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CLAP FOR ME

Become the puppeteer. Your gestures shape the scene. Your applause moves her heart.

A live installation that turns its audience into puppeteers. Camera-tracked hand gestures and applause control an Egyptian folk-inspired character in Unreal Engine — no headset or controller required. Enter the world of Sanduq El-Dunya, the Box of Tales.

Exhibition & tickets Open press kit
CLAP FOR ME key art

Trailer

See it in motion.

Live installation

Become a puppeteer. Enter the box of tales.

This is a live, in-person installation — there is no download or store page. Catch it at its next exhibition.

Most recent exhibition
Venue
Accademia d'Egitto — The Egyptian Academy in Rome
Address
Via Omero, 4, 00197 Roma RM
Date
10 July 2026
Time
7 PM

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About the installation

Clap for Me — enter the box of tales.

The experience

A dancer waits among the ruins. Raise a hand and the world around her changes. Clap, and she dances. As the room falls silent, her performance begins to break down.

The CLAP FOR ME puppet character standing among ancient stone ruins, clapping

That's Box of Tales' whole idea: turn the audience into puppeteers. Camera-tracked hand gestures and applause control the performance live in Unreal Engine — no headset or handheld controller required, and a VR view is available only as an optional extra. CLAP FOR ME is the first working chapter of an eight-chapter series, Sanduq El-Dunya (The Box of Tales), inspired by Egyptian folk theatre and الليلة الكبيرة (The Grand Night).

All eight Box of Tales characters on stage together, with El Ghaziya the dancer at centre and the Sanduq El-Dunya sign above them
El Ghaziya (the dancer) — the first of eight tales in the collection.

Mariam's story

The piece began during lead artist Mariam Ashraf's residency in Rome. Shortly before she left for it, she survived a near-fatal bus accident — injuries across her arms, legs, hips, ribs, and spine. That she survived at all is considered a miracle. She travelled to Rome anyway, still in rehabilitation. In that recovery she found the piece's central image: a dancer fighting to reclaim rhythm and motion, her performance sustained or halted by forces outside her control. The residency was later recognised with Egypt's State Award for Artistic Creativity in Graphic Arts.

The technology

Unreal Engine runs the character, lighting, cameras, and visual effects. A MediaPipe/Python process sends hand-tracking data in through OSC, and NDI brings the live camera feed into the scene — the audience-input layer Unreal doesn't provide out of the box.

How it works

Become a puppeteer.

It reads your hand from the camera and makes you a puppeteer.

We extended Unreal Engine beyond conventional controllers, turning camera-tracked gestures and live applause into exhibition-ready performance controls.

  • Swipe gesture Swipe left or right to choose a character.
  • Pinch gesture Pinch your hand to confirm.
  • Clap gesture Clap to move the dance forward — and cheer the dancer, or else!
  • Move hand in four directions Move your hands in front of the camera to take control of the scene like a puppeteer. Hand left/right — light cue · Hand up/down — change mood.
  • Open and close hand for brightness Hand open/closed — brightness.

Distance doesn't matter. Applause is what moves her heart.

The collection

Eight tales, one box.

Eight folk-inspired characters. Eight stories about the struggles that connect us. Clap for Me is the first tale brought to life.

  • El Ghaziya, the dancer, a Box of Tales character Playable now El Ghaziya the dancer
  • El Aragoz, the jester, a Box of Tales character Coming in Box of Tales El Aragoz the jester
  • El Omda, the mayor, a Box of Tales character Coming in Box of Tales El Omda the mayor
  • El Monshed, the singer, a Box of Tales character Coming in Box of Tales El Monshed the singer
  • Sheikh El Hara, town's elder, a Box of Tales character Coming in Box of Tales Sheikh El Hara town's elder
  • Sahgy El Sima, the strongman, a Box of Tales character Coming in Box of Tales Sahgy El Sima the strongman
  • El Wleyah, big mam, a Box of Tales character Coming in Box of Tales El Wleyah big mam
  • El Qahwagy, the barista, a Box of Tales character Coming in Box of Tales El Qahwagy the barista

Media

From the installation.

Stills from CLAP FOR ME and its most recent exhibition in Rome, including Bassam Radi, Egypt's Ambassador to Italy, trying the installation.

A visitor in a suit reaches toward the CLAP FOR ME projection while two women watch beside him
A visitor wearing the VR headset, seen from behind, facing the CLAP FOR ME projection
A woman claps as a man beside her wears the CLAP FOR ME headset, facing the projection
A woman watches the projection while a man holds the CLAP FOR ME headset
Three visitors gathered in front of the CLAP FOR ME projection, one adjusting the headset
The CLAP FOR ME puppet character standing among ancient stone ruins, clapping
The CLAP FOR ME character mid-dance, arms raised in the ruins scene
The CLAP FOR ME character kneeling in a spotlight during the installation
Bassam Radi, Egypt's Ambassador to Italy, trying the CLAP FOR ME installation with a VR headset in Rome Bassam Radi, Egypt's Ambassador to Italy, trying the installation.

Coverage

As seen.

This coverage is of the wider 2026 State Award exhibition Mariam Ashraf's work appeared in, where the Academy's own announcement names her directly. More press and social coverage will be added here as it's published — we only list what we can point to.

Mariam Ashraf, leaning on a walking cane, with fellow State Award artists and Egyptian Academy staff at the Rome exhibition opening
Artists, organisers, and guests at the Egyptian Academy in Rome exhibition, 10 July 2026 — Mariam Ashraf pictured with cane.

Press kit

The useful facts, in one place.

Download press kit
Status
Live Event
Format
Live interactive installation — camera-tracked gesture and applause control, no headset required. Individual VR viewing available as an optional extra.
Engine
Unreal Engine, with a custom MediaPipe/OSC gesture layer and NDI live video
Origin
Created by lead artist Mariam Ashraf during her residency in Rome — awarded as Egypt's State Award for Artistic Creativity in Graphic Arts
Lead artist
Marim Ashraf
Technical artist
Maher
Last exhibited
Accademia d'Egitto, Rome — 10 July 2026
Developer
Giantmaker Games
Location
London, United Kingdom
Press contact
contact@giantmakerstudio.com

Official boilerplate

About CLAP FOR ME

CLAP FOR ME is a live interactive installation that turns its audience into puppeteers. Camera-tracked hand gestures and applause control an Egyptian folk-inspired dancer performing live in Unreal Engine — no headset or handheld controller required. One participant conducts the lighting and mood with a tracked hand while the rest of the room keeps the dancer moving through applause.

CLAP FOR ME is the first working chapter of Sanduq El-Dunya (The Box of Tales), an eight-chapter live interactive series inspired by Egyptian folk theatre and الليلة الكبيرة (The Grand Night). It was created by lead artist Mariam Ashraf during her residency at the Egyptian Academy in Rome, recognised with Egypt's State Award for Artistic Creativity in Graphic Arts, and built by Giantmaker Games, an independent two-person studio based in London.

contact@giantmakerstudio.com

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