Interactive Solutions Berlin is a fluid network of designers, craftspeople and software engineers. We create electronics, software, mechanics and user interface designs for interactive objects and applications. Our products are being used in different environments and contexts such as media art installations, interactive exhibitions, Escape Games, screen applications and much more.
Our services include:
Customized interactive electronics
Intuitive and joyful digital products
Handcrafted solutions for any purpose
Examples
Stranger Lights
String lights spell your texts
Inspired by the "Stranger Things" series, we developed several string lights whose light bulbs are filled with ws2812b LEDs. Each string light has 26 bulbs so that they can be hung on the wall and the letters of the alphabet can be written underneath.
There is a web interface, where users can log in, write short texts and send them to a web server. Raspberry PIs are attached to the string lights and continuously retrieve the texts from the server. The Raspberries then switch individual light bulbs on and off and in this way spell out the texts that the users have entered in the web interface.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Fingerprint Game
Collect others’ fingerprints and win a prize
The Fingerprint Game is an interactive art installation for events related to privacy and biometric data. For the players the main objective is to collect as many fingerprints from other persons as possible. The user interface consists of a fingerprint sensor and a large screen. Players can enroll in the game by registering one of their fingerprints. Then they can persuade other people to scan their fingerprints too. For every persuaded person the player receives one point. The other person now has an own player account and can start to collect fingerprints too. At the end the player with the most points wins a prize.
The Fingerprint Game is able to explore how generously people give biometric data away if they get rewarded for that. This game is not about playing it but about the discussion led among the players.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Talking Magic Lamp
Enchanted Escape Game Gadget from Thousand and One Nights
Ornaments, pathos and magic characterize the atmosphere of the Escape Game "The Magic Lamp". As the title suggests, the main object in the game is a real magic lamp. To enhance the feeling of an enchanted environment, we developed the electronics and software for a magic lamp that can talk to the players at certain points in the game. This happens as if by magic, for example, when the lamp is brought to certain places in the game or the players have successfully solved puzzles.
We realize this technically by using an MP3 player, a loudspeaker, a power bank and an Arduino MKR WiFi in the magic lamp. The Arduino is connected to another Arduino MKR WiFi, which in turn is connected to a Hintpad computer. Hintpad can send various signals to the magic lamp in this way. Depending on the signal, the magic lamp plays different MP3 files. A wirelessly chargeable power bank serves as the power supply for the magic lamp.
In combination with Hintpad, the magic lamp offers all imaginable possibilities, but can also be used independently.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Plasma Spheres
Plasma spheres as user interface
For an Escape Game in the style of a magic school, we transformed several plasma spheres into interactive objects. The players have to touch all the spheres at the same time to progress in the game. Because the plasma spheres are far away from each other, several players inevitably have to coordinate and communicate to solve this puzzle. This social activation enhances the group experience and, on top of that, the plasma spheres set fitting decorative accents in the magic school atmosphere. When they are touched at the same time and something happens in the escape room by magic, the surprise effect is guaranteed.
For this project, we use current sensors that we attach to the plasma spheres and connect to an Arduino. Our software evaluates the sensor data and thus gets to know when the spheres are touched. If all the sensors go off at the same time, the Arduino sends a signal to a Hintpad computer, which can then do all sorts of things in the Escape Room.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Rotary Phones
Vintage phones as user interface
Two old rotary phones integrate into the atmosphere of an Escape Game in the style of a Berlin Wall border patrol booth. All of a sudden the phones start to ring. The players must pick them up simultaneously otherwise the caller hangs up. If the players do so they hear different instructions through the receivers and can dial numbers to influence the further course of the game.
The two phones were hacked by us with connected Arduinos. They can trigger the ringer, read dial inputs, play MP3 files via speakers in the receivers and communicate with each other.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Skate Pong
Ever played Pong with a Skateboard?
This experimental projects enables people to play Pong and control the racket by riding a skateboard. The racket moves if the player rolls forward. By turning the skateboard by 180 degrees the moving direction of the racket changes. Of course this should not be done if other people or cars are around or if the player is not a skilled skateboarder!
The setup consists of a smartphone attached to the skateboard. The smartphone’s sensor data is sent to a laptop. On the laptop the data is interpreted with Processing which controls a Makey Makey based on the player’s movement. The Makey Makey is attached to another smartphone where the actual Pong game runs. This smartphone is held by the Player while riding the skateboard.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Keypad Puzzle
Different number codes, different sounds
A physical keypad is the user interface of this Escape Game gadget. In the course of the game, the players find various telephone numbers that can be entered on the keypad. An Arduino checks whether the entered number sequences are correct. If so, the Arduino plays various MP3 files that are associated with the respective number over a loudspeaker.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Fog Machine
A sculpture with a smoking head
Fog Machine forms the electronics for a weird pice of art. The sculpture consists of a hollow head lying on the ground. There is a tube coming out of the neck. The tube is connected to a fog machine. The fog goes through the tube inside the head and leaves through the eyes, the nose and the mouth.
The fog machine is hacked by us with an Arduino. With attached potentiometers and switches the user can control how much fog the machine produces and can set time intervals for the fog production. An OLED display will give visual feedback.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Nixie Mind
Like Master Mind, but cooler
Nixie Mind is the electronics for an Escape Game puzzle that works like the famous Master Mind game. Players have to figure out a combination of colored game tiles which they insert into the Nixie Mind case. Two Nixie tubes show numbers that tell how many colors are correct and how many positions of the combination are correct. Thus the players can find the correct combination by trial and error. The Nixies are controlled by an Arduino which also checks the combination of inserted game tiles.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Escape High Scores
Publish your Escape Room high scores online
What if you could automatically post escape time records from your Escape Room store on your website to enhance the challenge between your customers? We make that possible by putting a Raspberry PI into your local area network at your store. The Raspberry PI collects Escape Game data like the escape time from all Hintpad computers inside your network. It then posts this data into a database on a web server. On the Escape Room website the data is displayed as a WordPress widget. Users can view high score tables for each connected Escape Room. There are two tables: Best escape times of current month and best escape times of current year.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Ghost Video
A camera reveals paranormal activity
We built a camera that films not only people but also ghosts inside a magic school themed Escape Room.
