Natural Reaction

The goal of the project was to translate unseen natural phenomena into visible installations of art. This is particularly challenging in a residential neighborhood and house as many wonderful natural changes dampened by the surrounding infrastructure. Thus, it is important to highlight the small, natural changes that occur without much thought.

The installation itself works with data captured from the outside environment, and how this data can influence movement and art. The team decided to use a projector to illuminate natural changes that occur at night.

To focus on the natural elements of the house, the installations were decided to be placed in the backyard. The backyard has the most integration with unseen nature and seemed to be the most enjoyable area to view the art. 

The first installation are the abstract fireflies. The spherical lights flicker and move based on the movement around them. However, the movement isn’t human generated. Motion is detected from the scattering animals, bugs, or wind that moves the surrounding environment. The movement seems to “scare” the fireflies into condensing as a community then dispersing in fear. The team found this installation to be unique as it can almost be placed anywhere. The team decided that the bamboo forest would be the best location to view the fireflies and detect motion, however multiple locations were considered when filming. 

The second installation is an adaptive jellyfish. The jellyfish changes color based on the seasonal temperature changes. The colors are changed to a hue offset that is based on current temperature against the average temperature of Palo Alto. If the temperature is warmer than average, the color approaches a more red and yellow phase. If the temperature is colder than average, the color approaches a bluer and more purple phase. Since Palo Alto has a relatively temperate climate, it is important to highlight slight temperature variations. Since the projection is a jellyfish, the team thought it was appropriate to use the pond in the back as the projection surface. The pond was considered by the team many times as it provides a unique, dark surface that can be manipulated not just for projection surfaces. 

The third installation is a changing rain projection. The rain is projected when the humidity rises above the yearly average Palo Alto humidity, and the rain intensity is based on how much higher the humidity is than the average. Moisture content of air is a huge part of nature, and relatively never seen or felt unless in humid, wet climates. The team thought this to be especially important for Palo Alto as the climate is typically dry and desert-like. Humidity changes aren’t really felt, and the lack of rain can make it always feel dry. Thus, having an installation that makes the client experience humidity visually is crucial. Like the fireflies, this installation can be placed almost anywhere. It never felt like a solidified area needed this piece. However, the team thought it should be placed in the open gravel area with the trees and bushes. The installation could be more open and realistic if it was projected into a “freer” space.

The fireflies, jellyfish, and rain highlight the unseen, natural changes that occur in a residential backyard. A residential place doesn’t change significantly as control is a wanted part of any home. Thus, to highlight and embrace even slight change is an exciting and a necessary part of the installation.

Sensor Diagram (Infrared Sensor) 

The infrared sensor is used to simulate a motion sensor in real life when a small animal is within a certain range of the sensor, it triggers to fireflies into condensing, visualizing movements in the garden. To make this possible the values from the IR sensor have to be converted using a data chart within TouchDesigner. 

TouchDesigner Workflow