Overview

SENSATION: Subjects of Enchantment was an interactive and immersive installation that utilized projected audio visualization, Microsoft Kinect motion tracking, and interactive light-up objects to help students relieve stress from finals. I used Processing, p5.js, Microsoft Kinect, Arduino, projected video, and repurposed objects to build this installation in May 2018.

Description

MACS 496: Collaborations in Interactive & Immersive Media was a course that explored different past and present genres of interactive and immersive media, as well as the research surrounding them, to develop a foundation for understanding their origin, functions, and effects. In the final section of the course, my fellow classmates and I applied these concepts to the construction of our own collaborative media project as a capstone project.

Our class created a sensory exhibit titled SENSATION: Subjects of Enchantment that combined tactile, auditory, and visual sensations with dynamic computer graphics, visible motion tracking, and light-up objects. Guests stepped into a space equipped with three screens, a surround sound audio system, an LED boundary on the floor, overhead stage lights, an active Kinect device, and nearly 200 movable LED-lit balloons spread throughout the space. After choosing a specific sense-inspired color, guests were shown the active motion tracking of the Kinect depth sensor and immersed themselves in a prepackaged audio visualization displayed on the outlying screens.

I worked with Justin Meid to program the different music visualizations and Kinect animations using Processing and p5.js. We also ran the technical components of the installation during the entire project showcase.

We targeted an audience composed of students and faculty members of the University of Illinois. Our goal was to provide an experience that could help people escape from the stress of finals. By giving people movable objects that they could interact with both on screen and in the space, we were able to provide a tangible source of play and excitement.

Collaborators

Courtney Hackett, Ally Henreid, Nick Magana, Justin Meid, Kate Milleker, Lucy Petrosyan, Eunsup Shin, Sonie Toe, Coltrane Zerai-Che, and Dr. Veronica Paredes

Visualizations