ATLANTIC CITY PIER

In collaboration with Thinkwell Design, I was the advisor for a team of ETC students tasked with creating a series of interactive experiences for a 19,000 gallon fountain with intelligent lighting and a matrix of 149 controllable nozzles situated in a 3 story atrium at the Atlantic City Pier. The team designed three scalable experiences to adapt to the number of people surrounding the fountain; "Follow Me", "Paint the Fountain" and "The Gong Show". The camera tracking was developed by Scott Snibbe of Sona Research.

 

Follow Me — Overhead cameras track up to five people while fountain jets follow them around the pool inspiring very playful interaction between individuals and the fountain. People watching from other levels of the atrium often call down to people below as they observe the fountain's surprising interaction.

 

 

 

 

 

Paint the Fountain — Colored spot lights projected on the floor invite passersby to step into the light. Groups of people clustering in the spotlight causes bigger sprays of the fountain and the corresponding change of color. Spontaneous competition often ensues to get the fountain to change to each of the five colored spotlights projected around the pool by participants once they discover how to "paint the fountain"
 

 

The Gong Show — The fountain jets and beams of light collectively rotate around the edge of the pool and "selet" someone from within the crowd surrounding the pool. When the light and fountain stops and shoots up in front of a visitor selected by the fountain, the fountain is signaling the visitor to dance and move about. If they dance around, the fountain "rewards" them with a mini-show of its own. If the selected people stand around and don't move, a buzzer sounds and the fountain moves on to seek someone else who wants to play.

  

 

 

 

 



 

Click HERE for a more detailed description and videos of the three experiences

 

Making a Splash Article






© 2007 tina blaine* bean

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