Working as part of an international design and delivery team including CAM and ArquiLEDS in Peru, e:cue in Germany, and Traxon in Hong Kong, Cinimod Studio created a cutting-edge mood analysis system to control the stadium façade lighting.



Using a combination of innovative technologies and lighting layouts, the façade of the stadium has been infused with a mixture of lights that allow the façade to act as a "mirror" of the crowd’s mood. In what is probably now the largest crowd controlled interactive lighting display in the world, the stadium is able to communicate the ebb and flow of excitement and disappointment to the surrounding city, thus becoming a watched spectacle in itself.



A network of customised sound level metres was deployed along the roof line of the stadium to create a dynamic map of the crowd’s noise levels. This data was then processed by Cinimod’s processing hardware and software located in the main communications room of the stadium.



Cinimod software developed specifically for the project processed the sound level data in real-time, performing a series of comparative mathematical calculations and analysis by self-calibrating algorithms. The output from the software is a "mood state" that summarizes the collective mood of the crowd.

 

The lighting patterns have been carefully designed to faithfully depict the moods. The patterns vary in colour, speed, brightness and scale — at times the façade can be seen to sparkle with obvious joy and celebration, other times it recoils into a subdued and disappointed state. In these variations the mood of the crowd is clearly visualised for the outside city to see and share.

Further technical details



 

Lighting Output

The external lighting scheme is designed to integrate seamlessly within the architectural framework, while providing the required media façade framework to display lighting patterns that depict the mood the crowd within the stadium. Working with the design of the new façade, the majority of the lights are laid out in dramatic fans of "flames" that wrap upwards around the bulbous form of the structure.

The scale of the stadium façade necessitated a very large array of colour and pixel addressable fittings. The fittings are all from Traxon Technologies, who specialise in high quality architectural LED lights. Their overall installation is linked to an e:cue architectural lighting controller that provides the required 62 universes of DMX lighting control output.

The overall façade lighting control system is comprised of 2 main components: Cinimod’s interactive mood analysis system and the E:cue lighting control system. These two components work in tandem to deliver an ever-evolving and responsive lighting display on the façade.

Technical Details of Interactive System

As is common to many Cinimod projects, the challenge was to develop a bespoke and reliable solution that would faithfully deliver Cinimod’s ambitious scheme for an interactive lighting control system. Utilising a transfer of technologies from related industries, Cinimod created a cutting-edge mood analysis system for the Stadium project.

Crowd Noise Level Mapping

A network of customised sound level metres was deployed along the roof line of the stadium to create a dynamic map of the crowd’s noise levels. This data was then processed by Cinimod’s processing hardware and software located in the main communications room of the stadium.

Mood Analysis

Cinimod software developed specifically for the project processed the sound level data in real-time, performing a series of comparative mathematical calculations and analysis by self-calibrating algorithms. The output from the software is a "mood state" that summarizes the collective mood of the crowd.

The 4 states defined states are:

Boring: The crowd has a neutral attitude to the game, indicating the lack of any particularly good game play.

Excitement: Detected by a surge in crowd noise levels, the crowd is determined to be excited by events on the pitch.

Celebration: The celebration mood would normally be triggered by a goal, and is detected by further rise within the ‘exciting’ state followed by a sustained level of constant high-level noise.

Disappointment: If the noise levels of the ‘exciting’ state reach a peak followed by a rapid decline in levels, then the software is likely to detect a disappointed crowd.

Output

The mood analysis software runs perpetually, constantly evaluating the mood. It communicates the determined mood state to the e:cue lighting controller which then sends the relevant DMX control signal to all the light fixtures.

The lighting patterns have been carefully designed to faithfully depict the moods. The patterns vary in colour, speed, brightness and scale — at times the façade can be seen to sparkle with obvious joy and celebration, other times it recoils into a subdued and disappointed state. In these variations the mood of the crowd is clearly visualised for the outside city to see and share.

Team

The lighting of the stadium was the result of teamwork from design and production offices across South America, Europe and Asia.

