The natural subtleties of water's surface is one that many would not assume as up for technological interpretation. That was until artist David Bowen unveiled his installation Underwater: real-time wave patterns captured by a Kinect, and mapped to a mechanical ceiling for recreation.

Shown at the Interieur 2012 show in Belgium, the rippling ceiling aims to capture the feeling of looking up while being underwater.  A Microsoft Kinect system is placed above the water and set to capture the surface as a plane.  This data is then sent to the 486 motors, which control the complex web of three-dimensional data points, to efficiently recreate the nuances of water.

"My work is concerned with the aesthetics that result from reactive and generative processes as they relate to the intersections between natural and mechanical systems." Bowen commented.  "The goal of future primitive within the underwater installation is to create a sophisticated system that provides an immersive mechanical perspective of a natural, dynamic and ageless phenomenon."

Its a strange disconnect between nature and machines, and an interesting concept.

david bowen: underwater interactive mechanical sculpture from designboom on Vimeo.

 

Via: DesignBoom

Source: David Bowen

Jason England