Waves

Waves is a conceptual and interactive public art installation that visualizes information about indoor activities at DOKK1 by utilizing real-time event data.

The vision for the project was to transform the main staircase at DOKK1 into a more exciting and appealing experience, thereby encouraging more people to use the outdoor main staircase. This was to be achieved by making the staircase interactive through the use of light. The project culminated in a presentation of our concept to stakeholders, including DOKK1, followed by a theoretical examination.

The project culminated in a presentation of our concept to stakeholders, including DOKK1, followed by a theoretical examination.

Waves

My projects / Waves

Ethnographic Field Study

DOKK1 is a public space where the main staircase serves as a transitional area, with people moving from one public area to another. This means that individuals spend only a brief time in this zone before moving on. Therefore, it's crucial that the design is intuitive and accessible, facilitating an efficient and seamless passage.

The project started with an in-depth field study of DOKK1's staircases and surrounding areas. Our on-site visit aimed to gather observations on how both the outdoor and indoor staircases were used in everyday life. During this visit, we took numerous photos to aid our workshop and design process later on.

Initially, we used a timer and a notebook so we could observe and analyze the flow of people using the staircases over an hour. A key insight from this study was the high usage, with 50% more using the indoor staircase compared to the outdoor one, which led us to focus on developing a design that would make the outdoor staircase more appealing.

Workshop (Future Workshop)

Drawing from insights gained during our field study, we decided to conduct a workshop (a future workshop) to brainstorm and develop potential new design solutions. For the workshop, we selected users of DOKK1 and its main staircase. This approach ensured that we could incorporate direct experiences and feedback, thereby guaranteeing that the final design solution would effectively meet the actual needs and behavior patterns of the users.

📝 The materials we used for the workshop included:
• Post-it notes
• Paper
• Drawing tools
• Printed illustration of the main staircase

During the workshop, my role was to assist the lead facilitator, ensuring that the process ran smoothly and documenting the proceedings continuously. The workshop has been captured in the subsequent collages.

💡 Key Insight

A key insight from the workshop was our decision to create a design solution that incorporates the use of light.

Year: 2019

Our Brainstorm Session

Building upon the insights gathered from the workshop, we decided to facilitate our own brainstorming session within the design team. Here, we explored various solutions integrating light components. For this purpose, I created a quick paper draft of the user scenario in the form of a flowchart, followed by a digital version. This provided us with a clear overview of user interaction with our solution.

Final Design Concept

The final design we ended up with is called "Waves." Our inspiration for the final design is drawn from DOKK1's proximity to the water, and we've endeavored to integrate the flow of people into an interactive architectural element, creating "ripples in the water" that visualize human movement. 

The design comprises 10 clusters of 60 diodes arranged in a rosette formation and integrated into DOKK1's main staircase. Each cluster is divided into 37 diodes on the horizontal steps, shaped like four circles, and 6 lines with 3-4 diodes each on the vertical steps (see fig. 1).
Within the rosettes, the diodes are divided into two groups, each with its own function and placement. The diodes on the horizontal side of the staircase steps are activated via various concealed activation points scattered throughout DOKK1 and the surrounding stairs. These activation points are equipped with motion sensors that, upon activation, trigger a ripple effect on one of the rosettes on the main staircase. The innermost diodes light up first, followed by the next ring of diodes, and so on. The last ring of diodes remains illuminated for a short period before fading out. The activation points for initiating this effect are placed as follows:

Physical prototyping

For at bedre konceptualisere vores ide og få en mere håndgribelig fornemmelse af designets funktionalitet, besluttede vi at konstruere en fysisk prototype. et gav os mulighed for at lege med, hvordan folk ville interagere med produktet og se, hvordan det ville opføre sig i praksis. Vi kunne også bedre vurdere, hvordan det ville se ud og hvilke materialer der ville være bedst egnet til projektet.

Prototypen bestod af:

• En trappe lavet i træ, der blev skåret ud på en laser cutter

• Arduino, der styrede lysene

• Grøn og Rød lysdioder

1. Escalator up
2. Escalator down
3. Outdoor staircase 1
4. Outdoor staircase 2
5. Outdoor staircase 3
6. Indoor elevator 1
7. Indoor elevator 2
8. Indoor elevator 3
9. Staircase up the "rampen"
10. "Rampen" up the slope

The diodes on the vertical side of the staircase steps are activated via various motion sensors placed around the main staircase itself. These diodes illuminate in an upward fan and repeat a few times. The diode clusters and activation points are connected on a 24-hour cycle. At 00:01 each day, the linkage is reset, and each diode cluster is assigned a new activation point to ensure that certain points are potentially used and to prevent the light pattern from becoming predictable.