Radiant Vines

Radiant Vines is an experimental light installation built for Plug in and Play 2024 with approachable interaction in mind. Pick up the watering can and tilt it to sprinkle light onto the plant pots and watch the vines grow and bloom.

What is this made of?

The project consists of a weatherproofed case with 4 ESP32s inside mounted on custom chips, three 5 metre rope LED strips and a whole lot of artificial vines! As for the input, I've modded a watering can using a BBC Micro so that upon tilting illuminates a LED ring mounted in an custom acrylic cap. 

The entire setup is battery powered and mounted using custom magnetic clamps that hold the rope in place. I plan in the winter months to do spontaneous night time installations of the project across Sheffield and surrounding sites. 

What do I mean by approachable design?

The controllers used by the industry to engage people within the medium of games are hostile and unfamiliar interfaces to audiences outside it. By fusing recognisable objects with hardware it's possible to reach new, unexplored audiences and challenge the assumption that joypads and keyboards are the most intuitive interfaces for play.

Here's a very brief talk on approachable design.

Here's a longer talk from this year on approachable design.

Credits:

Design and fabrication: Alex Johansson

Production, research and documentation: David Hayward

Exhibition Sites:

2024

- Plug in and Play, Rotherham, 31st Oct - 2nd Nov

- Meersbrook Park, Sheffield, 5th Nov

2025

- Future Everything, Stockport, Leigh and Barnsley, 4th - 6th Feb

- Tech Art Fest, Basildon, 21st-23rd Feb