Antiexperience Machine

Most physical installations are experienced by a user as he or she stands in front of it. This experiment, done is collaboration with Peter Moskal and Gu Min Lee at the Interactive Telecommunications department, was to build a installation that is only experienced in passing.

The input of the piece are two motion sensors hidden in the black stands. The output has several components: a flash of bright moving light created by the light bank on the floor, a set of fans on the black stands pointing inwards, and four speakers mounted at eye level arranged around the installation.

The project is tied together using two BX-24 microcontrollers. The fans and lights are controlled by the BX-24 via 120 volt relays.The sound is triggered via MIDI out from the BX-24 to an E-Mu Z5000 sampler connected to four speakers (not shown here) out from its main and auxiliary audio outputs.

As an individual walks into the installation, he or she triggers the first motion sensor. The lights on the ground flash back and forth starting from the light opposite the side that the user entered. Sound is also triggered, starting from behind the user wrapping around to the fan in front of the user. The user gets visual and sound feedback, but the fans remain mysteriously still.

When the individual continues to walk in their original direction they trigger the last motion sensor, activating the fans to blow in the same direction of the user in passing after a short delay.

As presented at ITP last December black cloth was hung from the ceiling between the fans to provide more tactile and visual feedback to the fans blowing as the user leaves the boundaries of the installation.