Shadow play at Screenburn Credit: Richard Whittaker

While the crowds at the Screenburn Arcade were obviously drawn by the pimped-out Yaris games-mobiles, and or pit their talents against all-female pro-gamers the Frag Dolls, they were also looking for cool kit. Hands down that still went to Shadow Garden, an interactive projection game where your shadow is the controller. Created by local IT genius Zach Simpson, it’s more intuitive than a Wii-mote, and a better interface than Vista. there were cues of kids, teens and adults wanting to spend time crushing the color out of sim-sand, or attracting virtual butterflies.

If you missed it, it’s part of the the Austin Children’s Museum permanent collection, about five minutes walk from the ACC.

This article appears in March 9 • 2007.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.