IDAT101 Group Project Interactive Installation Research

Before we start thinking of ideas for our interactive installation we need to do some research looking at similar technology placed in the same area we are looking at. Our area is outdoors and located near to a major shopping centre so we focused our research on areas similar to this.

To begin my research I focused on installations currently within Plymouth to gain inspiration from these and the type of technology they used but also to try and expand from their ideas and create something individual and unique. I looked on http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/bigblueprint which is the main Plymouth council site. They have an ongoing project called the 'Big BluePrint'.

The 'Big BluePrint' is the collaboration of the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, The BBC, and the City Centre Company. Their aim is to celebrate the ambition for the Olympics and the local Olympians from Plymouth as well as developing the cultural aspects of the city.

TV screen

Plymouth Council control all aspects of digital media that are installed into the city so our installation would need to comply with their aims of the big blue print:

      ·       Welcoming the world- drawing on the unique international history of Plymouth

      ·       Animate and humanise public space- excellence and innovation

      ·       Increase cultural offer and participation in  different locations each as focal points for interaction.

South facing side of the large TV screen 

Interactive media that have been installed into the city centre include the large TV screen which also contains a large scale painting from a local artist on the south facing side of the screen. The shops around the local area where the screen is located are allowed to vote on the photo on the back of the screen. 

After looking at the installations around Plymouth I widened my search to look at other work which focused on the way that the public interact with the different technologies that are placed in different areas. I found a paper wrote by some students that focused on 'socializing interactive installation for the urban environment'.

This group created ‘The LEDs Urban Carpet Project’ which was a sheet of LEDs that were activated when the user stood on them.

From their research and findings I can see that they have some useful information about social interaction between the user and the installation in a public space which can help us develop an installation that would increase interaction.

'We have noticed that users need to learn the interaction rules in order to avoid

social awkwardness and embarrassment around the public display. During this period, the public gathered

around the prototype and watched how others interacted with it before participating, people tend to step over

the perimeter of the carpet, until they are familiarised with the display.'

They also had some good ideas on the location of the installation and the amount of use it would get relative to the amount of people that walked through the location during the day.

'the test sessions have shown that the movement flow of passers-by and activities happening near

the locations has a direct impact in the interactive installation final performance; when the display was

located in an area with a higher rate of pedestrian traffic it was more difficult to catch people’s attention than

in locations where the speed flow tended to decrease due to the spatial characteristics of the physical

environment and people activity (e.g.: window shopping).'

The information from this paper will help us develop our ideas not only with the type of installation we design but also taking in more information about the location with put it in and using this to help us design an installation that is more attractive to our audience.

http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/7459/1/7459.pdf



From looking at student papers I moved on to researching some companies that produce the type of installation we are thinking of creating. I looked at http://www.arcstreamav.com/ which is a company that have worked with the likes of 'Aero', 'Sony', and 'MTV' to name a few. They specialize in the 'latest cutting edge visual products, providing statement, interactive technologies for events and permanent installation.'

Some of the products they create include 'multi touch tables' that can be used for all types of interactive media such as viewing videos and photos, collecting data and playing games and promotional activities. They are most popular in locations such as galleries and exhibitions so they may not be the most suitable product for use in our installation outside, there may be difficulties with ensuring the tables do not get damaged by changing weather conditions and the amount of use they could get could cause them to malfunction.


Alongside looking for information about similar installations that use the type of technology we are going use, I also looked into the area that we are using to see if I could find out anymore useful information about the space. Unfortunately because our space is quite a small area and is not one of the main attractions in the centre there is no specific information on the area, so any data we need will have to be produced by ourselves. I think this is because the space is not very big and there are other, more attractive areas around Plymouth for people to visit.
I think it's a good idea that we chose this space for that reason, the space is not very popular at the moment for any specific reason so I think adding an installation there will help to attract more people to the area and in turn bring more business to the surrounding shops and overall make the shopping area more attractive and appealing to those who use it.

