Interaction - Bachelor

Australia Illuminated

Australia Illuminated is an interactive educational installation that transforms the way learners engage with Australian geography. Designed for educational contexts, it combines light, motion and user input to create a responsive map that tests knowledge of Australian geography, supported by visual and haptic feedback.

Josh Harvey

Project Video

The DEsign

Australia Illuminated is a large illuminated map that visualises Australian geography through light. The design features a black base fitted with 197 individually addressable LEDs arranged in the shape of Australia. Each LED is capped with a ping pong ball diffuser, producing soft illumination that gives the map a novel appearance.
Learners use a Nintendo Switch controller to answer geography questions displayed on an external screen. When an answer is submitted, the relevant region lights up; green for correct and red for incorrect, supported by haptic feedback. This immediate, multi-sensory response helps to make learning geography both engaging and memorable, encouraging users to connect digital questions with real world locations.

Image of unfinished wood frame and laser cut MDF panels.

Fabrication

The map was built from laser-cut MDF panels secured within a timber frame. The front panel’s laser-cut holes defined the placement for each of the 197 LEDs, ensuring precise alignment and consistent spacing. Each LED was fitted with a ping pong ball diffuser, attached using hot glue. The frame was painted black to enhance contrast, with concealed wiring and a rear stand to support exhibition display.
Image of the wiring behind the map.

Technology

The map is controlled by an Arduino Mega 2560, which controls the LED data and communicates with a Python-based quiz interface handling question logic, animations and the external display. The LEDs are powered by a 5V power supply. A Nintendo Switch Pro controller is used for inputs, allowing users to navigate the quiz and receive haptic feedback as they interact.

Josh Harvey

Josh Harvey is an Interaction Design student at QUT with a minor in Industrial Design Studies, whose work explores how digital systems and physical form intersect to create human-centred experiences that improve everyday life and strengthen connections between people and their environment.