designboom_binary waves - LAb[au]

designboom
design blog

featuring: binary waves, cybernetic urban installation
article by: Nate Archer, editor
10.11.2009

''the belgian design studio lLAb[au] placed their cybernetic installation binary waves in paris to measure and display the various flows of its surroundings. the urban installation measured people, bikes, cars, trains and electromagnetic fields in real time and displayed them through luminous, sonic and kinetic rules. the installation design consists of 40 rotating panels each 3m high and 60cm wide. the panels were arranged in a line to create a kinetic wall that when activated create a visual wave pattern that is altered by the flows at that moment. Infared sensors capture the data and send it from one panel to the other in a series to create the wave-like effect. 'micro-events' in the area are transformed into a unified play of light, colours and sounds directly derived from the rhythm of the city flows''.