RTO+P’s Maker Studio Builds Giant Interactive Map for GOOD Magazine

The latest project from Red Tettemer O'Connell + Partners' (RTO+P) Maker team was a huge interactive map for GOOD Magazine’s event at SXSW Interactive in Austin. This touchscreen map celebrated the 'GOOD 100,' GOOD’s annual list of individuals tackling global issues in extraordinary ways. 

A core team of RTO+P’s three makers, two developers and one designer pulled the interactive map together from scratch in just 12 days. The goal was to create a natural, tactile interactive piece where the technology was more invisible.

To bring the map to life, RTO+P affixed a layer of conductive paint under the map, which was held to the wall with copper nails. The illustrated map was wired to an Arduino to create a capacitance sensor that monitored the levels of electricity flowing through the circuit. Touching each image on the map triggered a sensor and ran the appropriate animation in the web app which was projected on the wall. During the event, attendees were invited to touch the map to trigger more information on GOOD 100 honorees. 

RTO+P’s Maker team has been behind other creative initiatives for the agency, including a unique way to welcome new hires – by turning them into Pez Dispensers – among other things (examples: Totem, Lego, Paper Dolls, Drone, Sneaker). The GOOD 100 interactive wall is a great example of the Makers taking on an even bigger, more client-focused project that really came to life at SXSW.