Working with Studio 615 for their Halloween party 2025, we created an immersive dual-experience where guests enter a realm where ancient forces clash with cutting-edge technology.
The Experience
A dual-experience room blending supernatural gameplay with interactive shadow magic.
Guardian Mode
The Seventh Seal
A player volunteers to become the Guardian of the Seventh Seal (displayed as a glowing yellow keeper on the projection). Using a PS4 controller, they must protect an ancient seal from malevolent red entities—the darkness of Halloween night.
The guardian wields mystical powers: shooting beams of seal energy, invoking haste spells, and moving through an ever-shifting cosmic battlefield.
If the guardian falls, THE SEVENTH SEAL IS BROKEN, releasing chaos and triggering a dramatic game over. A new guardian must then rise to restore order.
Shadow Interaction
Living Thermal Vision
While the guardian battles, all guests in the room become part of the experience. A Kinect sensor captures everyone's body heat and projects it as an ethereal thermal heatmap on the wall.
Their shadows don't just appear—they interact with an artificial life simulation of evolving entities. These digital lifeforms have DNA, breed, and die in response to the shadows cast by party guests, creating an ever-changing organic light show.
The Effect
Guests see themselves as glowing thermal silhouettes, their movements rippling through fields of colorful lifeforms, while a lone guardian battles to keep the seal intact.
It's part video game, part digital art installation, part supernatural ritual.
Technical Architecture
System Overview
A real-time interactive installation combining hardware sensors, WebSocket streaming, genetic algorithms, and game mechanics—all running in a web browser.
View on GitHubFrontend (Browser)
- • HTML5 Canvas - 2D rendering at 60fps
- • Vanilla JavaScript - Evolution engine with genetic algorithms
- • WebSocket Client - Real-time sensor data at 30fps
- • Gamepad API - PS4 DualShock integration
Backend (Python)
- • Python 3 with asyncio - WebSocket server
- • libfreenect - Xbox 360 Kinect V1 driver
- • numpy - Depth image processing
- • 640×480 depth → 160×120 shadow grid
Hardware Integration
Kinect V1
- 640×480 @ 30fps
- 0.5m - 4.5m range
- 57° × 43° FOV
PS4 Controller
- Bluetooth/USB
- Gamepad API
- Custom mapping
Projection
- 160×120 grid
- Thermal heatmap
- Large-scale display
Key Algorithms
Genetic Evolution
Each lifeform has 3-gene DNA (movement, color, behavior). Breeding passes traits with mutation. Natural selection via collision mechanics.
Shadow Mapping
Depth threshold detection with grid-based boolean masks and real-time collision detection.
Visualization Modes
Thermal heatmap, point cloud, glow effects, contour detection, and organic particle flow.
Built by: Juan Vargas. Open-source project originally inspired by 314reactor's Raspberry Pi artificial life simulation, evolved into a full interactive installation with Kinect integration and Guardian Mode gameplay for Nashville Scares 2025.