From Scrolling to Strolling: When Digital Discovery Leads to Real-World Connection

Every other year, Cincinnati becomes an outdoor canvas for artists who use technology to create moments of wonder and delight. BLINK^® is a biennial light and projection art event that brings artists, technologists and audiences together across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The installations can be enormous, technically complex and sometimes difficult to explain until you see them in person.

“In Light of Us”

This year, Mz. Icar Collective’s “In Light of Us” featured a large, inflatable figure called Matilda, with projection mapping on its surface. Projecting onto a three-dimensional object is challenging enough. Doing it on an inflatable that shifts with the wind is revolutionary. On Friday night, the installation was accompanied by a live harp performance by prahxas and music composed to complement the visuals. People gathered around to watch, listen and take it all in together.

It’s fascinating to learn what it takes to make something like that possible. What happens when people experience the innovation is just as interesting. The technology formed the experience, but the experience itself was people coming together, sharing in a moment of awe. Those shared moments are part of what makes a community.

Everyone’s joining in

In “String Theory for Dummies 2.0,” artist Daniel Shields invited people to connect fluorescent yarn within an environment of ultraviolet light and lasers. The installation evolved as people contributed, making participation part of the artwork. It reminded me of a music festival, where the crowd is as much a part of the experience as the performers.

My brother-in-law, who was visiting from Los Angeles, agreed. “I love the interactive ones,” he said, making it clear that the chance to participate was a big part of the experience.

I also love how people participate even when they aren’t creating official installations. People arrive in glowing outfits and light-up accessories, while homes and businesses throughout the festival footprint create displays of their own.

Restaurants and retailers find ways to join in, too. This year, some offered glowing cocktails and illuminated treats through the BLINK Hidden Menu in the ArtsWave App. The app gave people another reason to seek out local businesses and discover something they might otherwise have missed, extending the festival experience beyond the art installations.

When technology offers actual connection

It’s easy to spend time online connecting with people far away yet still know very little about the people who live down the street. A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that just 26% of American adults say they know all or most of their neighbors, down from 31% in 2018. In the same survey, 12% say they don’t know any of their neighbors at all.

BLINK offers an interesting way to think about the role technology can play in reversing this trend. Sometimes a digital tool helps people find a place, a physical installation or a local business, and the intended experience happens when they put their phones away to take part.

I think about this a lot in my work with arts and technology. We often talk about innovation in terms of what a new tool can do, how fast it works or how many people it can reach. It’s also worth asking what the technology allows people to do together.

Can it make art more accessible? Can it help someone discover a neighborhood they haven’t explored? Can it give people a reason to linger, talk to a stranger or come back with a friend?

BLINK gives Cincinnati a chance to see those possibilities play out. It shows how a projection, a strand of yarn, a glowing cocktail or an app can give someone a reason to get out and explore a familiar city in a new way.

What I remember most about BLINK is being there with other people, all of us finding something to discover, together. That’s the real promise of technology in community building: creating opportunities for people to connect with the places they live and the people around them.

Jeni Barton is Director, Digital Products at ArtsWave.

Hidden menu items are still available in the ArtsWave App, as well as free access to 50% off arts tickets and exclusive from local restaurants, bars and shops through the ArtsWave Pass feature throughout October.

Photos: Jeni Barton