"Wind Chime for Clara" was created by digital scenographer Anaitte Vaccaro for Fist Art Foundation for the inauguration of the Ritz Carlton Reserve in Dorado, Puerto Rico. The installation was inspired by pioneer aviatrix Clara Livingston and her contributions to civil aviation in Puerto Rico.
Using the theme of wind and projected onto kite-like butterfly objects suspended from tree tops, textures and animated leaves change speed and color, controlled by the surrounding wind and captured by sensor technology.
The sensor technology also controls the sounds of wind chimes enhancing the immersive experience of the installation with the goal of creating a truly authentic digital wind chime.
Video of the sculpture is captured using an infrared camera. This video stream is processed using background subtraction and adaptive thresholding algorithms creating a dynamic video mask. The mask is used to composite several video layers together, some mapped to the sculpture and some illuminating the surrounding elements. The system keeps the video mapped to the sculpture, despite changes in wind.
An anemometer (wind speed indicator) is analyzed by the media playback system and used to control parameters of the video processing such as color, speed, and blending. Wind information is also used to trigger various audio clips creating a soundtrack of virtual wind chimes.
The entire system is implemented using Derivative TouchDesigner and Cycling ‘74 Max/MSP.
Credits
Creator: Anaitté Vaccaro
Presented by: Fist Art Foundation at Dorado Beach a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Audio Visual Company: Audio Visual Consultants
Interactive Designer: Thadeus Reed
Documentation Video: L Young
Equipment
2 Sanyo Projector 12,000 lumens
1 Barco Folsom ImagePro HD
2 Wide lens .8
1 Extron Electronics DA RGBHV 1x4 ADA 4
2 Meyer Sound UPA 1P
2 Meyer Sound UPM
1 Yamaha 16-Channel Audio Mixer
Custom Titanus Rack Mount PC (Intel i7, Dual NVIDIA Quadro 4000s)
Custom Software in Derivative TouchDesigner and Cycling ’74 Max/MSP
Anemometer
Anemometer Computer Interface: serial interface via Arduino microprocessor
Optitrack V120:SLIM USB 2.0 High-Speed Camera
RME FF800 Audio Interface