Author: Bernd Hitzeroth (South Africa)
Supervisors: Jan-Christoph Zoels and Ralph Ammer

Idea/problem/context Images do not merely represent. Their meaning depends on the context in which we experience them: the childhood photo album, the doodles on the palm of your hand, the interactive process of �viewing�. Sharing images through the mobile phone currently offers little �viewing experience�. So this project investigates richer ways to share images on the mobile.

What it is Images do not merely represent. Their meaning depends on the context in which we experience them: the childhood photo album, the doodles on the palm of your hand, the interactive process of �viewing�. Sharing images through the mobile phone currently offers little �viewing experience�. So this project investigates richer ways to share images on the mobile.

How it works In Push & Pull, for instance, images are �pushed� and �pulled� through a touch-screen interface to a shared viewing space; the analogue control allows a quick flashing of images, rapid firing of image sequences, or offering an image to be revealed by the other person. In Load & Shoot an image is �loaded� by a gestural shortcut, then �fired� at will. In Bounce a broadcast is recorded and �bounced� to an offline receiver; when the receiver has finished watching it he or she gives the content a gestural response, which is automatically bounced back to the sender. A second set of ideas explores sharing digital images through physical objects like stickers or concrete walls; the phone becomes the lens through which we reveal images hidden in the real world. The interactions were prototyped using two connected touch screens and a mock camera-phone.

Value/Potential This project enhances the aesthetic and communicative value of sharing images on the mobile phone. The proposed interactions offer insights into the mobile�s unique affordances as a visual medium. Hand gestures, the real-time presence of the remote person, or a willingness to playfully co-create combine into pleasurable, meaningful visual experiences. Intimacy, surprise, tactility and play replace spectacle and high definition.

download QuickTime Movie (video by Andrea Pierri) - 2.05 MB