I teamed up with Adobe Aero to create an augmented reality experience called Sound Garden.
The experience features a series of geometric totems which begin to animate and play music when you approach them. The idea was to create a kinetic sculptural experience reminiscent of walking through a botanical garden. When totems are activated they play their own unique tune. When multiple are selected they play multiple tunes, which harmonise with one another.
Check out the experience using your phone or tablet. Use the the QR code to trigger the experience or visit it here
I was drawn to the idea of creating a kinetic sculpture which plays music. My approach is inspired by vintage music boxes which when wound, or triggered, come alive with movement and sound. My aesthetic approach however, was to create a more modernised version of this, where the moving parts of the sculpture are comprised of geometric shapes and forms. I've always been inspired by the Memphis Milano movement, and their various totem-like sculptures made from primitive geometric shapes.
In my initial sketches, I explored different shapes to see how they could 'reveal' themselves in fun and playful ways. My goal was to create a movement which was subtle, hypnotic and calming. I designed the shapes and forms in Cinema 4D.
After my initial sketches and tests, I felt that the 'single' totem idea was too tall and made the experience different to interact with in AR. As a result, I decided to break the design up into smaller pieces and scatter them around the 3D space. This helped promote more interaction with the user, and created a more fun and discoverable experience.
Once I was happy with the forms, I started colouring the work. I exported each of the files from Cinema4D. I exported the objects individually, which allowed me the freedom to position them in Aero.
Considering my biggest inspiration was music boxes, part of the development involved creating sounds to compliment the animation. I kept this approach fairly simple, working with a MIDI keyboard and Garage Band to build the seperate sounds.
The music, like the animation, loops seamlessly, and was designed to match the duration of the animated objects.
The final and most important step was bringing it all together in Adobe Aero. I was able to easily import all of the bits of pieces from my toolkit of elements to build the experience. The trigger for the experience was the user's proximity to the objects and defining when to trigger the animations was pretty easy with Aero's built in features. I was able to work fairly quickly and test things on my phone at my desk.
Defining the scale and positioning was an important part of the experience, because I wanted the user to feel like they could explore the space. I tried a few versions of scales and arrangements until I was ready to assign the triggers.
I loved the built in actions for the triggers. I created an action where the sound and animation triggers as soon as the user steps within 150cm of the object.
Thanks to the Adobe Aero team for having me on this project! Check out Sound Garden and other experiences in their gallery.
