“The Pool” by Jen Lewin – The Pool is an environment of giant concentric circles created from interactive circular pads. By entering the pool, you enter a world where movement and direction trigger light and sound effects that bounce, collide and grow against and within the directions of others.

Each Pad, is an individual interactive glowing platform filled with controllable RBG leds and a small mp3 sound controller capable of playing up to 240 different samples. Based on a simple set of generative rules trigged by human movement, the pads can communicate with their neighbors creating dynamic patterns, colors and sounds that grow and evolve on their own.

The Pads are entirely wireless (they communicate with each other over a small wireless network), and they are 100% solar.

The Pool is composed of roughly 100 pads. Spaced in concentric rings, the pool will span approximately 120 feet x 120 feet.

Each pad glows blue. By stepping on the Pad it will brighten to white and will emit a simple sound. Based on how you are standing on the pad (with your weight more in clockwise or in the counter clockwise direction) the pad will then send a message to its neighbors in your direction to begin to glow white. The Sound from your pad will also travel, lowering or increasing in pitch along the ring.

If your weight is in the clockwise direction, light will travel clockwise,
If your weight is in the counter clockwise direction, light will travel counter clockwise,

Once your light path had traveled the full circle, the light and sound will jump to your neighboring circles.

In this way, by keeping your weight in one direction, eventually you will fill the entire Pool with light and sound.. Once full, the light will wrap back on itself in a new color with a new sound.

If another user steps on a pad, and places their weight in the same direction as your path, the paths will mix by adding color and changing the sound pallet.

Each additional person leaning in the same direction will add additional colors and sounds.

If another user steps on a pad with their weight in the opposite direction of your light path, your paths will collide, and colors and sound will be subtracted.

With time, or with the addition of new users, colors and sound will be subtracted entirely.

This addition and subtraction will allow users to mix colors in a kaleidoscopic interplay.

Each pad’s sound will be a subtle and fairly quiet sample, created from different recordings from nature. For example, stepping on a pad may emit a hushed sound that resembles a drop of water…. As this drop sound travels along your “path”, it will change slightly in pitch…. You will then hear it as it travels away from you, and then returns.

Because the sounds themselves will be fairly quiet, each user will most likely hear only the sounds in their vicinity. As more users interact, the Pool will have a very natural and ambient sound quality, similar to standing in a forest or near a rushing creek…… where you can hear the tide swelling or pebbles in a waterfall.
Definitions:

“The Pool”
A collection of wireless interactive pads, each with an identical set of generative rules triggered through interaction. The pool will span roughly 120 feet x 120 feet and is viewable only in low light (evening or night).

“Pads”
A 3 foot x 6” tall semi transparent wireless pad with a platform meant for standing. Each pad has a small microprocessor, several bright RGB controlled LEDS, movement sensors, and a sound controller. Each pad is 100% wireless and contains an identical set of generative rules based on user interaction. Although each pad is identical in all ways, this programmatic rule set, when combined with interaction, will create diverse and complicated behavior.