Leigh Mannes

Software developer

I'm a freelance software developer based in Melbourne with a background in the finance, education and advertising industries. Working across mobile, online and real-world experiential installations I provide analysis, technical direction, development expertise and deployment automation.

I have experience in a diverse tool-set including Unity, AS3, Python, and PHP but I always enjoy picking up whatever frameworks and languages are needed to get the job done (currently digging deeper into C running on embedded systems.) Some of the projects I've worked on include the award-winning Augmented Reality game for Honey Nut Cheerios, custom Facebook controlled video production for Samsung, an online/tablet petition for Amnesty International and experimental work using Microsoft Kinect.

In the holy war of editors, I back vi (well vim, actually) but most of the time I'll use a dedicated IDE to actually get things done.

Honey Nut Cheerios - Honey Way Train

In-browser AR

When players showed the back of a specially printed box of Honey-Nut Cheerios to their webcam the box appeared to open up, showing a game inside. Players could then control 'Buzz' by tilting the box and avoid a series of obstacles to find 'Handsome Hector' and save the Cheerios.

View site (Requires the Unity3D plugin, a custom AR integration was built to power the game)

Amnesty International - Arms Trade Treaty

Interactive petition site and tablet app

Animated petition allowing people to sign their name with mouse or their finger and have it turn into a tunnel to let child soldiers escape.

The system was designed to have both a web face, and also an iPad app ported from the same code, integrating petition signatures into Amnesty's database. The iPad app was also used for an awareness event run at Federation Square where live signatures were displayed up on the big screen.

Kinect experiments

Kinectsperiments? That's a word, right?

These were a couple of experiments I conducted with a Kinect sensor and Unity in the (pre-official sdk) days after the XBox Kinect's launch. Using OpenFrameworks and Unity3D I was attempting to see how the Kinect performed close up and how well individual fingers could be detected. Turns out it was good enough to put some simple 'grab' and 'release' gestures in to throw some cubes around in Unity's physics engine: Super fun stuff.

LG - Tree

Interactive installation with Facebook integration

Three sided installation, each side consisting of 9 LG LCD panels. I was responsible for the live Facebook wall, streaming pictures and allowing direct uploads from an LG Android tablet; along with the competition winner display screen running a series of LG TVCs. The installation also featured an interactive Kinect experience. I developed remote administration systems for the install, along with a local proxy server to manage Facebook logins across the tablet.

Samsung - Mr Know It All

Custom video generator

Users logged on via Facebook and selected four friends, whose pictures were then retrieved and featured in the background of shots during the video. The production of the site involved interpreting "corner-pin" data from After Effects artists, and a data model / video integration that placed assets and masks in real-time with frame level accuracy.

Wrigley 5Gum - Sound Mixer

Sound mixer with tangible AR interface

On this site users could alter the mix and effects of several electronic tracks by manipulating four AR markers in front of their webcam. Each unique mix could be saved with a video of its creation stored in an online gallery. As the campaign was deployed across multiple European regions the site also featured extensive localisation features to handle different languages and messaging.

Iloura / Boffswana site

HTML website with Javascript animated front-end

The two sites were hosted from a central database after some adjustments were made to the underlying ProcessWire framework. The front-end used jQuery to dynamically place thumbnails according to browser width and animate as the browser width changed. The site also included an internal bookmarking feature, "lightbox", which let users curate a selection of content and share with a unique link.

Big M - Taste Invaders

On-site AR game

Running alongside a huge set of earphones made out of cartons of Big M (in Victoria, Moove in NSW, and Masters in WA) was a live AR game. Contestants were asked to madly dash back and forth to catch cartons to win prizes

Marc Ecko - Digital Muse

Lindsay Lohan on your desk, jailarity ensues

For the launch of Ecko's 'Cut & Sew' 2010 line, users could see an AR video featuring Lindsay Lohan as Marc Ecko's muse. Users could record themselves interacting with the AR Lindsay and each video was uploaded to a dedicated YouTube channel.

Honey Nut Cheerios - Honey Heist

In-browser AR proof-of-concept

A proof-of-concept AR game was developed prior to beginning work on the Honeyway Train project, using an earlier version of the custom Unity3D AR integration. In this game players would set the box down in front of their webcam to have the game appear out of it, then fly Buzz around the environment using their keyboard, throwing honey to stop bandits stealing the precious Cheerios.

Sony Music - Sean Kingston

In-browser AR karaoke

As a feature integrated into Sean Kingston's site, users could have "lil' Sean" appear on their desktop, then choreograph dance moves and sing a chorus of his latest single. Each interaction, complete with karaoke singing, could then be recorded and posted online to share. The site was built in Flash, and included integration with Sony Music's webservices to handle user-generated content.

Coke - Summer Blast

Flash game with pre-rendered 3D graphics

An arcade style game to tie in with Coke's "Open Happiness" campaign. I was primarily responsible for integration work with the game engine and menu components, as well as linking with a separate high score / sign-on system.

Greenseas - The Friendly Seas

AI fish controlled by facial gestures

Visitors attempted to "befriend" 3D fish by using their smile and the tilt of their head in front of a webcam. An AI state machine controlled the fish as their behaviour was influenced by data coming in from the smile detection algorithm.

Movie Network Channels

Drupal integration

I rewrote a complex integration of raw Foxtel channel data into an existing Drupal site, managing the batch process of updating channel guides.

Destination NSW

AR Experience

An AR experience which ran in shopping centres across Sydney, allowing people to get up close to our native fauna. The installation superimposed pre-rendered animals onto a live feed displayed on large LED screens.

Jack Link's - Sasquatch

In-browser AR with recording functionality

Users drag-and-dropped a variety of animations and speech bubbles into a timeline, and using a webcam and printed marker could record themselves with Sasquatch to post online.

The site used Flash with an adapted AR solution on the front-end, along with a back-end recording system built on Turbine, PHP and Windows Server.