LinkCube Posted on December 17th
** Work on Progress, Collaboration with Hye Ki, Min
** LinkCube is one of the finalist for Ars Electronica Commission: 80 PLUS 1
LinkCube is a network of units stationed in public spaces in two international cities. The project allows people in remote locations to take pictures together at the same time. Photobooth allows users to develop a personal connection with anonymous people from around the world. The resulting picture serves as a memento of the shared experience.
We are accustomed to seeing photo booths at amusement parks, train stations, and shopping malls. Some photo booths serve a practical purpose; they allow individuals to quickly obtain photographs for use on forms of identification and other formal documents. Photo booths are also used for entertainment purposes; groups of friends cram in as many people as possible to take silly pictures. Instores in Asian countries, especially Japan and Korea, groups of friends gather in booths to take sticker photos together. LinkCube, in all its playfulness, helps the user get close to other people without concern for the boundaries associated with “personal space”.
Our aim is to create an immersive experience—one of being together with people who happen to be in affiliated photo booths, elsewhere in the world. In this space, the users, who are geographically distant, are presented on screen as if they were right next to each other. This closeness lets users get momentarily acquainted with human beings to whom they would not otherwise be exposed. LinkCube fosters a sense of global connectedness as users in disparate locations collide in one photograph.
LinkCube allows the user to take a photo with people who are not physically present, but visible via a screen located in the booth. As the two parties appear in the same picture plane on screen, they position themselves appropriately, posing together in an effort to take a successful photograph. What results is a set of playful interactions. The ultimate photographs serve as a tangible record of this memorable virtual experience.
LinkCube will be installed in public spaces with high pedestrian traffic, such as parks or public squares. Units can be easily moved and installed in designated areas of cities throughout the exhibition period. Each booth acts as a hub, connecting users from disparate international cities.
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