Pathway Tunnel: An interactive art installation that's made up of pentagons that appear to be rotating, all being placed over a pathway in Columbus Park to increase foot traffic during the winter. Pedestrians passing by activate a range of colorful LEDs by triggering infrared motion sensors as they walk through our installation.

We created this project to compete in the New Urban Mechanics Snowy City challenge, as well as increasing foot traffic in the Columbus park area. Our projects exists to help combat seasonal affective disorder, as well as bringing people outside during the winter months. Our project utilizes an Arduino, IR sensors, and an LED strip. A user simple walks or rolls through the pathway, and can activate the lights without any effort. 

During the winter season, foot traffic and business slows in Boston. Our goal is to help bring people outside. Our project, Pathway Tunnel, inspires and reveals an unexpected surprise. 

Our project utilizes motion sensors, an Arduino and LED strips to allow users to activate a wave of light just by walking through it. As users move through the pathway, lights fade in. Made up of pentagonal lumber frames, it blends in with the existing arches at Columbus Park, while standing out at the same time. Regardless of physical ability, anyone can interact with our installation.  

During the winter season, foot traffic and business slows in Boston. Our goal is to help bring people outside. Our project, Pathway Tunnel, inspires and reveals an unexpected surprise. 

We began with the same arch design as before, but after our mid review, we explored other options. First, we switched our design from arches to hexagons. We rotated them to attempt to create the illusion of the hexagons rotating, but it didn't turn out as perfectly as we'd hoped. Pentagons may have worked better. We also switched from hand soldering every LED together to LED strips. This also allows us complex patterns with the strips. 

Our decisions didn't really change our thesis. We just used the coaches' feedback to improve our design and better support our thesis. Scaling the strip design is proved to be challenging. We had the correct code, and what seemed to be the correct wiring, but I had the wires trying to send a signal in the wrong direction. I soldered the jumpers onto the correct side, and it fixed it. We'll be installing the second strip on Monday.

Our pathway tunnel is built to inspire excitement and curiosity to those who walk through it. Users can either passively interact with the motion-activated lights or go out of their way and pull strings attached to bells.

We started out on a very different path, trying to sync lights and music at an ice skating rink. We tried brainstorming several different ways we could work with that idea, but none of them really turned out to be anything we liked or thought would work very well. We then switched to a similar idea, but placed over a pathway. This way, we can use direction to control the experience. We eventually decided on using passive and interactive experiences on a pathway. This way, people could experience our installation whether or not they had time to go out of their way. 

We built our first prototype out of handcut cardboard. You can see it in the first three pictures. It was quite rough and messy, but it shows our bell design, with routing string through plastic straws. In our next three pictures the process of that prototype. In the last two photos, you can see our laser cut version. We also worked with using an Arduino and a PIR motion sensor to turn on an LED. Unfortunately, we took pictures with the camera of the Arduino setup, but it didn't upload. 

We were going to just have either the lights or the bells. When we received feedback from the coaches, they told us that we should have the bells in tandem with the lights to we have an installation with more and less interactive options. They showed us a few videos of different interactive installations to spark some inspiration, such as a room where it rains, but you wont get wet (using sensors and valves), and a room of string lights.

Our goal was to inspire excitement and curiosity, and I think having two parts to our project really supports this. We didn't really change our thesis (since we didn't really have anything solid), but Andrew helped us really form it into what our project supports. 

We still need to wire all the LEDs and sensors into the project. Since we only have one sensor, we might have to settle for one section of the project for now. We also are working making a more clean version of the hot glue straw mess used for the bells. We are experimenting with different placements and ways to move the strings without them tangling. Our next move is to finalize our light/PIR sensor setup, hopefully on Monday. Then we will work on the bell setup the rest of the week. If we are able to get more PIR sensors, we will expand that part of the installation.

We chose to our location at Columbus park, due to the multiple pathways and decent foot traffic. We measured a pathway, which ended up being 10 x 108 feet. We have completed the software for the motion sensor LEDs, and we are finishing up the hardware for the LEDs. We also completed the bell system on our prototype. We hope to complete our prototype tomorrow.

For our critique, we were told by the coaches to look more at other options, such as changing the shape of our arches. We were also told to explore more with using our precedent to shape our project's future. They told us our process has been pretty linear as well.

Once we finalize this prototype tomorrow, we will work on incorporating some or all of that feedback into our final design. I think some changes could be made that would really improve the flow and style of our project.

Today, we worked on switching over to pentagons to improve the look of the rotation of our installation. We also worked with creating our half scale model for the end of the week. We hope to use triple layers to secure our frame. We also will use L brackets to attach it securely to the ground.

Brief - Adam Drizen:

For many people in Boston, building a gingerbread house is a family tradition, but even those without the tradition will be drawn to the life-size Gingerbread Wonderland. The attractions of Gingerbread Wonderland encompass family, excitement, playfulness, and spontaneity. Located in Boston Common the Gingerbread Wonderland will be open to the public, and the hope is that it will motivate families and people of all ages to explore the park in the winter months. The house is a place for people to visit, explore, and help build.

