Interactive tunnel application

In 2008, I worked at the Center for Computer Graphics in Guimarães, Portugal, developing applications for multi-touch interfaces. For the interactive tunnel at the Guimarães Science Center, I developed an application that allowed visitors to explore the circulatory system through multi-touch interactions on the projection surface.

Today, this type of technology is well established, but at the time it was a new challenge: we were trying to create open-source reproductions of interfaces similar to Microsoft Surface. The immersive tunnel consisted of a six-meter curved structure with Plexiglas and a projection screen, six projectors on each side of the tunnel, infrared emitter bars, cameras with visible-light filters, two computers to control projection and cameras, and one computer to run the application. The position of a touch on the screen was identified by variations in the reflection of infrared light when the screen was touched.

The installation was also used to run software about the Solar System, developed by someone else:

Project partners: Ciência Viva - National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, Guimarães City Council, and the University of Minho.