The BriefConceptIdeationDesign DetailsTestingTakeaways

Artificial Tree — Ashley

#Interactive installation Art #Arduino #Kinect #Unity 3D

An interactive installation art that conveys an immersive experience to the audience with a combination of visual, auditory, and motion.

Teammates

Hsiao-Yuan Huang, Wei-Ling Peng, Anty Yeh, Ching Chang, Ching Tseng, Yu Wu

My Role

Digital Artist, Programmer

Timeline

Sep. 2018 - June 2019

Tool Used

Arduino, Kinect, Unity 3D

Concept

Our initial idea is to reinterpret the meaning of distracting thoughts or waste to people, showing that it is these struggles that help us grow. We want to create an environment that represents the place where people’s minds accumulate waste. These wastes are entangled and assembled in human consciousness, and finally settled somewhere in the human's mind in the form of a bionic tree. In this environment, people are the energy supplier of the environment, helping the tree grow bigger and stronger.

How to interact with the tree

First, when the audience entered the room, there were many organic light balls scattered on the ground, which represent the audience's mind waste. And there is a fake tree at the center of the room. We combined many discarded parts to build a tree trunk and used LED light strips as a branch.

After detecting the audience, these light balls will gather toward him/her and once the audience is close enough to the tree, these light balls will be absorbed by the tree. When the light balls reached the branch, the LED light strips would flash gradually as if the light ball pass through.

In the meantime, the surrounding music will change according to the audience's movement.

Ideation

We wanted to create a tree made up of waste products, representing obsolete ideas. So we collected a lot of waste products and stacked them into our works. Meanwhile, we hoped it can be different from ordinary trees, so we spray painted it in a single color, silver-white.​

The project name "Ashley" comes from the idea that in the old English language Ashley means "meadow of ash trees". And ash trees have many white flowers on them, which is similar to our work's color.

Design details

01. Organic light balls on the ground

First, we build our light ball in Unity, creating a small ball with an organic look that represents the waste of feeling and thoughts. When the audience enters the room, these light balls will be scattered on the ground. Once they detected the audience, they will gather toward him/her.

02. LED light strips on the tree

We used WS2812 LDE light strips to make the branches and used Arduino to control its flashing. When the audience comes close enough to the tree, the light strips will flash gradually as if the light ball has passed through the branch.

03. Projector on the ceiling

Setting the projector is the most challenging part of this project. In the beginning, when we want to project the light balls to make the whole ground full of them, we found that there was always someplace the projection could not reach. Because of space constraints, we can only use special projectors that can be placed on the ceiling to project vertically if we want the whole ground full of light balls. However, rent for this kind of projector is really expensive which is not affordable for students. To solve this problem, we tried to place two normal projectors on the beam and let them project to the wall. Meanwhile, we used two mirrors to intercept the projection midway and reflect the projection to the ground. After times of measurement and testing, we overcame the space constraints using the concept of physics.

Testing and Iteration

We use Kinect and Unity to detect the location of the audience and send the data back to Arduino. When the signal is sent to Arduino, the light strips which are controlled by Arduino will flash accordingly.

​We test the effect of this linkage every week and improve our program to make it more accurate. Also, we added music to the project, so the audience can hear different music when they are near the tree and far from the tree.

Takeaways

It is the first time I design an interactive installation art. I really enjoy brainstorming with my teammates to come up with some creative ideas as well as conveying our concept through an immersive experience. This was a creative project that we had a variety of device choices, and go beyond limits and build a unique world.

As an artist and programmer in this project, I learn how to work in cross-discipline teams, cooperating with different roles such as project manager and sound designers. Also, I found deadlines necessary and helpful because teams were more efficient and cooperative. While there were some frustrating moments such as setting up the projector during this project, we overcome these problems by rapid prototyping and testing.

All in all, the teamwork was pleasant and we solve problems together fast. I believe good teamwork is the main reason that led us to the great outcome. And thanks to this opportunity, I had the chance to learn so many techniques and curate an engaging and enjoyable experience.