MINA × Lidl · Interactive installations · 2026
How we built five interactive installations where every child's drawing, gesture and question came to life.
577 creatures swam in the lagoon over three days. Here are 19 of them — drawn and coloured by children at RADAR Kids. Hover to say hello; tap the water for bubbles.
MINA and Lidl wanted the children's wing of RADAR 2026 to teach nutrition and movement without a single lecture. Five-to-ten-year-olds don't read instructions, don't wait, and spot a “learning game” from across the room. Everything had to work for a crowd, three days straight — no accounts, no personal data, and no food ever labelled “good” or “bad”.
We built one world across five stations, with one hero running through all of them: Pufărici, Lidl's hedgehog. He opens new worlds on The Planet, feeds the children's creatures in the lagoon, delivers food to the Foodie Monsters, talks to kids as Active Buddy and stars in his own arcade game. Every station speaks the same language: show something to a sensor, and a creature answers in under a second.
Kids colour a sea creature on paper and scan it — seconds later it swims on a giant wall alongside everyone else's, while Pufărici sails by in a little boat and feeds them bubbles that help them grow.
Python + OpenCV · PixiJS · scanner / webcam / phone
Kids scan a Lidl product and bring it to one of four spring monsters, each needing a different kind of fuel — energy, growth, hydration, vitamins. Pufărici delivers it in a box; if it isn't the right food, the monster passes it to a friend. No food is ever good or bad — each one just has its role.
Node.js + PixiJS · 4 screens via WebSocket · 48 products
A 1.8-metre projected table where up to six children play at once with their palms: clouds bring rain to dry land, animals find their homes, islands join up. Three games in rotation, each introduced by Pufărici — no operator needed.
ZED 2 depth camera · short-throw projector · Python hand tracking
A small group moves along with Pufărici in real-time 3D, then picks a question about food and play on a tablet — and he answers out loud, lips in sync. No microphone, by design: every answer comes from a written, approved bank.
three.js · Node.js · ElevenLabs voice · 36-answer bank
A wall-sized arcade game: kids steer Pufărici through a maze with a joystick, collecting fruit and veggies to stay strong and dodging the Halloween ghosts he's afraid of. Short rounds, a fast queue — and the parents want a go too.
Browser game · arcade joystick · projected wall
Shared rules everywhere: a pulsing yellow ring means “here, now”, every action is confirmed on screen in under 0.6 s, and every creature moves at 12 fps — so scanned drawings, video and real-time 3D look made by the same hand. On the floor: five screens, two projectors, a depth camera, scanners, a tablet, arcade controls, LED rings and eight laptops on four separate power circuits with UPS. Zero personal data stored, zero accounts.
All five installations ran live from opening hour on 25 September to closing on the 27th, at ARCUB – Hanul Gabroveni in Bucharest. Children drew 577 creatures that swam in the lagoon — 222 on Sunday alone — and met the same hedgehog at every station.
Five short films, one per installation — filmed live at RADAR Kids.
Creative lead & development: Costin Dragomir · On-site tech & infrastructure: Bogdan Valean · Project management: Diana Dragomir. Curated and produced by One Night Gallery / MINA – Museum of Immersive New Art; RADAR Kids presented by Lidl.
