October 18, 2010

Realtime LED Walkway May Cause Accidents in German Railway Station

by iona

Not for the faint-hearted, or drunk, designers have installed an LED footpath at the Hauptbahnhof train station, Berlin, which responds in real-time to your steps. The interactive installation called ‘Onskebronn’ (Norwegian for ‘wishing well’, although I don’t understand the Norwegian connection) was the brainchild of the German Sven Beyer, from the performing arts group Phase 7. Phase 7 is known, in artsy circles, for its use of real-time interactive technologies – infrared camera motion sensing and software, for instance – on stage. Their ‘Onskebronn’ walkway uses LEDs and real-time technology to make you the artist of your stroll – morphing and changing shape as you walk along, giving you a trippy experience and probably also a little nausea. The design also produces sound as you jump off the train and onto the LED platform. Weird moving lights, unexpected noises, trains and unsuspecting passengers…altogether, it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

You can experience the LED installation from now until October 25th.
[MyModernMet]