CopyCut is an interactive exhibit that supports artistic creation through a very simple, easy to learn and engage, interaction approach that yields highly impressive and expressive results.
CopyCut is an interactive exhibit that supports artistic creation through a very simple, easy to learn and engage, interaction approach that yields highly impressive and expressive results. The approach builds upon and amalgamates the techniques of finger painting and collage, further extending their capabilities and mechanics by taking advantage of the digital medium.
The infrastructure consists of a computer and two digital surfaces: (a) the palette (a multi-touch screen) and (b) the canvas, which may range from a small flat screen, to a large projection surface. A (wired or wireless) video camera is also used.
The first step to the creative process is to select a source medium from the palette. Four medium types are supported: (a) still images, (b) videos, (c) text, and (d) live feed from the camera. When a source is selected, the artist can transfer selected parts of it to the canvas simply by touching them, using one or more fingers.
Except projecting the canvas on a flat 2D surface, CopyCut supports mapping different parts of the canvas on multiple planar surfaces, using any number of projectors. Another distinctive characteristic of CopyCut is that it supports distributed co-creation by multiple artists using PCs, tablets and mobile phones.
CopyCut is a fun and extremely easy to use – yet powerful – art creation tool with a very low ‘entrance barrier’. Up to now, it has been tested with ‘artists’ from 4 to 70 years old, including art professionals and hobbyists but also people who described themselves as not artistically-inclined or even creative.
