Eric Gradman is an interactive artist in Los Angeles, CA. His work often features computer vision, large-scale projections, unusual sensors, and custom electronics to produce fun environments that compel people to interact.

He has over 15 years experience designing and building diverse cutting-edge technology including 3d-touch displays, virtual reality systems, satellite control systems, intelligent robots, concept cars, semantic web databases, and social networking platforms. Eric has a Masters in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California, and is a frequent speaker on robotics and interactive systems. He is co-founder of Virsix, an immersive entertainment company in Los Angeles; Syyn Labs [formerly Mindshare Labs], a Los Angeles-based tech-art collective; and a founding member of Crashspace LA, Los Angeles’ first hackerspace.

Previous artistic projects include:

  • Shadowsmoke

    A colorful fluid simulation is projected on a wall.  A camera captures the live-motion of real dancers in the foreground, whose bodies push the smoke around making colorful swirls and patterns.

  • ArtFall [with Brent Bushnell]

    Anyone can draw on this large whiteboard mounted on the wall.  A camera periodically captures what’s been drawn and turns it into a physics simulation.  Images of falling objects are projected back onto the whiteboard, where they appear to bounce off the hand-drawn artwork, collecting in the low spaces, and eventually disappearing.

  • The Narcisystem

    A wearable suit of biometric sensors which allows Eric’s heartrate to control the lighting, his footsteps to literally shake the venue (using a subwoofer), and his breath-alcohol level and his EEG readings to control the music… all wirelessly  This was debuted at Mindshare in Los Angeles.

  • Haptic Compass

    A belt studded with vibrating pager motors which, when worn around the waist, acts as a compass: it always vibrates in the direction of North. When worn for a long period of time, the belt promotes a “sixth sense” for compass direction.

  • NotPocketSimon

    A new twist on a the classic game of Simon… a game made so large it must be played by four people simultaneously.

  • Shadow Dancer

    A shadow-screen that looks deceptively simple… but its not your shadow which is cast on the screen, but a subtly manipulated doppelganger!

  • Ikea Arcade Table

    Every classic arcade game ever produced is playable on this “head-to-head” style arcade machine, which is cleverly hidden in an Ikea dining room table.

Eric’s work has been seen at various conferences and events, including Los Angeles Brewery ArtWalk, TEDxUSC, Opportunity Green Conference, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), BIL, TEDActive, Los Angeles Hammer Museum, Sundance Film Festival, and the Koshland Museum of Science [Q2-2010].

Eric is a born entertainer: a circus performer with Cirque Berzerk and performer with The Mutaytor .  He placed in the top 10 in the world at the 2009 International Whistling Competition in Louisburg N.C.