when echoes find light

Full description

BACKGROUND
When echoes find light is a speculative work involving two park benches fitted with touch-sensitive surfaces and programmed LED light fixtures at Argyle Square, Carlton.

The project is situated in embodied interaction design, linking social connection to place using digital technology. Interaction gestures mapped to bespoke light patterns – the ‘interaction gestalt’ (Lim et al., 2007) – formed the core research question of the project. The work builds on research done in ludic design (Gaver et al., 2004) and ambient displays (Wisneski et al., 1998). It attempted to apply the notion of performative research (Haseman, 2006) to advance speculative design as a tool for design practice.

CONTRIBUTION
In the development, testing and observation/interview studies, questions arose relating to the cognitive effort required of passers-by to engage with the interactive park benches. Parameters for engagement were kept openly interpretative due to the public park audience. Interaction design thinking encouraged new forms of connection in transient, ephemeral and poetic urban environments. Specifically, can responsive lighting modify the experience of bench-sitting?

Ethnographic observations and intercept surveys revealed participant behaviour. The key finding was balancing interaction simplicity with deeper layers of feedback when designing interactive public art.

SIGNIFICANCE
The key stakeholders are city councils. This could be a rethink of park bench design: augmenting utilitarian surfaces with abstract notions of companionship through 'invisible' touch-sensitive lighting.

The City of Melbourne's annual Test Sites programme is a competitively-funded arts programme that enables creative practitioners to respond to specific sites within the City of Melbourne's purview. The work was selected and funded the maximum amount of $10K. It is hoped that the project will open doors for future interactive street furniture projects with city councils.