This project was designed and developed by Electroland, a group of professionals focused on the usage of technology to enhance experiences in public environments, in Fort Lauderdale (Florida) in 2005.

A perspective of the project (taken from Electroland website).

The project “simply” creates visuals and sounds based on the interactions between people walking by. At first glance it could seem a simple toy but the potential of a similar concept I reckon could be very strong. We know that in our society people do not communicate with each other and there have been many projects aiming at creating opportunities for people to communicate. A story I recently heard from the funny guy from Greyworld comes to my mind, it was about people not saying a word in normal contexts like being stuck in a crowded tube wagon or while having sex but who can easily find words when wishing to complain about someone smoking cigarettes in a forbidden place. Unfortunately you cannot push people to interact because otherwise you could easily end up invading users’ privacy, but there are some moments in people’s day where maybe they are more keen on socializing, for instance I think that when we walk around the office and we come across colleagues, it is often for shyness that nobody takes the initiative to exchange just a “hi”. A project like this could definitely help break some walls we create with our shyness. As variation I could imagine implementing RFID data so the installation can eventually introduce people to each other with their names and maybe interpret the speed of the users as busy factor thus leaving fast people alone.

Another perspective of the project (taken from Electroland website).