Projects on Eric Gradman

Home Robot

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Content coming soon.

OpenClaw

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Content coming soon.

Prowess

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Borrow agent skills without installing them — builds a temp plugin, launches your agent, and cleans up when done.

StackStacks

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Share your dev setup and discover alternative developer environments from other users.

Extendo

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

iOS app and CLI that lets AI agents request human decisions and approvals through structured mobile interfaces.

Booper

Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A barcode-activated sound machine built for my 4-year-old son. Uses a Raspberry Pi 3, USB laser barcode scanner, and speaker to play audio files when barcodes are scanned. Each barcode is permanently assigned a random audio file upon first scan. Audio library syncs with Dropbox via rclone, and barcode-to-audio associations are stored in a sqlite3 database.

Fun In Exile

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A web-streamed interactive gameshow about the 2020 pandemic, created with Brent Bushnell and Andy Levey at Two Bit Circus. Wrote the software, wrote shows, and hosted.

Real Fake News

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive show where you and five friends become the cast of KOMG News. Conceived the idea and wrote the script, with fabrication by Chris Weisbart and team, and show design collaboration with Hector Alvarez.

Dr. Botcher's Minute Medical School

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive experience where participants operate on a puppet as part of an immersive story room installation. Software developed collaboratively with Scotty Hoag and Nigel Randal, game design by Mike Salyh, and fabrication led by Chris Weisbart at Two Bit Circus.

Freefall

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

A one-night VR installation at the 2019 XPrize Visioneering conference on the Paramount Studios backlot in Hollywood. Participants wore full-body harnesses and VR headsets, positioned at an elevated stage’s edge. The experience simulated jumping from a highrise building, with participants actually lowered by overhead rope while fans created sensory effects. Over 100 guests participated. Developed the software and show control, and assisted with mechanical rigging design.

Gearmo Del Pouro

Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

A robot who can pour you a drink and put a smile on your face. Wrote the software for show-control and animatronics. Physical robot design and construction by Dan Busby.

Balloon Pop

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Throw ball-pit balls at virtual targets in this midway game meets mobile game. Developed a custom computer vision system for the project.

Demolition Zone

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Your job is to take down a building in this very physical game for two players. Wrote the computer vision system for this project.

Last Ball Standing

Mon, 08 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Six players compete to be the king of the hill with the world’s largest trackballs. Created the initial version of the trackball system for this installation.

Qmongous

Sun, 07 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

A tablet-based queueing system for Two Bit Circus to manage guests waiting for attractions. Features included an easy-to-use sign-up system, thermal paper receipt printing, SMS notifications for guests, and staff display functionality for guest triage.

Skidoo

Sat, 06 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

An experimental arcade platform with more pixels than you need. Developed the initial prototype, authored a Unity plugin enabling other developers to build games for the platform, and created the first game.

snork

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

A windows process manager controlled by redis.

Club01

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Two Bit Circus’ interactive gameshow theater. Developed the software using the Walnut framework, collaborated on initial shows, and hosted performances.

Metagame

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

A metagame software system created for Two Bit Circus that gives guests the feeling that the entire park is alive with mystery and story. The system sends visitors on quests to discover clues and solve mysteries woven throughout the physical space. Puzzle design by Andy Dunn.

Trivia Show

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trivia, game-show style in Club01 at Two Bit Circus. Built using the Club01 infrastructure, co-designed with Mike Salyh.

Whiskey & Wine Shows

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Like no tasting you’ve ever experienced. Designed in collaboration with Mike Salyh and built on top of the Club01 infrastructure at Two Bit Circus.

Piñata Party

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

VR piñata so real, you’d think you were standing in a tiny town in Mexico. Served as cheerleader and technical specialist focused on VR aspects.

Two Bit Circus Pop-Up Book

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

A foray into the art of creating pop-up books, made with Chris Weisbart.

