Hydraphonia (2012)
Kongensgade Odense - Permanent installation.
A playground in Odense is an interactive dreamspace. It is linked to similar places in Esbjerg and Vejle, and you create patterns of light and sound together with children and adults in the other cities. Playspot is designed to be a dynamic and explorative play area across the three cities.
Although the physical appearance of the playgrounds is quite different, their interactive properties are consistent. In each city, the interactive elements consist of ten buttons that have a set of sound samples and light patterns built into them, and the participants can trigger them by pressing the buttons. Furthermore, aside from the actual interaction, the playgrounds have a built-in personality that attempts to imitate the sound patterns the kids create when pressing the buttons.
The three playgrounds are linked together so that activities on one playground are broadcasted to the other two playgrounds, creating a dynamic and explorative play area across the three cities. A player can create patterns of light and sound together with the children and adults in the other two cities; however, no single player has full control; therefore, everyone needs to explore the many buttons and collaborate with the other players to make sense of the interaction.
The interactions at each site are shared with other cities, and this allows for interactions across cities via the system’s “built-in personality”.
You create patterns of light and sound together with children and adults in the other two cities. No single player has full control but will need to explore the many buttons and collaborate with the other players to understand and make sense of the game.
The system has multiple modes. Put simply; they can be defined as the following:
Chaotic game: The system is quite neutral and serves primarily as a sampler or drum machine. Users can play themselves and create their own games with the sounds.
Wild game: The system makes only one repetition. If a person runs quickly over the buttons, the system activates the buttons that he has touched only once.
Duet playing: The users can create soundscapes or sound images that play until the activity drops to a level where the playground believes that everyone is gone. These loops have intervals of about 10-20 seconds. The playground has other hidden interaction opportunities that you can find by exploring the possibilities of each button.
Done as a member of illutron.dk.
