Immersive experience

PIN and
POP

Two players steer a virtual pin with a bare fingertip to pop balloons. Every pop splashes their colour on the wall, so the duel leaves a shared painting behind.

Individual projectTouchDesigner + MediaPipe60 s rounds21 versions in 5 days
The PIN and POP wall at the end of a round, covered in blue and red paint splats
The real wall at the end of a round: every pop left paint that drips60 s round

The idea

A controller-free duel at one shared wall. Rivalry turns into a painting both players made.

Place

One projected wall, split into a blue half and a red half

Players

Two friends side by side, plus everyone watching

Interaction

Raise a finger and the pin follows; touch a balloon to pop it

Feeling

A playful rivalry that leaves a shared artwork behind

Designed for a festival booth

2

players. Visitors arrive in pairs

60 s

rounds keep the queue moving

0

things to wear, hold or hand over

1

line of rules. Play starts in seconds

The growing paint wall and the pop sound pull in a crowd, and the spectators become the next players.

The experience

A round in four moments

01The countdown

Either player holds a pin on START for 1.5 s. A 3-2-1 countdown punches in, then GO! and the carnival music starts.

02The first pop

The balloon swells and bursts into shards, "POP!" punches in and paint drips down the wall.

03The race

Score bars fill with every pop while the 60-second timer runs down.

04The reveal

"Time's Up", then the winner's name with confetti, a crown and a glowing side.

How it works

The only controller is a bare hand. Your index fingertip is the pin.

Two handsPlayers move a fingertip in the airPhone cameraVia Camo, 1280 × 720, aimed at a green matMediaPipeTracks two hands: left = BLUE, right = REDGame logicPython in TouchDesigner: smoothing, hit test, score, timer, menuThe wallGLSL paint splats, drips, shards, confetti · 60 fpsThe soundPop sample + carnival music that ducks on every pop

Press C once and OpenCV finds the green mat's four corners, mapping the camera view onto the wall.

The pin follows your fingerMove your hand and the pin moves with it, liveLIVE CAMERA · 1280 × 720Point 8 · index fingertipx, yPLAYER 10PLAYER 2000:411The camera films your handA phone on a stand streams 1280 × 720 video into TouchDesigner2MediaPipe finds 21 pointsThe game reads point 8, your index fingertip, every frame3The pin lands on the wallSmoothed by a One Euro filter and mapped to your half of the wall
01Point

The pin follows your fingertip across your half of the wall. A One Euro filter keeps it steady when still and tight when fast.

02Touch to pop

Hits are checked on the raw finger path between frames, so a fast swipe can't skip past a balloon.

03Hold to choose

START and PLAY AGAIN fill a ring while you hold your pin on them for 1.5 s. No mouse, no keyboard.

Every pop answers on three senses at once: the burst on the wall, the pop sound and a dip in the music.

Visual language

Glossy party objects on a painter's canvas.

Three moodboards were explored. Two survived, and the game took one idea from each.

A Abstract arcadeDroppedFlat neon circles on black. Fast to build, very clear targets.Used in v1–v5. Felt cold and had no story.B Party / carnivalChosenGlossy balloons, pushpins, confetti, ribbons.Chosen for the objects: a pin popping a balloon needs no explanation.C Paint & street artChosenCanvas texture, splats, drips, paintball marks.Chosen for the wall: every pop leaves a trace that builds into an artwork.

Colour

Blue
#1A59F2
Red
#EB262E
Canvas
#F5F0E0
Surround
#0D0D12

Type & motion

POP!GO!Time's Up

Condensed bold capitals with a soft shadow, read from across a room. Everything bounces: balloons inflate before they burst, text overshoots and settles.

Sound

Every pop is the loudest thing in the room.

Carnival music at 22%, fading in over 0.4 sA popEach pop ducks the music by 65%, back within 0.7 s
Pop

A balloon-burst sample, played the instant a balloon bursts. The reward sound.

Music

An upbeat samba / carnival track that plays from GO! until Time's Up, restarting each round.

Silence

No music on the idle and result screens, so the round feels like its own heightened moment.

Process

From one circle to a two-player duel.

21Saved versions
5Days, 5–10 Oct 2026
SCORE 3 0:2415–6 OCTCircle gameOne hand circle touches a target circle, with a timer and a score.To prove the core loop27 OCTBalloon & pinBalloon and pushpin art, a pop sound, and paint that stays.To make it readable and satisfyingBLUE 6RED 537 OCTTwo players, one wallBLUE vs RED on a shared canvas, a countdown and a winner screen.Because a race is more fun to play and to watchMAT CALIBRATEDSTARTSTART48–10 OCTExhibition buildHold-to-start buttons, carnival music, mat calibration, recording.To run without a keyboard, reliably

Shown at the classroom exhibition on 8 October 2026: projected on a wall, with a phone camera aimed at the green mat, and played by classmates and faculty.

At the exhibition

Kids, friends and visitors jumped in.

Classroom exhibition · 8 October 2026

Kids playing PIN and POP in front of the projected wall
Two players racing at the mat
Two players race at the mat while the wall fills with paint
Mid-round, the wall full of paint
Mid-round: every pop leaves paint on the projected wall
Time's Up screen behind the players
Time's Up: the result lands right behind the players

Projected on a wall, with a phone camera aimed at the green mat. No instructions, no controllers: people raised a hand and started playing.

What I learned

01
An immersive experience is judged in the first five seconds.

If the pin doesn't follow the hand at once, people walk away.

02
Feedback matters more than features.

Inflate, burst, POP!, sound and paint together made one simple action satisfying.

03
A metaphor carries the rules.

Circles needed explaining. A pin and a balloon did not.