Head Space (Reactive Spaces V2)
| Luckily, this week’s Softness of Things topic was space. So, I could continue my pursuit of a reactive space. This week I really wanted to get a sense of what a human-scale spacial system would feel like. As always, we only have one week to complete our projects, so a full-scale ceiling is out of the question… but a head-sized space is more feasible.So, I set out to create a small tunnel with a small ceiling that might simulate, or at least get closer to, a movable ceiling. Because of it’s small size, I was able to use servo motors, which made the whole thing much easier to deal with. In all I had five panels at about 12×20 inches, which made a tunnel/space that was 5 foot long and 12 inches wide. Three servos working together enables the five panels to move in a wave-like fashion in response to a person’s movement in the system.As you walk up to the tunnel, the first panel lifts up for you to enter. As you move in and down the head-tunnel, the panels move up and down to make room for your head.
It works ok… The panels are not as responsive as I would have wanted (mostly because the servos were lifting at their limit), but I think it starts to give you a feeling of something. Probably not anything like what a full-scale space would feel like, but something. People seemed to enjoy the prospect of a ceiling that moved… they really wanted to try it out when I told them what it did… but I think the actual experience was not that rewarding for them. For me though, it was most interesting to see the interest level in more human-scale objects. something you can really use your body with, instead of just fingers and hands. Aside from my observations of people, I got some verbal feedback that was interesting to me: A few people said they wanted mirrors, or at least some sort of translucent/reflective material, to be the movable panels. They said it would make it more interesting to be in it. It was supprising for me to hear this, because I was focused of the ’space’ of it. In my mind I kept picturing pockets of ’space’… and that would be interesting… but the thing is, you can’t really see space. You can only see the effects of space on light. In the prototype I made, it was all shadow in the tunnel… no light the tunnel could affect. I wonder if that is why people where suggesting mirrors or translucency… they were missing the depth. THAT is something I will put in my little bag of tricks to remember. |
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