The primary joy of making a gingerbread house does not come from eating it, but from the building and decorating. This house, large enough for people to walk inside, can be designed by the community using the available foam ginger panels, candies and other decorations. Inside the house hangs a swing that generates soap bubbles when people swing on it. Accessible scaffolding around the house allows users to reach higher areas to decorate. Two slides with candy-cane railings attached to the scaffolding offer alternate ways to return to ground level The Gingerbread Wonderland will make people come out into the city in winter, generating more fun for the children outside and a stronger community. 

Brief - Samantha Shapiro:

A life-size playground gingerbread house that incorporates hands-on foam decorating, a bubble machine swing, and two candy cane-themed slides to excite children and bring in families. The aim is to help families stay connected during a busy time of year as well as to promote play and outdoor activity in the winter. 

For many people, building and decorating gingerbread houses brings back memories of family and childhood happiness. By bringing a life-size gingerbread house into a Boston Commons playground, families will be able to relive these moments and create new lifelong memories. Gingerbread House offers a combination of hands-on decorating, swinging, and sliding to excite children. A scaffolding walkway around the side of the house enables guests to add foam decorations on two levels. In this one-of-a-kind experience, guests can not only slide down two hollowed candy canes but also swing on top of a human-sized gingerbread man triggering a bubble machine. This playhouse helps keep families active outside during the winter and aims to challenge the construct that play is just for kids. While at first sight, this attraction may appeal most to kids, adults will also enjoy the atmosphere of the space as well as the building and decorating aspects. As for Boston, this installation would bring in a new sense of energy. In Boston, often the coldest days are the dreariest. With this installation, these days would attract the most people and bring the most energy to this snowy city. 

Alex Shigueta: Snowman Spin Seat: A comfortable hollow snowman that spins when a child climbs inside and provides shelter from the cold and inclement Boston winter.

It's common for people in winter climates to experience a form of seasonal depression that keeps them inside, feeling tired and dreading the cold. The Snowman Spin Seat entices people to go outside and enjoy winter while having quality family time and making or bringing back childhood memories of the playground. What could be more inviting in the middle of a snow-covered playground than a spinning snowman that bestows comfort, warmth, and joy upon the occupant? A child can climb into the hollowed-out body, setting it spinning, and gaze out the head at the winter wonderland. The Spin Seat is built to be large and sturdy enough that younger children can sit on a parent's lap inside it, and older children can hold on to the outside. As Snowman Spin Seats make their way onto playgrounds, more people will discard any preconceptions about the cruelty of winter.

The spin seat relies on a simple design of spheres and enlarged cones that combine to create a round, top-like design. When the occupant sits down, gravity induces the seat to spin around on the center point. The inside grants the user the ability to peer out from the head of the snowman, giving the impression of "embodying" the snowman. Children can imagine themselves to be Frosty the Snowman, or Olaf from Frozen. The Snowman Spin Seat allows people to have fun while also offering warmth in the coldest season. The spherical design pushes wind around the snowman, not into it, offering a cozy retreat from the blustery cold.

Leighton Gray: Spinning snowman: A sheltering, comfortable, and family-friendly four-foot snowman that spins around when people enter it.

In the winter in  Boston,  people tend to stay in their homes, rather than venturing out into the cold, compounding the symptoms of those who suffer from seasonal depression. Spinning Snowman is designed to draw families out of their homes and get them to play in the parks on a snowy day. The snowman will be installed in Tadpole Park playground because it appeals to children, but standing at four feet tall everyone can play with it. Inspired by designer Thomas Heatherwick's spun chairs, which he installed in London in 2010, the snowman spins from its base when children sit in the snowman and add their weight to it. The Spinning Snowman posed additional design challenges due to its size, the fact that it is enclosed, and safety concerns: the base extends very wide to ensure that it is stable enough to hold children and adults. An eye-height hole in the snowman's head allows the user to peer through and “become” the snowman when they are inside. What could be more exciting to a child on a cold day then a sheltering snowman they  can enter into and embody as it spins around?

Portfolio Day

After the Final Presentation, you have the opportunity to consider your presentation in light of final feedback and discussion. You will spend additional time reviewing you presentations, refining you portfolio, and polishing you work before it is made public on the internet.

The Self Evaluation is an opportunity for you to reflect on your work during the Studio. Students and Coaches receive the same prompts and categories, and the students will evaluate their own progress and skill levels in Design Skills and Subject Skills applicable to the studio both numerically and textually. Through a narrative, you will also reflect on the quality and rigor of your work, give feedback on the studio, and have the opportunity to receive similar feedback directly from the coach.

• Portfolio & Assessment
• Self Assessment
• Final Brief
• Portfolio Checklist
• Portfolio Boards