ITP Thesis Archive 2024

Abstract

you are here is an interactive LED installation that shows your presence, seemingly emanating from you, as you move around the sculptural LED forms. If your presence comes near others’, your colors will intermix.

The piece uses an Azure Kinect DK to “see” where people are in relation to the LED sculptures. This data is then processed through TouchDesigner to translate each person’s presence into an animation that then gets mapped onto the LED sculptures.

The design of the piece is completely modular, so that the LED strips, acrylic tubing, insulation foam, and 3D printed joints can all be taken apart and transported easily to be installed in different locations.

Technical Details

Software: TouchDesigner, MadMapper, Python
Hardware: Azure Kinect DK, DMXking LeDMX4 MAX, WS2812B LEDs, frosted acrylic tubes, 3D printed joints (resin and PLA), insulation foam

The physical design of the piece is based on an Eulerian cycle. In graph theory, an Eulerian cycle is a path that starts and ends on the same vertex, and uses each edge only once. This is a mathematical concept that lends itself very well to designing an LED form, because the strips have to run in one continuous data line.

The sculptures were designed to be completely modular, so that the LED strips, acrylic tubing, insulation foam, and 3D printed joints can all be taken apart and transported easily to be installed in different locations.

In order to visualize people’s presence in real-time, the piece uses an Azure Kinect DK to read where people are in relation to the LED sculptures. This data is then processed through TouchDesigner to translate each person’s presence into a shape. These animated shapes track each individual’s location, and can overlap with other people’s shapes and change colors. The animation is then sent to MadMapper, which sends DMX data over Ethernet to the DMXking LeDMX4 to control the LED sculptures.

Research/Context

During my time at ITP, I enjoyed working most with light as a medium because of its ability to bring people together. Think of people gathering around a campfire; the sun’s light bringing people to a park on a spring day; or in the dark wintertime, the holiday light displays that create community experiences. I’m fascinated by the social power of light, and the contrast it creates in the dark.

I’ve always appreciated immersive light installations for their ability to create a sense of wonder and awe, not only from their large scale, but mainly through their interactivity and responsiveness to visitors. I love the idea of the installation not being the same without user interaction. I especially like that this acts as an equalizer - no matter the viewer’s background or experiences, their impact and interaction with the work is the same.

In my research, I noticed that a lot of these installations involve some kind of mirror interaction, wherein the user and their movements are replicated in the piece directly, one-to-one, and it’s very clearly understood with no instructions necessary. I believe that what draws us to these interactions is the special feeling of seeing one's presence have an impact on the piece and other people.

In my thesis it was important for me to expand on this interaction. I want to make viewers feel like their presence is seen, and that they have an impact, both on the piece and other people around them.