"Body Paint" is currently being shown at the Victoria & Albert museum as part of the V&A + onedotzero curated Decode exhibition, and also at the Millenium Gallery as part of Lovebytes' Code:Craft.

“Body Paint” is an interactive installation and performance allowing users to paint on a virtual canvas with their body, interpreting gestures and dance into evolving compositions. It is not intended as a painting application, but rather a full-body instrument that people can play with, and create something 'beautiful'. Something fun that will make them happy and put a smile on their face, the same way finger painting (and getting extremely messy and covered in paint) makes little children happy.

Custom software analyzes live feed from infra-red cameras in real-time, and converts shape and motion into colors, drips and brush-strokes. The software was written in C++ using the open-source toolkit openFrameworks. The first versions were also using the open-source computer vision library OpenCV for the motion analysis, but I re-wrote the software recently with my own vision library using the brand new OpenCL technology, which allowed me to have much greater performance with a more detailed motion analysis resulting in a smoother, more sensitive and more believable experience.

The installation is designed to work with any number of people and is scalable to cover small or large areas. The interaction is very simple - movement creates paint. Hidden in the simplicity, are many layers of subtle details. Different aspects of the motion - size, speed, acceleration, curvature, distance all have an effect on the outcome - strokes, splashes, drips, spirals - and is left up to the users to play and discover.

While the installation is suitable for a single user, when multiple users are present a new dynamic emerges between people. A user-to-user interaction is born when the audience start playing with each other through the installation, throwing virtual paint at each other, trying to splash their friends, working collaboratively to create shared artwork, or mischievously trying to vandalize others' work.

Excerpts from performance at “Clicks or Mortar”, Tyneside Cinema, March 2009
curated by Ed Carter / The Pixel Palace, http://www.thepixelpalace.org

designed & created by Mehmet Akten, http://www.memo.tv
choreography & performance by Miss Martini, http://www.myspace.com/maleficentmartini
music "Kill me" by Dave Focker, http://www.myspace.com/davefocker

Many thanks to Tyneside Cinema for hosting the event - Clicks or Mortar, Ed Carter for organizing it, and the countless technicians and staff (especially Richard Bate and Sarah Bayliss who worked extra hard and took no shortcuts in getting it setup perfectly).