Interactive floor installation exploring the evolution of Apple app icon design

Concept

 

Apple’s app icons have become some of the most recognizable design elements in the world.

 

Over the years, they’ve evolved from highly detailed, skeuomorphic illustrations designed to mimic real-world objects into simpler, more adaptable visual systems. Each redesign reflects broader changes in technology, user expectations, and Apple’s design philosophy.

 

The goal of this installation was to make that evolution interactive.

 

Instead of viewing app icons as static graphics on a screen, visitors can explore their history by physically moving through the experience.

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Experience

 

As visitors enter the space, they’re surrounded by a field of familiar Apple app icons projected onto the floor.

 

As they move through the installation, icons respond to their presence. Stepping onto an icon triggers an expanded view that reveals how that icon changed over time, including the years each design was used and the visual decisions behind its evolution.

 

Some visitors move methodically from icon to icon. Others explore more casually, discovering changes in apps they’ve used for years without ever noticing how much they had evolved.

 

The experience transforms something people interact with every day into a visual timeline of Apple’s approach to interface and graphic design.

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Execution

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The installation combines motion tracking, projection mapping, and real-time content delivery to create a responsive, multi-user experience.

 

• Input: Motion tracking and visitor position with ZED Camera

• Processing: Real-time icon detection, skeleton position  and content triggering

• Output: Dynamic floor projection with historical icon timelines

• Interaction: Step onto an icon to reveal its evolution

• Users: Supports multiple visitors interacting simultaneously

 

 

The challenge was creating an experience that felt intuitive without requiring instruction. The interaction needed to be discovered naturally while remaining responsive in a public environment with multiple users moving through the space.

 

DKS Design led the concept, interaction design, content structure, and system behavior, working with development partners to ensure the experience was engaging, reliable, and easy to understand.