IDAT101 Group Project Interactive Installation Location Options

When we we're first given our brief we discussed the possible ideas of the location of our installation and the positives and negatives of using each place as our main location:

The Hoe
     +

• It is a large open space so there are not many spacial limitations allowing us to think of different possibilities for our installation regardless of size
• The Hoe is a really popular with our target audience
• Popular area of Plymouth where people often spend lots of time relaxing so they would have time to use our installation and watch others use it

   -

• Popular choice for others groups, we want somewhere more original and unique to our group
• Weather limitations, the Hoe tends only to be busy when the weather is nice, would be a risk to put an installation there when there may not be many people there during bad weather

  Drake Circus
   +

• Popular area for members of our target audience
• There are a number of different places that we could use for the location of our installation depending on its function so we can play around with lots of ideas

   -

• Already has a number of interactive installations installed within it from other companies and designers so may have trouble thinking of something original that draws out audience away from the other installations
• Again, could be a popular choice with other groups
• People shopping in this area may be more interested in going into the shops rather than standing outside using our installation
• This is a very popular area, could be too busy for people to be able to stop and use our installation especially on a Saturday when the shopping centre is very busy

Sun Dial
   +

• This is a popular area for people to sit and eat their lunch on their breaks or whilst shopping so there would be a lot of people standing around
• Popular area for teenagers, most of which are very computer literate so they could be quite keen to use our installation

  -

• This area is already popular for various temporary technological installations so the addition of another one may not get the attention of the audience

Royal Parade
   +

• This area is very popular with many people because of the various bus stops along this road which are connected to every bus route in Plymouth
• People waiting for the bus do not have much to look at anyway so adding an installation here may prove popular

   -

• Although the area is often busy with people waiting for the bus they may not be too keen in interacting with our installation as they may be waiting in a long bus queue and do not want to lose their space or may not have time to try out our product whilst waiting for the bus
• There are not many popular shops along this street as the audience is limited because they are not attracted to the area already

Children's Playarea
   +

• This area is popular with many ages, children who are playing in the area, their parents, people walking past through the shops, so it is accessed by our target audience
• This area is in the middle of the main shops outside, although it is not in the main shopping centre this area can still be busy at peak times of the day especially lunch time as many people walk past it to Tescos
• There is already a theme within the playarea which is the jungle animals, this could be incorporated into our installation to make the playarea more interactive to the children and the passersby
• The playarea is surrounded by popular shops like HMV and House Of Fraiser which would encourage people to come to the shops where they would see the installation and maybe try it out

   -

• Popular shops are nearby which could distract our audience
• This area is in a small densely packed location so we would have to adapt our installation to suit these conditions

Our final choice of location was the children's playarea, we thought this location would receive the largest number of our target audience throughout the day because of the shops surrounding it and it is an interesting space so we would be able expand our ideas into what we could design and install. It already has a theme so we can adapt this to our own ideas. The space is highly social because of all the people walking through it and there is a high volume of people around during the day. Most of the people walking through the space are probably shopping so may take some time out to use our installation especially if they have children as it is located in the children's play area. Next we need to do some research other technological work in a similar area to what we want to design and see if we can gain some inspiration from other pieces of work.

IDAT101 Group Project Interactive Installation Brief

In teams we we're provided with a brief to plan and design an ineractive installation, here is a copy of the brief:

In your teams, you are to plan and design an interactive installation for use in a highly social "playful" space. You installation should encompass some form of media (of your choice), combined with an appropriate mechanism to allow participants to interact with it. Your installation should encourage engagement of the audience within the space and integrate with or even support the activities that take place within the space. You should avoid a purely functional purpose and strive to produce a piece of work that provides users with an aesthetic, conceptual or sensorial experience.

Breakdown Of The Brief:

Requirements:

• Plan and design an interactive installation
• Must be located in a social space where there is a large number of people
• Located in an area where people may not be busy or have other things to do therefore will be more likely to use the installation
• Created for a technology literate audence
• Installation should be able to interact with the public and prompt a reaction from them
• Should have a variety of features to provide the audience with an aesthetic, conceptual and sensorial experience
• Installation must be engaging to the audience and appealing so that they want to use it

Technical and Resource Limitations:

• Technology used must be waterproof
• Technology should be long lasting and not need updates and should be able to withstand a large amount of use, e.g. a touch screen

Environmental Limitations:

• Weather limitations, rains a lot in Plymouth, may cause people to continue with their shopping rather than stop and use our installation
• Space availability

Contextual Limitations:

• Method of interaction- using a remote as a form of interaction between the audience and the installation may cause it to get stolen, some form of connection needs to be considered if a remote is the decided method
• Size of the installation- area available may not be very large, so the size of the installation needs to be considered carefully

From my understanding of the brief we are going to create an installation for a social space that allows people to interact with the space and enhances the activites already undertaken in the space. I think this will be an interesting project and will help us understand the technicalities and preparation and planning behind designing an installation to put into a social space. Although we are not creating the actual program or installing it, it is still a useful exercise to help prepare us for more hands on projects.