Remember the early days of the internet? It was a wild west of discovery, a digital playground filled with unexpected delights. Clicking a link was an adventure, a jump into the unknown. This sense of playful surprise is what inspired the creation of GIF DANCE PARTY, a project dedicated to bringing smiles back to the web, purely for the joy of it.
Driven by the simple goal of generating smiles – no clients, no social media pressures, just pure fun – GIF DANCE PARTY emerged as a favorite project. It’s all about capturing that lighthearted internet spirit and translating it into an interactive experience. The name itself, GIF DANCE PARTY, gives a pretty clear indication of the fun that’s in store.
While animated GIFs might seem commonplace now, back in 2012, when GIF DANCE PARTY started, they were largely relegated to cheesy banner ads. Tumblr was the main platform embracing the GIF culture. Recognizing the untapped potential of animated GIFs, the aim was to liberate them from Tumblr and place them into a more accessible and engaging environment. This spark of inspiration led to an intense coding session and the birth of the first GIF DANCE PARTY website, allowing anyone to create and share their own virtual dance parties.
Despite some initial coding challenges, the website functioned surprisingly well. Like many web projects, it was a matter of piecing together existing components with a bit of online research and digital ingenuity. The basic code was sound, but a significant hurdle appeared: the scarcity of transparent GIFs, especially transparent dance GIFs, which were crucial for the project’s vision. After extensive searching, only four were found – far too few for a proper digital dance party.
To overcome this, friends were enlisted to painstakingly remove backgrounds from GIF dancers, pixel by pixel, frame by frame. This collaborative effort resulted in the collection of transparent dancers featured in the initial GIF DANCE PARTY launch. Now, years later, GIF DANCE PARTY boasts a library of over 120 iconic dancers, ready to populate your digital celebrations.
Over time, GIF DANCE PARTY went viral, receiving millions of visits globally. The captivating nature of animated GIFs, combined with the familiar and joyful context of a party, resonated deeply online. Even dancing cats joined the digital dance floor for added amusement. The project’s enduring appeal was evident when it hit the front page of Reddit on November 2, 2015, sparking enthusiastic reactions.
The positive reception extended to professional circles as well. Colleagues at IDEO embraced the project, leading to the creation of an IDEO Boston (now IDEO Cambridge) GIF Dance Party using a green screen setup.
The project’s success highlighted the power of maximizing the “smile-to-effort ratio.” What could have been dismissed as simply “silly” proved to be incredibly rewarding, thanks to a supportive and creative environment. However, the very nature of an online project meant missing out on seeing the smiles it generated firsthand. An idea emerged: to create a real-life GIF DANCE PARTY installation.
The vision was to use projectors, 3D cameras, and custom code to transform partygoers into live dance GIFs. These digitized dancers would then become part of a dynamic visual spectacle, projected for everyone to see, creating a shared, immersive GIF DANCE PARTY digital dance floor experience.
This ambitious undertaking required more than just basic web development skills. A call for creative coders was answered by a talented team: Matt F., Wes T., Joe S., and Matt G. Through countless Saturdays, fueled by passion and perseverance, the team tackled the complex challenge of bringing GIF DANCE PARTY to a physical space using C++ and OpenFrameworks. Six months of dedicated work culminated in a successful installation.
The GIF DANCE PARTY installation became a hit, leading to frequent bookings and enthusiastic reactions. It evolved from a “cool art installation” into an experience with a genuinely positive impact on partygoers. It tapped into the modern desire for self-expression, but with a twist. Unlike traditional photo booths that isolate individuals, this experience thrust participants into the center of the party, creating a shared and dynamic moment. It became clear: This is the evolution of the photo booth. We have tapped into the selfie-lust habits of the modern day partygoer. But unlike the conventional photo booth experience, we went hyper dynamic, we went hyper visual, and for the first time in photo booth history, we introduced selflessness to the selfie. An experience for you, and an experience for all.
@ the GIF DANCE PARTY capture booth
GIF DANCE PARTY offered a new way for people to interact within a party environment. It broke down barriers and encouraged spontaneous, shared fun, much like setting up a Slip N’ Slide in the middle of a dance floor.
As a team of artists, coders, and designers, the exploration and evolution of the GIF DANCE PARTY continues. From its humble beginnings as a website to its current form as an interactive installation, GIF DANCE PARTY has been a source of joy for creators and participants alike. It’s a project built on smiles, with even more fun to come.