Concept and lighting design:

• Claudia Paz, CAM (Concept)
• Dominic Harris & Nick Cheung from CINIMOD STUDIO (Interactive Control System)
• David Castañeda, TRAXON (Design Development)
• Luke Hall (Stage Lighting)

Programmers:

• Andrea Cuius, CINIMOD STUDIO
• Christian Brink, E:CUE
• Rafael Baggioni, TRAXON
• Cesar Castro, ARQUILEDS

Companies:

• CAM (Lighting design & Installation)
• ARQUILEDS  (Distributor and Project Management)
• CINIMOD STUDIO (Interactive Control System)
• TRAXON (Fixtures)
• E:CUE (Lighting Software)

The Chelsea store presented unique design challenges that included a deep shop unit with a relatively narrow shop front. This led to the Cinimod design team seeking new and innovative ways to create a highly visible store that would deliver an eye-catching high street presence using a fusion between sculptured architectural and lighting elements. Building on design explorations from previous Snog stores, Cinimod have taken the integrated furniture and lighting design to new levels.

Highly visible from outside is the “Ribbon Ceiling” of undulating light. The complex form was derived using parametric software to create the smooth rippling form that varies in depth and pitch across the overall store plan. Cinimod Studio have a proven passion for experimenting with lighting control systems, with a desire to keep pushing the interactive and generative nature of our digital lighting media content. For the Snog Chelsea store, Cinimod deployed a new lighting control system by amBX. This responds in real-time to the store’s music system, creating dynamic colour movements across the ribbon ceiling that are perfectly in tune with the music. This ensures that the ceiling colours never appears static or repetitive, and instead are in a state of continuous responsiveness to the acoustic environment.

The studio’s expertise in LED lighting was further tested by the introduction of a 100% LED lighting solution for the whole store. This provides unparalleled energy efficiencies and full controllability over the exact quality and brightness of light. Cinimod Studio turned to Philips for their assistance in delivering this ambitious 100% LED lighting scheme. The resulting quality of light is remarkably fresh, healthy and natural feeling, with the brightness linked to the main control system to allow automatic subtle variations throughout the day.

The customer seating within the store is focussed on a single over-size organic bench, fabricated as single piece to achieve the smooth and seamless continuous curvature that provides it’s distinct form.

PROJECT CREDITS

Client: Snog Pure Frozen Yogurt (London)

Architecture Design: Cinimod Studio

Lighting Design: Cinimod Studio

Branding and Graphics: ICO Design

DJ Light is about the exhilaration of one person taking control over a massive space and manipulating the incredible array of light and sound within it using nothing more than their own body. It is an empowering experience where the public is invited to be the artist.

The installation consists of 85 giant globes of light, each capable of displaying millions of colours. As the “guest DJ” assumes their position on the podium, they can use their arms to point and gesture. These movements are translated in real-time into beautiful movements of light and generative sound across the space.

Cinimod Studio are known for their innovative use of technologies, and it is therefore no surprise that “DJ Light” employs some truly innovative technologies. The main controlling hardware and software utilised for DJ Light was made especially for the project, and combines years of on-going research and development.

Each of the inflatable globes contain custom LED lighting, designed and fabricated for maximum controllability and energy efficiency. Each globe has a unique identity that allows the colour to be controlled from the main DJ podium. Suspended above the podium is a high accuracy thermal tracking camera that has been developed by Cinimod to allow for live tracking of the “guest DJ”. By tracking every movement of the person below, this camera communicates control signals to the main software programme that is responsible for the live sound and light generation.

With over 400 channels of lighting control and a multi-directional sound system, DJ Light is comprised of a technically advanced set-up. However it is the intention and desire of Cinimod Studio that the focus of the public should be on the beautiful and ephemeral effect of the artwork, rather than on the technology that underlies it.

Project Credits:

Concept design, realisation and implementation: Cinimod Studio (London, UK)

Software programming: Cinimod Studio with Henrik Ekeus (London, UK)

Local project management: Claudia Paz  & Cesar Castro (Lima, Peru)

Local production team: Arquileds and Consetec (Lima, Peru)

At this awards event, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology was used to identify visitors on the two ‘networking pods’ during the evening’s proceedings. The tags use radio signals to send their identity to antenna receivers. Projections then highlight guests’ key professional characteristics.