Walnut

Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

A game engine for location-based entertainment blending theatrical storytelling with interactive gameplay. The system coordinates multiple hardware interfaces — touch-screens, sensors, lights, robots, PLCs — across physical spaces called “story rooms.” Functions as a show sequencer, Python programming SDK, hosted game runtime, communications backplane, IO hardware library, and web-based testing and operations toolkit distributed as containerized Docker microservices. Solo development.

Cosmic Contagion

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

An early Story Room about a missing scientist in a remote lab. Large team project at Two Bit Circus — handled software development, show design, and fabrication work.

D.E.J.A

Thu, 07 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive storytelling cube — just 5 inches — featuring voice interface capabilities. Users engaged with puzzle-solving interactions across multiple faces to progress through a narrative experience with integrated hardware and software components. Built at Two Bit Circus.

Kaleidoscope

Wed, 06 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive kaleidoscope installation where the viewer’s face becomes the center of a symmetrical flower pattern. Fabricated the physical device and developed the visual synthesis software.

Oomiyu

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

An origami owl robot powered by Intel. A Kickstarter project to manufacture papercraft owls that could move and be programmed by children to learn Arduino programming. The project was not funded but featured innovative cardboard-based mechanisms — complex concentric systems for head and wing movement entirely from folded cardboard.

Pacman VR

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

In VR, you become PacMan navigating a maze by rolling a large trackball, while friends control ghosts from outside the VR experience, standing around the Hexacade arcade cabinet. Fun to build but challenging to test — violating VR design best practices was part of the charm.

Rhino Joinery Tools

Sun, 03 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Software tools for Rhino3D automating laser-cutter and CNC router joinery creation, including finger-joints, slots, and dog-bone slot functionality. Streamlines the design-to-build workflow.

Spell Binder

Sat, 02 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

A Magic Mirror installation deployed across multiple Dave & Busters locations. Computer vision implementation in C#.

The Auction

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

An immersive theater piece done with augmented audio reality, created in collaboration with the Speakeasy Society. Developed all software while the Speakeasy Society wrote the script.

ofxPolysave

Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

An OpenFrameworks add-on to record shapes.

Space Squad in Space

Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive attraction where groups of up to six people operate the bridge of a starship called the Space Squad Infallible, inspired by Star Trek’s Enterprise bridge. Players guide the mostly working starship through gameplay scenarios emphasizing teamwork and collaborative dynamics. Initial design and build by Elise Lemle and Chris Weisbart; current version rewritten by Wyatt Bushnell and Mike Salyh at Coin Crew.

Wild Blue Yonder

Fri, 02 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Bringing a much-loved comic book to life with Intel Realsense, created with Two Bit Circus.

Kyogen

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

An early framework for building immersive story rooms, originally created for interactive choose-your-own-adventure narratives for multiple simultaneous readers. The primary value emerged in transforming physical spaces into Story Rooms. Early installations like Space Squad In Space used Kyogen before it was superseded by Walnut. Solo development.

Dunk Tank Flambe

Sun, 05 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The classic dunk tank reimagined with propane cannons heating to 3500 degrees Fahrenheit. The victim stands in a steel-and-glass enclosure surrounded by half a dozen propane cannons. When a ball strikes the target, flames engulf the tank. Participants wear firefighter-grade fireproof suits for protection. Ideation, design, and first test subject by Eric Gradman; fabrication by Brent Heyning and Kenny Abney.

Laser Maze

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Can you get through the maze without breaking the beams? And look good doing it? Built with Brent Bushnell.

ofxSubprocess

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

An OpenFrameworks addon to launch and manage subprocesses.

Paintball Robot

Thu, 02 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

A robot that paints pictures using paintballs. Collaborative development across multiple disciplines — software architecture and system integration led by Eric Gradman.

The Flash S.T.A.R. Labs

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

A mobile Story Room to promote the launch of The Flash television series on CW. A tremendous group effort by the entire team at Two Bit Circus. Story design by Hector Alvarez; software and integration by Eric Gradman.

