Final Project – Color Drop 21

Lumi Baron, MacKenzie Cherban, Jon Loeb, Ammani Nair

For our final project, we were tasked with designing and building an interactive art installation. Our team worked with Duane Rieder, owner of The Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh, to breathe life into photographs of the famed Pittsburgh Pirate through a dynamic projection installation.

The Clemente Museum is located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, near the intersection of Penn Ave. and Butler Street. It occupies the old Engine House no. 25 and in addition to being a museum it is also home to Engine House 25 Wines and Rieder Photography. This project incorporates both the nature of the site as well as the spirit of the holiday season and all that it brings to mind—snowfall, lights, color, winter magic.

Not only were we inspired by the many images and memorabilia throughout the museum as well as Duane’s photography, but also the multi functional space, the unique windows, and the beautiful facade. We created an interactive projection installation that brought the front of the building to life with both history and seasonality.

For full process documentation and images please visit our Medium page. 

Looking Out 02

JACQUES-CARTIER BRIDGE ILLUMINATION

I’ve always found the architecture and engineering of bridges to be both beautiful and facinating. After reading Colangelo’s piece and entering into an internet click hole, I choose this piece by Moment Factory. This data display uses the existing structure of the bridge to bring to life urban data from social media in Montreal. This project highlights the “collectivity” aspect of massive media, the virtue of physical and networked visibility, “collectivity remains part of the magic of public space: that we experience the same thing at the same time and can sense one another doing so too.”

Here is a link to the project: Jacques-Cartier Bridge by Moment Factory

Moment Factory
Moment Factory
Moment Factory
Moment Factory
Moment Factory

“As cities and their citizens become increasingly nocturnal we have to think about tactics that architects, artists, and lighting designers are using to create buildings that maximize both their day and night-time functions? Hint: slapping a big rectangular, opaque screen on the side of a building is not the answer!” – Colangelo

Airport Project – MacKenzie, Victoria, Willow

Uniquely Pittsburgh

This project evolved from birds and the national aviary to things that make Pittsburgh, well, Pittsburgh. This city has a lot of unique features, the language, the sandwiches, the chairs that reserve parking spots, the bridges, the neighborhoods…the list goes on. However, only some of these features were captured in datasets. We focused on several for now, the bridges, the neighborhoods, the stairs, the steep hills, the fish frys, and the outlier…retaining walls.

Using this data in an abstract way we layered geometric cutouts of the neighborhoods in frost acrylic, showing which neighborhoods had the most of these unique features. Visitors to the airport are able to interact with the map and toggle each of the features on and off…giving them the opportunity to see what neighborhood has what.

Code:

Moving forward:

We would love to gather more data and begin to plot those as well as explore a more literal representation of the neighborhoods. Since we abstracted the data quite a bit, this might map in a more interesting way.

Phipps Proposal: “Touch of Magic”

Ammani, MacKenzie, Sujay, Victoria


We would like to present, Touch of Magic. We took to heart the decor as well as whimsy of the room in order to bring the magic to life, we wanted the installation to fit into the theme naturally. While the guests wait, we want them to play a game along the wall. The guests will have a chance to work together and contribute to the space. As the guests touch the golden bricks which are strategically tucked into the existing gaps, the overhead lighting will come alive. Guests have to find bricks with matching symbols and touch both the bricks to animate lighting. Some bricks will need multiple guests to hold hands to create the link.  We wanted the placement of the bricks to encourage people to move ahead. The game of golden bricks will encourage them to go to the next set and try it out. We designed with an inclusive mindset, designing specifically for children and people who maybe in wheelchairs. We wanted to give them the power of magic and discovery. 

 

Execution:

We will place a mixture of active blocks (those marked by a holiday icon) and inactive blocks, so that we can fill both sides of the room and create a cohesive design that is inline with the decor. Visitors can then touch these bricks, which will affect the lighting in a section of the other side of the room. We wanted the interactions to be rather simple and make sure the room has active and passive settings. Keeping in mind what happens when no one interacts with the sensors.

Phipps being a popular destination, the Winter light show even more so, these bricks are designed to be robust and can be replaced easily. Our bricks are cheap and easy to build. The Gold leaf tiles will face a waterproof box that houses all of the electrical components needed. The gold leaf will be sealed and the boxes can be easily reproduced in case of wear and tear.

The design also allows for flexibility in placement of the bricks. We can experiment to see what works best for the flow of guests.

• Gold leaf brick tile faces
• Waterproof boxes
• Makey Makey 

Moving foward:

We wanted to design an interaction that not only fit the theme, but was also flexible enough to change to what would fit the requirements the best. Based on feedback from our presentation Sunday evening, we are beginning to think about next steps for this project. We are looking into how color and animation of the lights can also aid in moving people forward as well as some variations for the icons and bricks themselves. Some suggestions were larger icons or icons that are made of metal and affixed to the bricks, allowing for better discoverability as well as better accounting for the wear and tear of guests.

In-Class Exercise 01 – Alex, MacKenzie, Soo Jin

RGB Play

Team: Alex Reed, MacKenzie Cherban, Soo Jin Sohn

This project uses a range of sensors to manipulate the output of an RGB LED. Users are able to manipulate the color and brightness of the LED separately. We explored ultrasonic (unsuccessfully), rotary, flex and pressure sensors, mapping their value to the brightness of the LED. Using manipulation of the keyboard, users are able to switch between the three color values, RGB, by pressing “R” for red, “G” for green, and “B” for blue.

Looking Out 01

Liquid Shards – Patrick Shearn (Poetic Kinetics)
This piece uses mylar and monofilament to float above LA, creating a sliver water/wave-like mass. The form changes, shifts, ungulates based on the wind. As it dances above the pedestrians walking beneath, the shadow and form it creates on the surface below is just as whimsical.

Shearn’s work is particularly striking, because is is rather simple in it’s form and technology. It’s just a few materials and wind that bring this piece to life and encourage passive interaction, meant to be enjoyed from the offices above as well as the people below. In a Colossal article on the piece, they highlight Shearn’s intentions well, “it is when things are zoomed in or slowed down that we begin to understand the workings of the plants and animals around us, and sense the movements that are imperceptible with our limited vision.”

Silver wave installation above LA
Liquid Shard – Patrick Shearn


Interactive Queue Lines – Disney
I am writing this post from Disney (which certainly influenced my choice in this second selection) and for years I have been following the way they use technology in their queue lines. They have found a need to incorporate more and more interactive spaces as thousands of quests, wait thousands of hours in lines. As they renovate old rides/shows or build new ones, there is one constant, they bring an interactive element to the queue lines. Each one is themed and very specific to their particular setting, they are meant to entertain and bring a sense of magic or wonder to all that interact with them.

These queue lines incorporate not only a assortment of different technologies, from screens to built physical forms, but many require physical interaction—both actively and passively. Some queues invite the guest to play games, while others might reveal a surprise. Some are close and able to be touched directly, while others are further away and react to the whole body. All of this innovation to help pass the time, it makes me wonder what other applications spaces and experiences like this can have.

 

XYZT: Abstract Landscapes — Artechouse (https://artechouse.com/) 
I stumbled upon this project recently and decided to add it into this Looking Out. The ways they use space and time to manipulate the landscape and promote interactions is mesmerizing.

The exhibit “exploit[s] ancient techniques of illusion and endless possibilities of modern technology.” I think one of the interesting things with the more abstract forms is that they allow for both passive and active interactions.