Way back in 2006, at the Wired NextFest, Saturn sponsored a “green” exhibit, highlighting their hybrid technology. It was a 4,000 square-foot installation featuring a life-sized, interactive holographic people, CAD projections onto vehicles, and a interactive/reactive wall with user-generated content.
I first learned of the project when I was judging the Communication Arts 2007 Interactive Annual and said it was beautiful and poetic. It may not have had deep interaction, but that was ok for an exhibition space as crowded as this — as the audience has a limited attention span.
I particularly liked the way information was projection mapped onto the vehicles, giving them a kind-of transparency, or augmented reality quality. A very engaging way to communicate under-the-hood concepts.
The reactive grass wall was big, green, and lushly fluid. It responded to people’s movements and displayed content from a connected kiosk. The wall was developed by the Barbarian Group, and their in-depth write-up of the project has a surprisingly detailed discussion of the Processing code that was created for it.
Goodby, Silverstein and Partners lead the project. Obscura Digital did the cool displays.
