Architecture is a profession that sits on the edge of the creative tradition and the hard sciences. This is something that is intuitively known as architects routinely balance understanding human behavior while developing creative and functional spaces. In the case of this project, the idea of art and science co-mingling has produced a hybrid approach to solving a scientific inquiry with the methodologies of art. The study strives to document people inhabiting a space, relating to each other’s presence, and rendering their interactions in an artistic and intuitive way. To achieve this, a program was developed for capturing the movements of actors and abstracting their interactions into an interactive art piece.
This study depicts space as if it were a fluid, calm and predictable until it is influenced by a disturbing presence. In this model, people move through their space as one would move through a body of water, with differing levels of turbulence and disruption depending on the path taken and interactions made, hence the name “Experiential Turbulence.” It should be noted, however, that the fluid of social space has different properties than that of water due to the abstract nature of its being. While the analogy to liquid is a useful one, it is clear that people will act in unpredictable ways, challenging the notion of any generalized model.
Even so, this tool aims to provide much-needed clarity to the architectural spaces we reside in; helping us draw conclusions about the nature of space for the benefit of all designers, architectural and otherwise.
This exhibit is built using the programing language Processing 3 and works by rendering a “spatial field,” which is represented by a gaussian noise distribution (random noise) which is then influenced by the presence of people. The result is a graphic rendering of what this intangible substance may look like as the actors move about and influence it. This complex process involves the use of projection mapping and motion-tracking technology through the use of a Microsoft Kinect module. A computer then uses the captured data of the social gathering to create a projected image onto an adjacent surface for the individuals to observe and react to.
This is a first step in proving the technique for use in more complicated scenarios in which we strive to do what science often struggles to, convey information in an abstract but intuitively clear way. Put simply, the aim of the project is to use scientific rigor to derive art.
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2HgeOGAwm4Jx8onLjW1frw