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Glowing Digital Life Form Feeds On A City's Invisible Data And Whispers Trending Twitter Feeds

Future Cities Lab’s Datagrove is a public installation that turns data streams into light and sound.

You’re walking along the downtown city streets when all of a sudden, you turn a corner and you’re confronted with a glowing, swaying, whispering form which looks like some kind of electronic plant life. Do you run? Have you walked into the pages of a sci-fi story? No, you’re in the courtyard of the California Theater in San Jose and you’re staring at Datagrove, an installation from Future Cities Lab.

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Part of the Zero1 Biennial, this ethereal, glowing digital life form feeds on invisible data from the city and atmospheric conditions, transforming them into light and sound. It also collects feeds trending locally on Twitter and whispers them to the visitors via a “whispering wall”—the responsive piece is made from luminescent fibers which “gently sway with the breeze and respond to the proximity of visitors with quiet whispering sonic undulations.”

It’s made using digital fabrication techniques and custom electronics that includes sensors and LEDs.

Photos by Peter Prato.

[via ArchDaily]

@stewart23rd