While playing the game the players are filmed at a certain moment. This video is instantly edited automatically. The video is overlaid with another video taken in the same place with an actor performing as a ghost. The players will see the edited video at a later moment in the game. They will see that they were filmed and that the camera seems to have also filmed a ghost walking between the players.
The recording and editing is done on a Raspberry PI. A Hintpad computer tells the Raspberry PI to record as soon as the players solved a specific puzzle.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Magic Wand
A magic wand as user interface
With this magic wand the players can control things and solve puzzles a magic school styled Escape Room. The wand has an accelerometer built in as well as an infrared transmitter. It is able to learn infrared signals from TV remote controls and to reproduce them if certain gestures are performed with the wand. We hacked the wand with an Arduino, which reads the signals with multiple infrared receivers located in different compartments of the escape room. The Arduino switches relays based on the gestures the players perform with the magic wand and the relays are read by a Hintpad computer via a Controllino.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Tank Shooting Game
Arcade Game
This game is part of an Escape Game in the style of a World War II bunker. With physical push buttons the players can shoot tanks on a screen. The buttons are located somewhere inside the Escape Room. They are connected to a Raspberry PI which displays the Tank Shooting Game on a screen, which is mounted inside a periscope. This setup enforces teamwork because one player has to push the buttons and another player has to look through the periscope to guide the player who pushes the buttons. The Raspberry PI is also connected to a Hintpad computer and can communicate if the players successfully shoot all the tanks.
Schematic Concept
Tags
RGB Color Puzzle
Push buttons according to a color sequence
This electronics bundle consists of physical push buttons in different colors, an Arduino and a RGB LED strip light. The Arduino is connected to relays which enable communication with a Hintpad computer. The LEDs can show a sequence of colors. As soon as a color is shown the Escape Game players have to push the button which has the same color. On success the LEDs show the next color in the sequence. On error the sequence starts all over. The on-duration of the LEDs gets shorter and shorter with each success so it becomes harder and harder for the players to push the button in time. The LEDs also give feedback to the players if there was a success or an error.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Bar Quiz Buzzer
Are you a bar quiz champ?
This is a set of arcade push buttons with robust 3D-printed cases. The buttons are connected to an Arduino which controls the LED inside the buttons and reads the buttons’ push states. The Arduino is powered by a wirelessly chargeable power bank. These buzzers are used in a bar to play trivia games with the visitors.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Polyjuice Puzzle
Solve a color puzzle with a magic wand
For this puzzle we hacked some Harry Potter Polyjuice flasks available on the internet. The original electronics were replaced with ws2812b LEDs and connected to an Arduino. The Arduino now lights up individual flasks in a certain color sequence. The Arduino also has several reed switches attached. The Escape Game players have a magic wand with a magnet inside its tip. In the Escape Room there are colored spots in the same colors as the color sequence for the LEDs. Behind the colored spots the reed switches are located. So the players can reproduce the color sequence by tapping with the magic wand onto the colored spots. If they tap the color sequence correctly the Arduino switches a relay connected to a Hintpad computer via a Controllino.
Schematic Concept
Tags
ABM Task Planer
A physical interface for artificial intelligence
We built an user interface for an agent based modeling (ABM) software which simulates task management in a domestic community. The software is able to distribute different household tasks like kitchen duties to computer agents and a human agent. The user interface for the human agent consists of a network of Raspberry PIs which are associated with different tasks. The Raspberries are equipped with buttons, displays and sensors. So they can tell if the human agent accepts a task and solves it by a simple metaphoric interaction. The Raspberries communicate with the ABM through our JavaScript API and with the user via OLED displays.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Talking Sorting Hat
A hat to distribute players to teams
This hat is made for a very large Escape Game in the style of a magic school. Many players can take part and thus have to be divided into different teams. The style of the game suggests using a talking hat, which each player must put on in turn. The hat randomly divides the players into teams.
A lot of different readymade talking hats are available on the internet. We took one of them and replaced the electronics with our own. Inside the hacked hat there is an Arduino which controls an MP3 player and the motor for the mechanics which move the mouth of the hat. A proximity sensor tells the Arduino if someone puts on the hat. The electronics are powered by a wirelessly chargeable power bank.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Wildlife Camera
A low budget photo trap
We created a simple but effective device to automatically take videos and photographs of animals in the wilderness. Therefore we put a Raspberry PI into a robust waterproof enclosure. Beside the Raspberry there is a motion sensor as well as a night vision high definition camera. As soon as the sensor notices motions, the Raspberry takes photographs and videos with the camera. These are stored on an attached USB flash drive which can be removed to download the media. The Wildlife Camera can operate autonomously and can be left in the wilderness for several days as a photo trap.
Schematic Concept
Tags
Car Diagnostics
Repair a car to survive the apocalypse
The players of an apocalyptic Escape Game find themselves inside a car repair shop. If they want to survive, they need to repair a broken heavily tuned Trabant car. During the whole game there is a screen telling them which parts of the car they already repaired.
We made that possible by connecting a Raspberry PI to the Hintpad computer which controls the Escape Game. Hintpad can tell the Raspberry about the players’ progress and the Raspberry shows different apocalyptic dashboards and messages on a screen.
Schematic Concept
