A PROPOSAL FOR:

A Population Activated Lighting Project for the Washington Square Arch

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The aim of this project is to employ instances of extreme lighting to correlate inversely to the density of the human population surrounding the Arch. We will employ motion tracking and infrared laser devices in the nearby existing trees in order to activate the lighting system enhancements to the Arch.

The intensity of the lighting at the base of the Arch will increase in accordance with the amount of people that pass through the immediate area of and around the Arch. Lights will be dim when there are no passersby, and then immediately react to each new presence. It should be a relatively short learning curve to discover that more people and movement in the area will increase the brightness of the lights. The lights will illuminate not only the immediate area, but can be seen from short distances away.

A possible extension of this project, depending on the level of success experienced after the initial implementation will have the illumination change according to the location of people in the area as well.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION/STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The Arch is a ubiquitous symbol of the Village in NYC. It is New York’s version of the Champs Elysees. The Arch has undergone many changes since its original inception. The one thing that never changed was the feeling of community that it has inspired. Like any memorial, or celebratory work of art, it is a point of congregation, where people from different backgrounds all find common ground, if only for a moment. It is indelibly a part of New York history.

However, it has been observed that the Arch no longer holds as much significance for the average passerby as it used to. Like any famous landmark, it is mostly ignored by the native population, and photographed relentlessly by tourists. With our lighting project, we hope to change that disparity of attention.

We believe that the Arch can still serve a great purpose, and it is out intention to accentuate its grandeur with a degree of interactivity and whimsy.

PROJECT DETAIL

Goals and Objectives

There is one major goal for the “Population Activated Lighting Project for the Washington Square Arch”

Goal -

Have the Arch reacquire the focus and significance that it should have for any audience. The Arch will become an interactive and lively space, instead of merely a static entity.

Objective #1 – Create a reason for people to pay attention to the Arch.
Objective #2 – Make become more aware of each other.
Objective #3 – Reexamine the Arch’s significance in today’s society.
Objective #4 – Create an interactive focal point for Washington Square Park.

Participants

Anyone who passes by or through the Arch becomes a participant. It will be designed to encourage but not force people to participate.

Methods

The primary methods for achieving the goals and objectives of the Project will be:

Getting the cooperation of the city parks department.
Obtaining the materials for the project.

Staff/Administration

The Project will employ TK.

Project Director (full time) -

Responsible for hiring project staff, overseeing project development and operation, establishing and maintaining links with local government agencies, and budget.

Coordinator (full time)-

AVAILABLE RESOURCES

The Arch -

needs no modifications to its existing structure

The existing lighting system for the Arch -

may either need modification, enchancement, or replacement, depending on the present system.

Surrounding trees -

will need to rig up the motion sensors to them. This can most likely be done without damaging the existing foliage.

NEEDED RESOURCES

Personnel – TK

Facilities – TK

Equipment – TK

Supplies and Motion sensors, infrared lasers, computers

DIFFERENT KINDS OF MOTION SENSORS

"Some sensors only report when the 'normal' status is disturbed, others also report when the condition reverts to 'normal'."

HOW INFRARED MOTION DETECTORS WORK

"So it looks as though we probably need a standard PIR (passive infrared) system. It is the kind that is found in most home systems. PIRs read rapid change in infrared energy, specifically the temperature of a human body.This type of sensor generally provides a digital input (motion / no motion). Variables include width of detection zone (degrees), range of detection zone (feet), sensitivity to climate/rain/weather/etc. We obviously would want something weatherproof, as we are working outdoors. If we could hack the sensors to work in reverse (i.e. turn the lights off when movement is sensed) we could use a large quantity of sensors with narrow detection zones, each wired directly to a corresponding light source. Otherwise, we could run the input through a pic chip and program a more sophisticated relationship between sensors & light. Also, we could pair a dusk/dark sensor with our PIR system to ensure that our response system is only in operation at night."
- love, Kate

Budget – Year 1 – Development of Center Operation and Recruitment/Training of
First Group of Student Volunteers

Personnel $XXX,XXX
Project Director Full time – 12 months $XXX,XXX
Center Coordinator Full time – 12 months $XX,XXX

Development/Production of Educational Materials $XX,XXX
Advertising/Promotion $XX,XXX
Evaluation $X,XXX
YEAR ONE TOTAL $XXX,XXX

Year 2 – Operation/Maintenance of Center and Recruitment/Training of
Two Student Volunteer Groups

Personnel (assumes 3% yearly increment) $XXX,XXX
Production of Educational Materials $X,XXX
Advertising/Promotion $XXX,XXX
Evaluation $X,XXX
YEAR TWO TOTAL $XXX,XXX

Year 3 and beyond (assume 3% yearly increment on Year 2 budget)

YEAR THREE TOTAL $XXX,XXX

EVALUATION PLAN

Project evaluation will be the responsibility of the Project Evaluator and consist of two different evaluative strategies – formative and summative.

Formative Evaluation – Primarily qualitative in nature, the formative evaluation will be conducted through observations and interviews with randomly selected groups of participants.

The Project Evaluator will meet regularly with project staff to share findings from the formative evaluation effort. Periodic reports will be prepared that identify the major findings of the formative evaluation and how they have been used to improve Project operation.

Summative Evaluation – Data for the summative evaluation will focus on the two primary goals of the project and the objectives of each.

A yearly report will be issued that presents the formative and summative findings.

APPENDIX A – TIME LINE (First Year)

Month One

Meetings with community leaders
Meeting with NYC Parks administrators

Month Two

Finalizing schematics and plans of the lighting and motion sensors

Month Three

Selection/hiring of Project staff members
Lighting and motion sensor set up

Month Four – Six

Preliminary observation
Collection of baseline data on mothers of young children
Recruitment/selection/training of student volunteers

Month Seven – Twelve

Conducting of regular formative evaluation
Final summative evaluation at end of twelfth month