data garden - wind, bamboo, and light

projection mapping particles that sway with the wind

Reactive Space and Media Architecture | Carnegie Mellon University | Authors: Devon Barry, Claire Koh, Michael Stesney, Ryu Kondrup

Wind, Bamboo, and Light is an installation for the Griffin residence that activates the bamboo forest adjacent to the site. The swaying of bamboo is translated into soothing patterns of light that flow along the bamboo forest edge adjacent to the reflecting pool. The installation can be experienced from the comfort of the Griffin's patio space, producing a friendly and inviting backdrop for nighttime activities around the fire.

The installation uses an accelerometer connected to an Arduino mounted high on a bamboo stalk. The swaying motion of the bamboo in the wind generates a stream of data which is translated into a moving ramp in Touch Designer overlaid on moving light particles.

Using the ADXL Accelerometer, we are able to detect the slight changes in movement of the bamboo from the wind's acceleration. This data is processed through the Arduino and transformed and filtered within Touch Designer to correspond to our projection.