Interaction - Bachelor

Forest Symphony

Forest Symphony is an interactive collective experience that highlights the power of unity and community action. Audience engages with elements of the forest to activate audio and visual effects, transforming the environment into an immersive symphony of sound and light.

Through this shared interaction, Forest Symphony invites reflection on the importance of collaboration in addressing today’s environmental challenges.

James Paterson

In action

Tree

Project overview

Forest Symphony invites playful exploration. This was considered in every stage of creating the experience, using artificial materials allows the environments to represent a forest, but not replicate it. If the audience enters a real-life forest, their interactions will mirror that, but if they enter a more playful and fun forest, they are more likely to have fun and explore the experience.

As users explore the experience, they will work together to make it more immersive. Once they have come together and worked as a team, the forest will reward them
Makey Makey

How does it work?

Forest Symphony uses a fun little gadget called a Makey Makey. This small controller can turn everyday objects into computer inputs, such as a mouse or keyboard. The Makey Makey is connected to anything conductive, and with human interaction, the circuit is closed. Each key on the Makey Makey is attached to a different element of the forest, with varying outcomes upon interaction, including both audio and visual effects. For the visual elements, an Arduino is connected to a strip of addressable LEDs. At the interaction of a conductive element of the forest, the LEDs are activated.

Building

A traditional design process of discover, define, develop and deliver was followed. After a lot of ideations, it was time to build. I began by creating small-scale lo-fi elements of the forest. This helped me gain an understanding of how users would interact with the experience. After much user testing, I took the elements into high-fidelity, whilst keeping that home-made feel to it. After a lot of foam filler, cardboard and spray paint, all elements of the forest were complete.

See how it all came together

James Paterson

James is an aspiring interaction designer with experience in UX/UI, motion graphics and video editing. He loves to travel, the outdoors and being active, and when he can, he incorporates these into his studies. Who knows what the future holds for him, but he will do it with brains in his head and feet in his shoes and steer himself in any direction he chooses.