Cascade
Cascade is an interactive digital installation which provides an immersive experience of user-interaction with flowing water and pebbles. Based on human interactions, virtual projections of a cascade and a shoal of fish are effected.
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The physical part of the installation composes of two major elements, namely a wooden table and a water ecosystem. The table is served as a water reservoir as well as an interaction interface while the water ecosystem provides a non-stop water flow for the water reservoir.
On the technical side, the installation is set up with multimedia system consisting of a Mac Pro computer, four projectors, a speaker, a network router, an Xbox Kinect Sensor and an Arduino board. The Arduino board is connected to five relays, two ultrasonic sensors, one infra-red sensor, one water-flow sensor and one water-level sensor for detections and signal transmissions.
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There are three major interactions in Cascade.
First, when audience enter the room, the infra-red sensor senses his movement and turns off the table lighting. Projection of a cascade then fades in with music triggering the water ecosystem to be turned on to form a water reservoir.
Second, projection reminds audience to open the under-table drawer and interact with pebbles. When users open the drawer, the ultrasonic sensor senses the drawer movement and turns the LED on/off.
Third, when users place pebbles on the table, water volume and flow rate of the reservoir will be changed. Therefore, the water-level sensor is used to detect the amount of water for controlling the water overflow and the water-flow sensor is used to transmit serial signals for projections of swimming fish to be mapped onto the reservoir accordingly. Pebbles are detected by the Xbox sensor to avoid fish collisions.
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