The crew from blablablab.org creates a unique digital installation in La Rambla, Barcelona, a place made famous by street artists posing as “human sculptures” and the constant flow of tourists who stop to watch them stand still.
This installation reverses the roles and lets the tourist become the producer as well as the consumer. The system invites visitors to perform as a human statue, with a free personal souvenir as the reward: a small figure of themselves, printed three-dimensionally from a volumetric reconstruction generated using three structured-light scanners (Kinect).
On La Rambla, where people already queue for a photo moment, converting spectators into performers is a reliable way to earn attention without forcing a pitch.
A street ritual, rewritten
La Rambla already has a clear “script”. You stop, you watch, you take a picture, you move on. This project keeps the same script, but switches the hero. Instead of photographing someone else’s performance, you become the performance, and you leave with a physical artifact that proves you did it.
The real question is how you get strangers to choose public participation without feeling like they are being pitched.
How the scanning becomes the experience
The tech is not framed as “3D scanning”. It is framed as a playful stage. You step into position, hold still like the living statues nearby, and the system quietly captures you. The output is a miniature you can take home, which makes the digital process feel tangible and earned.
In European tourist corridors with heavy foot traffic, public-space interactivity succeeds when the action is instantly legible and the payoff is immediate.
Why the reward loop works
A souvenir is usually generic. Here it is personal, location-specific, and instantly story-worthy. The value is not the plastic. The value is the transformation: tourist to performer, data to object, moment to keepsake. The reward loop here is simple: pose, get captured, receive a miniature you can take home. This kind of public-space interactivity works best when the reward is earned through participation, not handed out as a promo.
Extractable takeaway: Turn spectators into performers with a one-step action and an earned artifact, and you can win attention without forcing a pitch.
What to steal for public-space interactivity
- Borrow a behavior people already understand. The “human statue” pose needs no explanation in this location.
- Make participation the content. The audience is literally the subject.
- Deliver a physical takeaway. A real object extends the memory past the street corner.
- Keep the instruction simple. “Stand here and pose” beats any multi-step onboarding.
A few fast answers before you act
What is “Be Your Own Souvenir”?
It is a public installation on La Rambla that invites tourists to pose as human statues, captures them with structured-light scanning, and produces a small 3D-printed figure as a personal souvenir.
How does the system capture the person?
It uses volumetric reconstruction generated from three structured-light scanners (Kinect), producing a digital model that can be sent to a 3D printer.
Why does the “human statue” framing matter?
Because it matches the culture of the street. People already understand the pose-and-watch ritual, so the interaction feels native rather than imported.
What makes this more than a tech demo?
The outcome is personal and physical. The tech disappears behind an experience and a takeaway that visitors actually want.
What is the main lesson for experiential design?
Anchor the interaction in a familiar behavior, then reward participation with an artifact that makes the moment portable.
