This talk presents interactive multimedia and multimodal systems used in diverse environments. The technologies, including new sensors, interaction surfaces and semantic information processing techniques will be described in the context where they were used. The systems result from collaborative projects in several fields, ranging from cultural heritage to contem-porary art and dance. Recent work, with multidisciplinary teams, on dance annotation to help choreographic work and interactive installations to foster environmental sustainability awareness will be described. The talk will also include the ongoing digital art TimeMachine project. This project proposes new ways to present (and predict) human routines in mobile devices with the goal to stimulate reflection. The academic and research environment and programs in which this work is done will also be described.