Impulse #7 // Study Subject and Final Showcase // Luminous Flora – Combining Creativity and Technology for an Immersive and Interactive Art Experience

For our final master studies showcase »Kaleidoscope«, I had the opportunity to work on a project that merged art, interaction design, and media design in a unique and immersive way. The project, titled “Luminous Flora”, invited visitors to create their own personalized flower arrangements using a tablet, and experience their design through projection mapping onto a 3D sculpture. As interaction designers, my team and I were primarily responsible for the app development and integrating the design with the projection system. This experience allowed me to explore the challenges of user interface design and discover new tools that dramatically impacted our process, specifically ProtoPie.

The Concept: Merging Creativity and Technology

The core concept of “Luminous Flora” was to give visitors an opportunity to design their own flower bouquet, combining their creativity with digital technology for a truly interactive art experience. The idea was while using a tablet, visitors could choose flowers, arrange them as they liked, and then see their creation projected onto a custom-made polygon structure, making the bouquet appear as a tangible, 3D object. The flowers were carefully crafted in a 3D program, ensuring realistic textures, colors, and shapes to bring them to life digitally. This combination of user interaction and projection mapping showcased how art and technology can collaborate to create something innovative and engaging.

Overcoming Technical Challenges: From Coding to ProtoPie

Initially, we planned to build the app using Angular, but we quickly hit technical roadblocks. Integrating live projection and connecting with Resolume software proved difficult, and our coding skills couldn’t keep up with the project’s complexity. That’s when we first heard about ProtoPie, a no-code design tool. At first, we were uncertain, but soon realized it was the perfect solution. ProtoPie’s intuitive interface allowed us to focus on the creative aspects without getting bogged down by coding challenges. It enabled us to create interactive prototypes without any coding. We could design interactions using simple triggers and actions, making the process much faster. Its integration with Figma allowed us to easily import our designs and turn them into prototypes. ProtoPie’s component-based system also made it easy to maintain consistency across the app. The real-time preview feature allowed us to instantly test and refine our interactions, speeding up the iteration process and enhancing our workflow. ProtoPie ultimately allowed us to turn our creative ideas into a fully functional interactive experience for the Luminous Flora project, without the technical struggles we initially faced.

A Collaborative Journey: Lessons Learned

The development of the Luminous Flora project taught us valuable lessons in collaboration and adaptability. The process wasn’t always smooth, and there were times when communication between different majors was challenging. At the beginning, it was difficult to stay on the same page and manage tasks effectively. Sometimes, as deadlines approached, it felt like we were scrambling to complete everything. However, despite these challenges, we pushed forward, and the end result was an interactive experience that exceeded our expectations. The collaboration between the different design disciplines was crucial. By constantly communicating, sharing ideas, and giving feedback, we were able to create something that not only worked technically but was also engaging and creative. The final app was visually appealing and easy to navigate, offering users an immersive experience as they designed their bouquets and saw them projected in real-time.

Conclusion: Insights into User Interface Design and the Future of No-Code Tools

The Luminous Flora project provided me with valuable insights into the integration of user interfaces with physical experiences, particularly through projection mapping, and how external factors like lighting, environment, and technological constraints shape the design process. I learned how essential it is to choose the right tools, as ProtoPie allowed us to rapidly prototype and test ideas without the burden of complex coding. This experience has significantly influenced my research, especially in understanding how external influences can affect user interface design and user interaction. Moving forward, I’m eager to explore no-code tools like ProtoPie more deeply, as they offer new possibilities for faster iteration and creative experimentation, especially in the development of adaptive systems. The ability to create personalized, responsive interfaces with ease has opened new paths for my future projects, and I look forward to further exploring these tools in the context of dynamic, user-centered design.

Links

https://kaleidoscope-showcase.netlify.app
https://www.protopie.io
https://resolume.com

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