My thesis project explores the ways in which technology might be used in architecture to address multiple senses. This is accomplished through the development of an interactive art installation that investigates the dynamic capabilities of architectural space and the built environment in an attempt to develop or envision a new kind of sensory space.
The work plays with conventional notions of rigid architectural structure and space and challenges the ways in which we, as humans, traditionally interact with and experience these concepts. The project takes inspiration from ideas concerning the phenomenological dimensions of architecture, the human experience of interacting with augmented spaces, and ideas surrounding space and place. It draws on architectural theory and the interactive architectural work of many artists and designers as inspiration. Juhani Pallasmaa’s The Eyes of the Skin in particular has been a major influence on the conceptual evolution of the project and sensory perception is central to its development.
The piece addresses multiple senses: touch, hearing, smell, and vision. Through the engagement of multiple senses this work attempts to reimagine the possibilities of sensory spaces and to create an experience that is both interactive and changeable for the viewer.
Initial Experimentation:
Devices, Programmes and Materials used: Kinect Motion Capture Camera, Arduino (Mega) Microcontroller and Code, Processing Code, Servo Motors, 3D printed servo cases and arms, Neo Pixels, Flora Microcontroler, Conductive Thread, Fabric Surface, Wood, Air Fresheners (activated by servo motors). A Kinect motion capture camera is used to track the bodily movements of the participants. This information is then communicated to Arduino via Processing and translated into physical motion through the use of servo motors which press against the fabric to create subtle peaks and falls in the surface of the wall.