For the local TEDx Delft event [November 7, 2011], we were asked to transform a set of five bright red pieces of furniture into an interactive installation – the same pieces as used for earlier projects (see earlier posts). After a day of individual brainstorming during wich five concepts were developed and prototyped, all teams were combined to start working on a final design, suited for exhibition at TEDx.

Test Setup in helicopter view

Concept

We will create an interactive soundscape, using four of the pieces as interface and one of them as central loudspeaker, a four-channel sound system and a Mac Mini embedded in it.

Development

We divided into four teams: A technical engineering team, focussing on wiring and code. A sound engineering team, focussing on the development of all musical components and samples of the soundscape. An interface design team, focussing on materialization and fabrication. And a behaviour design team, focussing on the overall behaviour of the installation.

Behaviour Design Team

Each team started developing ideas and concepts, and we collaboratively designed a concept in wich all four interface chairs will be equipped with four touch pads each. Connecting these pads with each other will (wirelessly) trigger a sound sample out of a set of samples in the central speaker chair. Tumbling a piece onto another side will change the set of samples available, thus changing the genre of the soundscape. Each chair represents a different musical component; we’ve got two of them producing ambient sounds, one producing percussion and a sound effect chair. We would like to challenge TEDx visitors to experiment within the endless amount of soundscapes possible, by tumbling the chairs and collaboratively trigger different samples at a time.

Touch pad wiring detail

Behaviour design in Max/Msp

The touch pad interface will be designed so, that it is clear for users that multiple pads have to be connected by touching them simultaniously, using audio and LED output. We furthermore want to trigger people to start tumbling. However, the focus must still be on the soundscape, and not on the interface itself.

Touch pad detail

By Tuesday night, we had a simulation of the installation up and running, plus a prototype of the user interface touch pads.

Run test setup

User test

More will follow!

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.