Bubbles

Interactive project done as part of the Audiovisual & Interactive Technologies class in my engineering school. We created an interactive installation, set up in an open-air area, which is creating a concerto of bubbles that passersby generate.

Two giant "straws" placed in front of a screen can be interacted with : people aim a straw at the screen and blow into it to create a bubble at the spot they were aiming. The bubble keeps growing as long as they blow. Once created the virtual bubble moves and collides with already existing bubbles. Each collision creates a sound, its pitch and level depending on the size and velocity of the colliding bubbles.

The bubbles have a limited lifespan. Once they reached it they move to the top of the screen and disappear, which activates a bubble machine, giving a physical existence to these virtual bubbles.

The straws are actually mic stands with an outer, cosmetic and protective shell. The microphones mounted in them catch people's breath as sound, which the program uses to create bubbles.

Representation of the entire installation