Clever connections: New hack helps people Kinect

Set in separate rooms in an igloo-like structure of grey polystyrene cubes, the Social Cave is an interactive installation developed by students of the Research Lab Non-Linear Solution Unit, a research lab at the Columbia University.

The concept is simple. People in one room communicate with people in the other through cameras, microphones, screens and speakers. Essentially, it’s a videophone. The twist, and why LS:N Global is excited by the idea, is that users control the device with their body. At the Social Cave’s beeping technological heart is a Microsoft Kinect, as hacked by interaction designer Mirko Arcese.

‘Our philosophy is to let the human body be free to use technology,’ he told LS:N Global yesterday in the cave.

For the full interview with Arcese, and to find out how the humble beginnings we tried out in the Social Cave will change the fabric of society, read our comprehensive Milan report, on sale next week.