstration allows participants to explore tactile sharing using real materials and remote presence in the familiar form of a desk lamp, which can be seamlessly integrated into existing work places and practices.