MIXTAPE MADNESS - 'ARRIVAL' INITIAL CONCEPT

"An intuitive, interactive installation."

In Design Marketing we have been given a brief called 'Mixtape Madness' which tells us to come up with an interactive installation using our favourite piece of music. The idea is for someone to have to interact with the installation to create a visual/sonic reward.

How do we do this? Well, it is completely up to us, as long as it uses some sort of interactive feature such as sensors, AR or VR, the brief is completely open to interpretation.

SHOE SHOP XX

In lesson we went through a lecture presentation which showed us many examples of different exhibitions and installations that have used various ways of interaction to create an experience for the viewer or passer by. The use of different sensors such as kinetic, voice and touch which pick up on specific interactions then create a desired effect which then delivers the 'reward' for the person. For example, Shoe Shop XX created a board which uses sensors which pick up on movement that make the arrows he is covering warp around his body and point to him. This installation was both interesting to the public as well, its better than a normal shop front, but it also helped the shop gage how many people walk past at different times of the day, which is helpful for many desired outcomes for a shop such as target marketing on a time basis.

THE WALL OF RAIN - BEHANCE

Another great example of using sensors to create an aesthetically pleasing effect for the viewer is 'The wall of rain' by Behance (please see Mozilla Hub to see full video). This installation focuses using sensors to block out the silhouette of the person on the wall of rain to create beautiful portraits of sharp white shards. I really like this one as it is really simple in how it looks and what it does, simplicity in this project is key as I am not a professional coder or engineer, so coming up with an idea that is both doable and effective is at the core of my thought process.

ARRIVAL (2016)

A short time after being given the brief I started to come up with ideas, I really liked the idea of using a motion sensor and the use of particles to create a backdrop that follows you just like the first example of interactive installations above. This is because I think it is really easy for someone to interact with it, even if they dont want to or they dont even realise it is there, they will still be able to create a really cool visual.

Coming from this, well this wasn't planned, but I went home and watched one of my favourite films, Arrival. I think it is such a stunning film with such a great story line, but more importantly, the main piece of music which somewhat brings the film together - On The Nature of Daylight by Max Richter is one of the first things you hear in the film and the last thing you hear. For me it is so beautiful and so cleverly done that I just could not stop listening to the song. Furthermore, watching the film with this brief in mind, I came across the scene of the aliens producing their language from their 'tenticles' (not sure what they are). Their language, the black circle with intricate markings is made from this incredibly nice looking black ink liquid which is both so elegant but so bold at the same time, parenting this with a huge panel of clear glass and a foggy grey background, I knew what I wanted to do for my first concept.

COMPOSITION BY OLLIE HILLS (PLEASE SEE MOZILLA HUBS FOR FULL EXPERIENCE)

'Arrival' is my first concept, which encompasses the 'Arrival' films aesthetics and plays on the word 'arrival'. This concept will be an installation in which passers by will trigger motion sensors which then makes 'ink splashes' come towards them in a random yet tranquil fashion - Just like how the aliens in Arrivals' language travels out their tentacles and towards the humans. As well as this, a motion sensor will then start the piece of music 'On The Nature of Daylight'. I think this will be such a nice thing for a passer by, although I may have to think about how the music starts and stops, the installation could be both very exhibition like, formal and to be taken seriously, or just really fun, passers by could try and make as many ink splashes as possible while dancing around creating elaborate shapes.

To back up my 'Arrival' concept I needed to ensure that it was doable, so I researched more into interactive wall displays and found a very nice example of how it can be done.

INTERACTIVE WALL DESIGN BY Siddharth Mankad

(PLEASE SEE MOZILLA HUBS FOR THE FULL VIDEO AND EXPERIENCE)

This installation by Siddharth Mankad is the perfect example of an interactive installation that requires simple movement which then creates a pleasing or rewarding visual on the wall that is in the back ground.

What is so good about this is that the code and process of how this was created is available to the public which fills me with joy as I know that it is doable, yes it will be difficult like any new skill is, but I am very excited to take this on and complete it.