Battle of the Screams

                                                        Project

The goal of the project was to design an interactive experience on the existing Lightwall installation at Carnegie Library Pittsburgh that gives voice to a community.

Carnegie Library Knoxville serves one of Pittsburgh’s highest youth population. It offers resources and run programs for many kids and teens in the neighbourhood. Not only it gives them access to reading materials but also to computers. It is  in a unique position where it could help the neighbourhood's children in technological literacy.

The concept was to create a fun game for the kids. The game will have 2 kids standing on either side of the wall and screaming in the mic. Based on the intensity of their sound there will be sweep motions from both their ends to the other end of the wall, and sweeps will collide with each other. If both kids are making sound at the same intensity the sweep motion will start from their respective end and stop in the middle. But, if someone’s intensity is greater than the other’s one, their sweep will overpower the other’s one. 

How it will work is that their will be two microphones sensors for each of the two players, which will detect the intensity of their 'scream'.  Based on the difference between the intensities the sweep motion from one end will overpower the sweep motion from other end.

                                   Prototyping and Testing it out at Library

I tested out the prototype first using the desktop simulation which helped me calibrate the sweeps motions originating from both sides and meeting in the middle.

Then I tested out the prototype at the Library with the kids who enjoyed the experience. The hope was that it would be a fun activity for the kids at the Library which would also make them curious about the technology behind the lightwall and basic programming.