The interactive projections displayed the projects of nearby shortlisted visitors.  As they moved closer to the centre of the ‘pod’, their name rose higher on the list.  Once a visitor was determined to be closest to the centre of the pod their project details and credentials appeared on the panoramic projection screens.

The Awards were the first event that combined this technology to create a uniquely ‘connected’ environment.  The underlying system is a continuing work-in-progress that Cinimod seek to further develop for future art installations and events.  The tracking badges themselves already incorporate accelerometer sensors which can be used to gain further interesting insight into the user’s behaviour.

Cinimod Studio collaborated with Audialsense to create a unique interactive sound to complement the visual projections.  With a series of loudspeakers located around the site, special antenna receivers identified the eventual winners as they moved through the space. These ‘special’ guests then ‘distorted’ the background beats to give everyone else at the awards event audio clues as to the winners’ identities – even before they themselves knew who had won.

Project credits:

RFID interactive video projection system: Cinimod Studio

Lighting Design: Cinimod Studio

Interactive Audio System: Audialsense

Bespoke RFID electronics design and production:  White Wing Logic

Related:

This RFID projection system represents the second time that Cinimod Studio has created a unique interactive system for the Restaurant And Bar Design Awards – the first was the striking Exploded Globe over Hoxton Square in 2008.

While traditional chandeliers are static objects, the Light Symphony is designed to engage with the public and become an active and animated element within the space. It is comprised of 240 light tubes suspended in space to create a falling volume of red, gold and white light. The overall height is 15 metres, and the scale of the piece feels both natural and appropriate to the cavernous atrium where it is located.

The real magic comes from when members of the public become the ‘conductors’ of the Light Symphony. Standing at a special plinth that is reminiscent of an artist’s easel, the user can orchestrate complex colour movements throughout the Light Symphony by using his hands and arms across a highly innovative LED touch panel. The response is immediate, and the effect clear, fluid and rewarding.

Light Symphony was produced in the UK and installed with the assistance of a local production company. All elements were designed and fabricated bespoke for the project, and a 4-strong Cinimod team were on site for 10 days.

Cinimod Studio’s approach to the project serves as another example of the design teams ambition to deliver projects of beauty and innovative design where the focus on in which the highly complex and technical electronics and control systems are presented in a highly intuitive and natural manner.

Additional footage available on Vimeo:  Interview Film,  Making Of Film.

Project Details:

Client:  Sobranie London, Moscow.

Overall Design, including lighting, mechanical and interaction design: Cinimod Studio

Electrical Design: White Wing Logic (London)

On-Site Production team and coordination:  Zeppelin Productions (Moscow)

Flutter consists of a linear array of 88 vertical double-sided video fins projecting from a mirrored surface. Butterflies flash through these screens on virtual flight paths, visible for fleeting moments as the light irridesces off their wings.

The sequenced form of the installation references animation ideas first developed in the zoetrope, and its later successor, the praxinoscope. However, in a developmental move away from the linear time-sliced nature of these devices, the introduction of interactive control in ‘Flutter’ makes the ephemerality of the encounter influence its semiotics.

The butterfly has different meanings in different cultures, from being a symbol of life or death, luck or tragedy, nervousness or happiness. ‘Flutter’ explores these notions through cutting-edge interactivity – the movement of the viewer around the piece determines the scale of the butterfly’s flutter. By reaching out your hand a flying butterfly will respond, either by landing near you or by being scared away. In playing with the butterflies more intricate behaviours will be uncovered.

Acquiring Flutter:

Flutter was first unveiled at the Kinetica Art Fair 2010 in London.  A new edition of Flutter is currently being prepared and will be launched as a limited edition later in 2010.  For further information please contact the studio.

Visitors to the area became active participants in the interactive artwork. A thermal camera overhead tracked the position of the visitors, with their movement controlling a beautiful ballet of colour movements across the globe. An illuminated plinth at ground level provided a direct visual feedback of the colour tracking.

The resultant artwork proved to be a popular and highly engaging intervention within the Millionaire’s Fair exhibition hall, and became a visual icon for the event.

Cinimod Studio have successfully completed their commission by New York artist Peter Coffin for the technical design, build and delivery of a UFO to be used in Coffin’s unique high-altitude public art performance.

