Projects: PLANT/EXPO 2005/Eden
In Eden, the user controls a swarm of text 'bees' and guides them over an illustration of 4 domes. The domes represent glasshouse domes of the Eden Project. The piece tells the story of the Eden Project and the technology of the system used to build the framework. The structures used to build the domes are hexagonal in shape and are reflected in the bee motif of the interaction.
A large pendulum, the tip of which was a flower, was suspended over the projection. Moving this pendulum affected sensors holding it, sending a signal to the computer controlling the scene. This in turn altered the 'attraction point' for an algorithmically generated swarm of bees. Activity also blended up some text explaining the core idea. Moving the bees into the domes caused the dome hexagons to light up golden yellow. Reaching a certain threshold pushed the display into reveal mode inverting the scene, revealing the final text and bouncing in a series of animations of flowers in each dome. The entire structure was suspended with a mirror underneath to create a pseudo-3D reality.