Asteroids

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The classic game of Asteroids, rendered by laser on a floor. A player seated in a rolling chair is tracked by an overhead Microsoft Kinect sensor. The ship appears on the ground between the player’s feet while asteroids drift around the play space. Players use a mobile phone to fire missiles, creating frenetic gameplay that requires constant spinning and rolling. Nolan Bushnell, creator of Atari, was filmed playing at the LA STEAM Carnival.

Balls to the Wall

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A game played by throwing balls against a projected wall. Built with Rina Shkrabova.

Great Forest Challenge

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A Story Room for kids, built for Great Wolf Lodge. An interactive experience created through collaboration. Project management by Nancy Bennett.

Hexaball

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A game of domination with the world’s largest trackballs.

Off Your Rocker

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Race to the finish on these colorful rocking chairs. Handled CAD design, fabrication work, and contributed to multiple software iterations.

Servo Orchestra

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Fun with servos and musical instruments.

STEAM Carnival

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A traveling carnival to inspire kids about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. The product of the entire creative output of Two Bit Circus for many years.

Spacebike

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The classic game of Asteroids, using a bicycle as a controller. Built with Robb Godshaw.

Buttonwall

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Smash buttons! An interactive button-smashing installation created through a years-long collaboration with Two Bit Circus and Rina Shkrabova.

Hexacade

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Games are more fun with six people facing each other. A multi-year collaborative project developed with Two Bit Circus, with special recognition for Rina Shkrabova’s long-term involvement.

Augmented Reality Turret

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Augmented reality, before it was a thing.

Cyclo

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A robotic unicycle puppet created for the Red Bull Creation competition in a 72-hour timeframe. Team “Double Wide” built a unicycling robot marionette and traveled to Brooklyn, NY to compete.

Facelogger

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

An experiment in practical lifelogging designed to address face-blindness. Uses an always-on video camera, facial recognition, and crowdsourcing to help remember people. Users capture interaction clips with a button press, which the system processes to identify faces, transcribe conversations, and record meeting locations and times. Information organized as “Facecards” — flashcard-style summaries for remembering individuals.

Google Rube Goldberg Machine

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A Rube Goldberg machine created for Google’s Global Science Fair. Part of a large Syyn Labs team designing gags and participating in physical setup.

Identity Tree

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive art installation commissioned for the Leonardo Museum in Salt Lake City. Visitors logged in via iPad and granted Facebook permissions, allowing the system to download personal images and life facts. Elements were algorithmically arranged into a tree structure and projected onto a large leaf display. Explores themes of digital identity — control versus algorithmic determination of self-representation.

K-Cup

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

An experimental chording keyboard designed for my physiology and psychology.

Projection Mapped Interior Decorating

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A tool for doing interior decorating using projection mapping on white furniture. Software and projection mapping by Brent Bushnell.

Puppet Show

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A custom-built digital puppet show created as a gift for a child. Features a wireless controller fashioned from a sock puppet, incorporating a potentiometer and digital compass that transmit wirelessly to a base station. The controller captures mouth position and puppet orientation, driving either on-screen puppet animation or a fabricated animatronic puppet character.

Sip & Puff

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A baseball pitching machine controlled by a sip & puff assistive device, built for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The beneficiary was a former minor league baseball pitcher who suffered a spinal cord injury from a car crash. The sip & puff controller enables operation through air pressure changes, allowing individuals with paralysis to operate equipment. Arduino control electronics by Eric Gradman; pitching machine modification by Davis Small.

Wonka Candy Display

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

An animated window display in Times Square for Wonka Chocolate. Handled electronics integration, fabrication work, and installation oversight as part of a large Syyn Labs team.

ColorSpot

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A mobile game, when phones were new.

DieHard Battery

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Cars arranged as a giant piano keyboard enabling musician Gary Numan to perform his song “Cars” using the vehicles as instruments.

DNA Sequencer

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A 100-foot-long double helix light installation featuring 512 computer-controlled full-color LEDs synchronized to music. Featured 32 LED controllers, 4 Arduinos, 4 computers connected by over 6000 wire interconnects. Inputs included music beat-matching, wireless iPad control, and a 22-button console. Processed 53,477 beats during the Santa Monica GLOW Festival.

