IAT 443: Interactive Video
Summer 2015
Soundtrack: "Calendar"
by Your Hand in Mine
IAT 443: Interactive Video
Summer 2015
Soundtrack: "Calendar"
by Your Hand in Mine
Proposal:Hastings: an Interactive History is sculpture and video based interactive artwork. A laser cut wooden board displays a 3D map of Hastings, Vancouver upon which six model buildings sit, each with their own significance to the cities history and accompanying video story that plays when they individual buildings are picked up.
Team: Sandy Feng · Madison Sim · Nancy Lee · Marina Khvan
Role: Concept Development · Code · Circuit · Photo & Video Documentation
Inspiration:
Hastings: an Interactive History is sculpture and video based interactive artwork. A laser cut wooden board displays a 3D map of Hastings, Vancouver upon which six model buildings sit, each with their own significance to the cities history and accompanying video story that plays when they individual buildings are picked up.
Ideation:
Our first iteration of the design involved using a large map of Hastings hanging from a wall with photos of buildings attached to the map. These photos of buildings would each cover a sensor (either pressure or light sensor) and when picked up, they would trigger the Arduino to set off a projector display about that particular building. If a user picked up the picture off the Dominion Building from its place on the map, a projection on the wall nearby would project an image of that building, starting with the oldest picture possible.
As we continued to ideate based on feedback from our presentation we realised that a three dimensional map would be more engaging and less linear for users to interact with, and decided to experiment with using models of buildings, as opposed to photographs on a map. Our choice of building also changed as we researched more thoroughly the history of Hastings. In the end, we decided to model our buildings based on the Dominion Bank Building, The Flack Block, The Carter Cotton Building, Victory Square, The Harbour Centre, and The Woodwards Building due to their historical significance to Vancouver and their proximity within Hastings Street.
Prototype + Code:
For our prototype presentation, we small built paper models built of cardstock and used a painted canvas to represent the map. We had not yet decided at the final material we would use, but decided to experiment with card and then acrylic as modeling materials. At this point, we had also researched the buildings enough to write historically accurate stories based around them. A teammates 89 year old grandmother, Marion Carruthers, who has lived in Vancouver since the 1930’s, was enlisted as our narrator and helped edit the stories she narrated. We also decided to include narrated stories about these buildings within the audio tracks of the video morphs to add deeper meaning and context to the display. It was also realised that a projector was unnecessary for the presentation of our project when we could use a television instead.
Final Design:
The final design of our installation was created using pressed layers of clear acrylic for the buildings, and a large wooden board, lasers cut with topical details in order to look like a map of Hastings Street. A large screen tv was placed behind the board and invited users in by playing a video of Vancouver shot in 1907 on loop. Instructions on the board ask users to please pick up one building at a time.
When the user picks up one of these buildings, such as the Harbour Centre, the Vancouver 1907 video stops playing and a video morph of the Harbour Centre transforming over time with its accompanying story plays instead. When that video is put down, the 1907 video resumes until another building is picked up. This interaction is designed for one user at a time to participate, while others observe. The users have freedom to choose whichever building in whichever order they like and can watch as much or as little of the video as they chose.