NO_THING: analog digital world
Milla & Partner’s Innovation Lab has developed a cutting-edge technology that transforms objects of daily use into interactive media surfaces – creating a palpable digital world.
It has been dubbed "NO_THING" because this technology is not bound to a specific device or object. It premiered in the German Pavilion at the EXPO in Milan, with visitors using a piece of cardboard as control unit or an umbrella as monitor. What makes NO_THING so fascinating to the user is the complete absence of a perception of technology. Images, films or interactive information simply appear – as projection onto the chosen object or as spatial media installations.
A seemingly magical interaction
The interaction is not controlled by two-dimensional gestures, such as with smartphones, but by spatial movements, which are adjusted individually to each scenario and allow a maximum of intuitive control. This seemingly magical interaction is possible by using light: via infrared markers, the system detects the position and motion of the object in hand.
Thomas Frenzel, Milla & Partner Innovation Lab„With NO_THING, we can turn almost any everyday object into an interactive tool, enabling the user to control, shape and individually explore media.”
Milla & Partner’s lab can turn almost anything into a NO_THING. In the German Expo Pavilion, for example, it’s a piece of corrugated cardboard called the "SeedBoard" which all visitors receive as a personal exhibition guide. It’s also an umbrella, used in the Pavilion's exhibition area "Climate". Here, Expo visitors can navigate through the various stages of climate change with a familiar movement – simply by rotating the umbrella.
