Shadowplay is an interactive and immersive visual installation that has been exhibited at venues including Shambala Festival, Light Up Lancsater 2024, Windermere Science Festival, Supermassive, and EMF Camp.
It looks a bit like this:
Currently we have the following upcoming events:
- Shadowplay: 1000 titles (V&A South Kensington, Digital Design Weekend 2025, 19th-21st September)
- Shadowplay: Light and Dark (Storey Gallery, Light Up Lancaster, 6-8 November)
How does it work?
At the heart of Shadowplay is an AI image generator that creates a stream of moving images. Audiences interact with and control the stream using their bodies, objects, light, shadows, and our custom built software PromptTank.
Art, Experience, Installation, Research
Shadowplay is a series of artworks and experiences that evolves to fit different settings, from events and festivals, to galleries and installations, or educational and engagement events.
We are continually building new collaborations and experimenting with Shadowplay in many different contexts across music, theatre, wellbeing, and education. We love collaborations! If you have an idea then please get in touch!
Shadowplay is also a design-led research project that has three aims:
- Explore the creative possibilities of realtime AI image generation
- Understand the challenges and opportunities that generative AI creates for interaction design
- Test new experiences and applications for realtime AI image generation
Image of PromptTank in use
PromptTank
Shadowplay brings together several pieces of technology, which we explain in detail in this research paper.
At the heart of Shadowplay is a software system called PromptTank which provides an innovative, flexible, and intuitive way to interact with generative AI that adopts an approach that we developed called Holistic Prompt Craft (follow this link to read a blog and research paper on the topic).
Right now PromptTank is not publicly available to download, but if you’re interested in using it, developing it further, or want to know more, then please get in touch!
Who is behind Shadowplay and how do we get in touch?
Shadowplay is led by Dr Joseph Lindley and Dr Roger Whitham. If you’d like to contact us to discuss Shadowplay, then the best way is via email using:
j.lindley@lancaster.ac.uk and r.whitham@lancaster.ac.uk
The work is funded by Design Research Works, which in turn is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.