Theo Watson, Emily Gobeille and Nick Hardeman
Connected Worlds
Connected Worlds is an immersive, interactive ecosystem that was designed for the New York Hall of Science. It’s an installation of six smaller ecosystems, actually—all of which are connected, much like real ecosystems are. The difference here is that the environments only exist on massive screens connected by a 3,000-ft² interactive floor.

Silo 468 Light Art Helsinki

INTERACTIVE LIGHT ART FOR URBAN REDEVELOPMENT SILO 468 HELSINKI Disused oil silo has been converted into mesmerizing light art piece and a public space with the aid of swarm intelligence and interactive lighting. The project is a conversion of oil silo into light art piece and a public space designed by Madrid based Lighting Design Collective (LDC). It sits by the sea facing central Helsinki, Finland. Prevailing winds well known to residents are strongly present. The natural light, wind and the movement of light on the water formed the principles for the lighting concept. Walls are perforated with 2012 holes referring to the Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 year. The lighting signifies the start of a major urban redevelopment for the City of Helsinki. It functions to draw focus to unknown district and creates a landmark and a marketing device for the City. Maybe most importantly through the use of natural and artificial light it created a unique civic space for the citizens to use. Furthermore, it set a precedent for a new district for 11000 people to become the “district of light”. During the first years the silo is mainly viewed from distance when the area starts to get build. 1280 LED domes in 2700K white are fitted inside the silo behind the cut-outs and visible from several kilometres away. LDC developed a bespoke software using swarm intelligence and nature simulating algorithms that refresh responding to parameters such as wind speed, direction, temperature, clear night and snow. System dials out every 5 minutes for new data. The patterns are fluid, natural in feel and never repeat. They are slow but speed up in relation to the wind speeds creating constantly changing mural of light. At midnight the exterior turns deep red for 1 hour. The colour refers to the former use of the silo as a container of energy. At 02:30 when the last ferry goes past to Suomenlinna lights go off. The interior gains importance as the area gets populated. Inside is painted deep red. Daylight seeps through the pattern derived from original rust patterns on the walls. North facing wall has no perforations. 450 steel mirrors moved by winds are fitted behind the holes. With sunlight the silo appears to glimmer and sparkle like surface of water.The warm white LED grid reflects light indirectly via the red walls into the space. The moving patterns read as halos racing across the walls. The Silo is a civic space for the citizens of Helsinki. Floor was added and rigging infrastructure, power, water and emergency & cleaning lighting. Light intervention has created a new space for people.

The Beach
The Beach is an interactive installation that reimagines the familiar natural and cultural elements of a day at the beach, to create an unexpected and memorable experience for people of all ages. Visitors ascend a ramp before entering an all-white enclosure, where the floor descends towards the highlight of the experience – an ocean of over one million recyclable, antimicrobial plastic balls. A pier extends out into the ‘sea’, allowing people to stand in the center of the space and watch others, while an island invites exploration and discovery. Visual cues such as deck chairs, lifeguard chairs, umbrellas, and signage recall elements of the typical beach-going experience.

your unerasable text
“your unerasable text” is an interactive installation, dealing with the topics of data storage and elimination of data. The installation can be placed in an exhibition, but ideally it’s exhibited in a public space window, where it can be used by people passing by 24h a day. The participant is asked to send a textmessage to the number written on a sign next to the installation. “send your unerasable textmessage to +43 664 1788374”. The receiver mobile transfers it to a computer, which is layouting the message automatically. Then it is printed on to a DIN A6 paper, which is falling directly on to a papershredder. There the message remains readable for a few moments and gets destroyed then. The shredded paper forms a visible heap on the floor, which reminds of a generative graphic.

