Sniff is a really cool interactive projection on a storefront window of an animated dog who follows people walking by on the street. It is able to discern a person’s behavior as friendly or aggressive and then tries to engage them in play as well as being able to form a relationship based on the history of interaction.

Sniff from karolina sobecka on Vimeo.

The dog is created using the Unity3d Game Engine which renders it in real time as well as dynamically change its behavior based on the video tracking data. An infrared sensitive camera is used to monitor the sidewalk that is illuminated with infrared lights.

Sniff system from karolina sobecka on Vimeo.

hat tip to Design You Trust

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Interactive displays are always a show stopper and becoming more popular as a way to present information and data in ways that we’ve never really been able to before. The interactive installation mæve (MACE-Everyville) is one of those new types of displays and is used to provide visual and tangible access to social and intellectual networks behind architectural projects. It is being used as part of the 11th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.

The project was designed by the Interface Design team of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. During the the Exhibition mæve connects the entries of the Everyville students competition and puts them into the larger context of MACE content.

As part of the display visitors can use special physical project cards and place them on an interactive surface which allows them to explore the presented projects, embedded in an organic network of associated projects, people and media.

I really like seeing this kind of technology and the day when it will become something usable by everyone.

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The plan, currently being tested in small doses but not yet formally announced, is basically to treat the ads like the rest of the site. You’ll be able to leave comments, share virtual gifts with other users, or become a fan — the equivalent of a friend in a normal profile. The whole thing is really just an interactive widget, only customized to look and act like typical social media content.

You can see why advertisers would latch onto the idea. If people are becoming engaged with their ad, they’re more likely to look at it, spend time on it, and refer other people to it. Initial advertising success, of course, is measured largely by click-through rates, so attracting people and bringing them back repeatedly can have great benefit.

But here’s the thing: We all know how obnoxious some folks can become when hidden behind the masks of their monitors. Imagine the kind of immature comments you sometimes see on blogs and news sites — then imagine how much more frequent and offensive they could become when the content itself is an ad. Most Facebook users are probably smart enough to pick out commercials. Will they tear the companies a new one, right on their own paid spots? Or just ignore the things altogether?

In the long run, one could theorize that clicks are clicks — and even if people are leaving remarks that belittle the company, they’re still spending the time and giving their click-gold. At the same time, though, the company’s end goal is to achieve marketing success. A flame-filled ad may deliver a short-term goal of traffic numbers but may ultimately undermine the company’s campaign and not pay off in the end.

So will Facebook hit the jackpot on this one? Or will it be a short-lived, fast-failed experiment? Time, soon enough, will tell.

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