Transforming dark city corners into shared moments of connection after sunset.
Services
Client
Year
Website
The Idea & Research
Our Task, given by our client hola was to design an interactive Device to reinvent public spaces at night.
During our research for the project we discovered that most people do not feel safe or satisfied in parks at night. Most of our findings showed that this is due to two main factors:
1. Lack of Light
2. Lack of activities
We took these findings and set out to find a solution that utilises light in order to transform public spaces from a dark space without anything to do to an exciting sphere of community, even if it is only for a second on your evening commute.
Design Choices
At its core, the design philosophy embraces the idea that public installations should do more than occupy space; they should create it. The choice of a soothing purple palette for the spheres is intentional: it evokes a sense of wonder and calm as the evening descends, inviting park-goers to pause and engage. The spheres serve as individual nodes of a larger grid, each capable of interacting with users and each other to project an expansive play surface below.
Programming
In order to create an interactive experience for people to enjoy we needed to program the tool for the game to use. We tried TouchDesigner at first but due to our limited resources and the limitations of the Kinect integration within touch designer we had to divert. We found a quite outdated kinect blob detection framework for Processing. I got to work updating it and making sure it worked on the platforms we are programming on. After a while we managed to get it working. The OSC commands this script outputs where then taken into unity where we started developing the game mechanics itself.
Physical Prototype
In order to effectively test our programming and see if all of our (testing) components work in their intended configuration we had to design and build a physical prototype. We settled on using aluminium u profiles and 3d printed corner pieces to tie everything together.
Result
Cubie became a prototype for what public design can be when technology, emotion, and space converge. The installation transformed darkness into an active playground: glowing, responsive, and social.
We showcased the project through an immersive VR experience, allowing visitors to explore a nighttime park brought to life by Cubie’s light spheres. The result captivated both our client and the audience at the semester expo, demonstrating how urban spaces can evolve from static environments into living, playful systems.
The final prototype combined interactive programming, physical design, and experiential storytelling, presenting a compelling vision for how technology can rekindle community in the city’s quietest hours.