Derivations
“A collaboration with Symmetry Labs at Gray Area Foundation for the Arts in San Francisco. Derivatives of multiple generative rules I designed in the past were adapted to an interactive LED floor. The video demo includes 6 visual sets and transitions in between. Set 01 is an adaption of 1DFBD, which was also used in a couple of projection mapping tests in 2014. Set 03 is derived from an untitled turbulence piece created in 2014 as well. Similar to Set 03, all agents in Set 04 are driven by 3D Perlin Noise flow field. However, instead of being an emitter spawning agents, each dot functions as an attractor intervening in the flow, same way as it did in 2BCD.”Raven Kwok

Neuro Surge
Measuring about 9 meters in height, the work pierces through the atrium of the ‘shiseido’ ginza building from the first to the second floor and creates an unprecedented display of light with the use of new advanced fibers. WOW inc. attached 150 fibers with a .9 millimeter diameter to a laser module. The laser module transmits light through the fibers, which can be controlled by touch. The interactive work visualizes the complex transmission of sensory nerves and information into a dynamic light show.

Tunnel
File Festival
“Tunnel” is a kinetic, immersive and interactive sculpture, composed of 92 porticos that become disordered in function of the position and body mass of the interactor. Numerous users can simultaneously enter and interact with the machine. Interactors agency the machine via their position and weight. An example of interaction is: you go into the “Tunnel” and stand by one of the side walls. In this case, the relative position and the gravitational force of your body provoke variations of floor height. The floor inclines up to 5º, the associated porticos progressively rotate in the corresponding direction and angle, and this propagates ondulatory movements throughout the entire installation. For the outside observer, the internal movement or your displacement in relation to the installation produces kinetic optic effects.

Prismverse
Hong-kong based design studio, XEX, presents ‘prismverse’, an interactive diamond-themed installation in shanghai. The installation was completed for american skincare brand, Dr. jart+, to serve as an experiential pavilion for their ‘instant V7 toning light’ at raffles city mall. The immersive installation is inspired by light rays traveling through a diamond. With a 10 meter-long LED floor and the complex geometrical tessellated mirror wall, the highly illuminated interior becomes a metaphor for the instant tone-up effect of the skin product.

Ecology and Planning Museums

Entering on the ground level to the ecology museum reveals a projection next to the restaurant and retail areas. an elevator takes guests to the top level where their descent through the three ecologies – earth to cosmos, earth to man, earth to earth – begins, connected through a series of ramps.
the earth to earth exhibit on the bottom floor features a plane that turns clockwise, moving slowly down towards the ocean ecology space appropriately situated under the reflecting pond of the exterior plaza. the earth to earth section contains four outdoor green terraces as temporary exhibit spaces that change with the seasons.The shared public square also marks the entrance to the planning museum where visitors are greeted by a large model of the eco-city and another temporary display area. a multimedia system makes the next sequence of program, the theory and practice zones, come to life with dynamic informative videos, images, and sounds, all located on the second level. mechanical escalators transport guests to the third floor where one-way display is turned into an interactive relationship with the viewer. this is accompanied by a 3D cinema and a restaurant with views out towards the sea. on the top storey one can find the green architecture, landscape and water resources exhibits as well as access to the vegetative roof-scape offering offering unmatched views.

Requiem

The robot Requiem is an interactive pneumatic exoskeleton made of aluminium sheets, stainless steel and nineteen pneumatic pistons enabling movement of the knees, thighs, groin, hip, shoulders, elbows, jaw and hands. The robot is suspended by the head from an iron support, hanging a short distance from the floor. As an installation Requiem has eight sensors located around the exhibition space and they can be activated by the spectators.

Crystal Aqua Trees
Installed in Sony Square in Tokyo and on display until January 14, the ‘Crystal Aqua Trees’ is a crystal work of art inspired by the concept of a fountain that can be seen as a spray of water as well as a Christmas tree. Designed by Torafu Architects, the project was inspired by the Trevi fountain in Rome, the “Ai no Izumi” (Fountain of Love) charity drive, which has been held by Sony every year since 1968. For this edition, the architects proposed a new embodiment as an interactive installation. More images and architects’ description after the break.In response to changes in the landscape of the street and the actions of people, the illumination will play beautiful music in harmony with a gorgeous light display. The movement of people is picked up by a sensor camera, which prompts the pillars of light illuminated by LEDs to change colors to create a glimmering structure.Whenever coins are deposited in the crystal donation box placed in front of the square, the installation responds by switching to a special performance, as if acknowledging the contributions made. Like water in a fountain, the polished black floor surface of the stage reflects the illumination, creating a wonderful scene in the middle of the streets of Ginza.