This is the second time the UFO has made a public appearance. It first appeared over the city of Gdansk, Poland, in July 2008. Since then it has been significantly upgraded, and for Rio it featured an additional 150kg of bespoke lighting equipment to create an even greater visual impact.

The night time flight over Rio De Janeiro had been extensively publicised in advance, and an estimated 500,000 spectators assembled on the five beaches of Rio to witness the UFO. As the UFO approached, the gathered masses rushed towards the water, screaming and shouting with excitement, amidst a wave of sparkling flash photography.

The overall UFO structure is 7 metres in diameter and manufactured of aluminium for lightness. A massive array of bright and individually controllable Color Kinetics LED nodes have been placed across the structure and are controlled via a Pharos LPX solid state computer. A network of bespoke ‘beacon’ lights, developed for this project by Cinimod Studio and White Wing Logic, encompass the perimeter of the UFO and are responsible for the orbiting sparkle of light around the main UFO structure.

An on board 6 kw generator provides the system power, and the overall UFO can be remotely controlled via SMS messaging. The UFO is flown through the sky, suspended under a helicopter 20 metres above — however, the helicopter itself is never visible during the flight, further adding to the mystique of the UFO.

Ten days of preparation on-site in Rio were undertaken by a Cinimod Studio team of three, comprised of director Dominic Harris, Nick Cheung, and Mike Harrison (of White Wing Logic). Operating from a top secret airport hangar they directed a local team of 15 people on the assembly, pre-flight preparation, and coordination required for the successful UFO flight.

Cinimod Studio already has a reputation for creating innovative lighting and structural designs, but with the UFO project design director Dominic Harris has taken lighting design to new heights. Harris says “we have pushed the envelope on the UFO, and it has required a remarkable fusion of technologies and design disciplines in order to make this happen.”

On the collaborative process Harris says “working with Peter Coffin has been a rewarding experience — his artistic vision for the project has remained clear and ambitious from the start, and he has pushed us to achieve it. The result is a fantastic collaboration between art and technology.”

Project Credits, Sponsors and Organisers

Commissioned and produced by Open Art Projects: A non-profit foundation devoted to contemporary art which produces projects, materialises artistic concepts, organises exhibitions, and pursues publishing activities. www.openartprojects.org

Curator: Kasia Redzisz

Electrical Engineering by White Wing Logic.  www.whitewing.co.uk

Local production by Vianapole. www.vianapole.com.br

Support from the Secretary of Culture of the State Of Rio de Janeiro.

Project Sponsor: Oi (Brazilian phone network). www.novaoi.com.br

Official website (in Portuguese) for the project: www.discovoador.art.br

‘Beacon’ is a kinetic light installation with a mind of its own. An array of emergency beacon lights interacts with visitors, tracking their movement through the space, creating an immersive and playful experience.

The installation exploits a transfer of technologies from existing industrial products. The beacon lights have had their internal parts replaced with custom hardware, enabling the rotation of the reflector and lamp brightness to be individually controlled. Thermal imaging cameras have been adapted to track the participants’ movement through the space.

‘Beacon’ is orchestrated in real-time by a bespoke control system, which uses tracking information from the cameras to coordinate an interactive and highly responsive behavior.

Credits:

Concept, Design and Production:  Cinimod Studio and Chris O’Shea

Electrical Engineering:  White Wing Logic.  Thermal Imaging: Thermitrack.

The artwork was inspired by the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards belief that “design excellence is up to you”, and using cutting edge technologies, the innovative lighting installation was brought to life by the collaborative interaction of the guests who used special punch cards to choreograph their own colour animations. These cards were ‘scanned’ at a freestanding plinth located in one corner of the square, from where their colours were uploaded to the main globe to form the overall animated lighting display.

The launch event was attended by some of the top influential designers and industry press, as well as many curious members of the public. The installation was well received, and provided a delightful and engaging addition to the square. The artwork acted as a beacon of good design — key to the underlying message of the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards.

The Globe was constructed with a structural aluminium core and ribs, to which panels of Foamalux were fixed. An array of individually addressable Martin Professional LED fixtures provided the full colour illumination to the globe, and created the unique dappled light projections across Hoxton Square. A bespoke software programme, coded by Cinimod Studio in VVVV, controlled the overall installation.

For more information see the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards site.