Design for Interaction/Interactive Story Installation

Rationale
Interactive Story Installation

I have developed a concept for an interactive installation where the audience’s movements is an integral part of the piece. An interactive story that’s responsive and engaging even when the overall story has a single path structure. The story illustrates the negative effects man has on animals and there habitats. (Habitat destruction, Poaching, etc). When a habitat is destroyed or tampered with by man, the animals that occupy that site have no place to go, they get separated from their families and simply die off.

Viewers enter a long room (Installation space) an animation of animals grazing quietly is projected onto the far end of the room. The animals aren’t aware of the viewers at first. As the viewer moves closer to the animation they unknowingly set off sensors which triggers sound and effects to the animation. The animals look up and become aware of the viewers whereabouts. The closer the viewer gets the more sensors are triggered extracting more sound and frightening the animals more and more until eventually they fade away.
I see it as a progression through distance and space, an installation involving sensors which plays on the reaction to the audience’s movements when looking at the installation. Viewers have a choice, of how close he/she wants to get to the animals, they may decide to stop still or walk away from the installation knowing they are having a negative effect on the animals, or they may decide to continue to approach and move closer to see what will happen to the animals.
The story is offered to the viewers but its up to the viewer how far they want to take it. The concept will hopefully have a lasting effect on the viewer and will educate them about the negative effects they have on animal habitats, realizing that animals and there environments should be left alone.

With regards to the brief which describes new media to offer a viewer a new form of empowerment, this concept does just that but not visually, there are no buttons to press or paths to follow, the viewer has a space to move and walk around in, setting off sensors which create change in the story. Viewers will gradually figure out that the closer they get the more dramatic effect they will have on the animation and the choice is there’s as to how close they wish to get.

The technical parameters of the interactive installation would be as follows. A computer which runs Flash. A back projection screen positioned half way down a room, a projector pointing at the back of the screen projecting the animation. The animation would be designed in Flash. 4 PIR sensors pointing down from the ceiling which triggers the sound and changes in the animation, interfaced to flash through a Bluetooth enabled Arduino board. Speakers suspended from the ceiling which activate with the animation. This installation concept is possible to create given more time, and the technology needed in order for it to function is relatively cheap and easy to purchase.