Champlain College EMC Partners with Burlington Airport for interactive digital art installations

James Keats talks about Flight

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Champlain College celebrated the launch of two new interactive experiences at the Burlington International Airport (BTV) created by students at the Champlain College Emergent Media Center on Thursday, Oct. 13. Developed using skeletal tracking technology and intuitive design, "Flight" gives visitors a dreamlike experience of flying and "Graffiniti" gives visitors the ability to paint on a large digital canvas. Among the speakers at the event,  Gene Richards, Director, Burlington International Airport; Donald J. Laackman, President, Champlain College; David Provost, Sr. Vice President for Institutional Advancement & Finance, Champlain College; James Keats '18, Student, Game Programming major, Champlain College; and Miro Weinberger, Mayor, City of Burlington.

Watch a video about "Flight" and "Graffiniti"'s installation at Burlington International Airport here.

THE DEVELOPERS

The Champlain College Sandbox team is a group of students, faculty, and staff creating new and novel human-computer interface designs at the Emergent Media Center's MakerLab. The Emergent Media Center employs students to create digital media ranging from mobile apps, serious games and video marketing, to large screen interactives and virtual reality for businesses, non-profits, and government agencies. The MakerLab, located within the EMC, is a physical prototyping lab with a host of devices from high-tech 3D printers to low tech hand tools, where students express their creativity by bridging physical and digital elements.

"Graffiniti" and "Flight" are brought to you by Champlain College, which was named #1  "Most Innovative School" by U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" 2016 ranking of regional colleges in the North. 

Mayor takes flightFLIGHT
The Champlain College Emergent Media Center Sandbox Team designed "Flight" (2016) to give the user a dreamlike experience of flying. Simply raise your arms to form wings and you will become the pilot of one of several flying machines. Follow the animated instructions to switch vehicles. Various flying objects will present themselves in the environment allowing you to interact with them. Tools: Adapted Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect, your hands, feet and body
In the North Terminal, where "Flight" is located, approximately 395,000 passengers passed through the space last year.
Development Team, "Flight":

  • Matthew Barrett, ‘17  Game Art & Animation
  • Tyler Bolster, ‘18  Game Art & Animation
  • James Keats, ‘18  Game Programming
  • Caitlyn Kenney, ‘17  Game Art & Animation
  • Ryan Bahan, G'16  MS Emergent Media Project Manager
  • Terrence Sehr, G‘16  MFA Emergent Media Project Manager, Faculty Advisor
  • Ken Howell  Faculty Advisor

GraffinitiGRAFFINITI

The Champlain College Emergent Media Center Sandbox Team designed "Graffiniti" (2015) to sense a user's hands as a means for painting on a digital canvas. Stand about five feet back from the screen and raise your hands up by your shoulders to engage the device. The right hand controls the movement and size of the paintbrush while the left hand changes color. Full body movement allows you to "spray paint" your dance moves across a virtual wall. The result: a masterpiece within a masterpiece. Tools: Adapted Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect, your hands, feet and body
In the South Terminal, where "Graffiniti" is located, approximately 258,000 passengers passed through the space last year.
Development Team, "Graffiniti":

  • Alex Beauchesne, ‘15 Game Programming
  • Leif Erkenbrach, 15  Game Programming
  • Kai Godfrey, ‘18  Game Design
  • James Keats, ‘18  Game Programming
  • Ethan Lamitie, ‘17  Game Programming
  • Jami Sparano, ‘16 Graphic Design
  • Melissa Leimbach, ‘17  Creative Media
  • Matt Rohr, ‘17  Game Design
  • Ryan Bahan, G'16  MS Emergent Media Project Manager
  • Terrence Sehr, G‘16  MFA Emergent Media Project Manager, Faculty Advisor
  • Ken Howell  Faculty Advisor

MORE INFORMATION:

Champlain College https://www.champlain.edu/
Emergent Media Center https://www.champlain.edu/emc
MakerLab http://makers.champlain.edu


Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 90 residential undergraduate and online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 384 Colleges: 2019 Edition. For the fourth year in a row, Champlain was named a "Most Innovative School" in the North by U.S. News & World Report's 2019 "America's Best Colleges,” and a “Best Value School” and is ranked in the top 100 “Regional Universities of the North” and in the top 25 for “Best Undergraduate Teaching.” Champlain is also featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges for 2019 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada and Great Britain and is a 2019 College of Distinction. For more information, visit champlain.edu.