OK GO Rube Goldberg Machine

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The infamous OK GO Rube Goldberg Machine video. Was a small part of a large team — made a few of the gags, rigged the zipline, and did initial design work.

Sockieokie

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Karaoke, but you’re singing with other people’s faces. An experimental karaoke system combining computer vision with custom-made sock puppets. Displayed at the 2010 Twenty Wonder event in Los Angeles.

Standard Gravity

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Physics made beautiful, rendered on a giant LED wall.

Cloud Mirror

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

An augmented reality art installation that identifies visitors by mining their online presence. Uses computer vision and cloud computing to access Facebook profiles, search results, and public databases, then displays curated personal information in comic-style thought bubbles following the viewer’s face. Visitors can register via badge with unique fiducial glyphs to authorize deeper data access. Supports anonymous SMS “graffiti” messages targeted at other visitors.

Color Night Vision

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

See color in the dark! Led software development.

Haptic Compass

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A wearable belt featuring twelve vibrating pager motors evenly distributed around the circumference. A digital compass identifies magnetic north and activates the corresponding motor for haptic directional sense. Connects via serial to iPhone for bearing guidance to arbitrary destinations with wireless XBee RF control. An experiment exploring whether directional sense derives from absolute biological magnetic sense or integrated relative sensory cues.

Kuka Bomb-Defusal Robot

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Three Kuka robots come together Voltron-style for a robot capable of defusing bombs. Handled software development and sensor/haptics integration.

Narcisystem

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive art installation with multiple biosensors attached to my body influencing venue lighting and sound at a party. Compass directed light intensity, pulse sensor triggered red light synchronized with heartbeat, EEG fed music synthesis, accelerometer amplified footfalls through subwoofer, and a breath alcohol sensor controlled the smoke machine. All hand-soldered circuit boards with battery packs and multiple radios.

ShadowSmoke

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive projected installation featuring a Navier-Stokes fluid dynamics simulator visualizing dense fluid movement with color gradients. Detects human motion via computer vision and allows manipulation through mouse, sound input, accelerometer data, multitouch gestures, and brainwave sensors. Loud sounds trigger fluid injection from a moving emitter.

The Puck

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

An experimental physical computing device — a wireless RFID reader with onboard accelerometer. Transmits detected tags to a computer via wireless radio, enabling RFID tags to function as “virtual knobs.” Interactive control of LED lighting by manipulating RFID tags behind paper. A scavenger hunt game variant was unveiled at the H+ Summit in Irvine, CA.

Artfall

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

An interactive installation where visitors draw on a whiteboard. A camera captures the art, computer vision analyzes the contours, a physics engine simulates falling objects colliding with the drawings, and the results project back onto the whiteboard creating dynamic visual feedback. Co-created with Brent Bushnell at Mindshare Labs.

NotPocketSimon

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

My first interactive game. The classic game of Simon played by four people.

VR Command Center

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Control real computers around the world in VR. In 2008. Lead software developer.

Self-Driving OHV

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

An early self-driving car I can’t tell you much about! Part of a large team as one of the lead software developers.

Concept Car

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

A concept car for a major auto manufacturer I can’t tell you much about. Part of a large team; wrote some of the software.

Ms. PacMan IKEA Table

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Nobody ever expands their expanding dinner tables, so I stuffed a custom Ms Pacman in mine.

TRS-80 Bluetooth

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Retrofitted a TRS-80 Model 100 laptop with wireless connectivity by soldering a BlueSMIRF Bluetooth module directly to the HD-6502 UART on the motherboard, enabling it to function as a networked terminal. A MacBook paired with the Bluetooth module, exposing the remote TTL UART as a device file for telnet access to remote systems. Executed as an office prank for a new employee’s first day.

Zeta

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

A robotics framework written in C and Python from scratch for semi-autonomous robots. Primary developer for two years. The framework enabled robot engineers to designate hardware connections, specify software module execution across computers, and manage dataflow between modules and systems. Command and control interface used Panda3d. Utilized in autonomous robotics projects for a government contractor.