Project Name: Interacting With Trees: Designing an Interactive Playground Installation
Year: 2017
Role: Interaction Designer, Programmer, Video Producer
Paper: Interacting With Trees: Designing an Interactive Playground Installation
The project was developed in the “DM2799 Advanced Project Course in Interactive Media Technology” course at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, Fall 2017 by Jonathan Adam, Nicola Marcon, and Adrian Latupeirissa.
Abstract:
Trees are a common element in many playgrounds in Sweden, and are therefore a good starting point to consider creating systems for play which integrate well into the natural environment. We design a set of objects which can easily be attached to trees, and which invite children to explorative play. Through pressing buttons, playing children can elicit immediate auditory feedback from the “tree nodes,” as well as manipulate a more complex soundscape of musical loops. An open-ended user test with a group of young children revealed some of the effective and faulty aspects of the system, and provided insight into the potential for digital interactions in the physical landscape of play.
Skill learned: Outdoor interaction design, Children interaction design, Network communication with Raspberry Pi