The Forest installation was developed for kids, but looks great for everybody

Jan 14, 2008 15:04 GMT  ·  By

This is what happens when art and advanced technology collide. The Funky Forest project, developed by Theodore and Emily Gobeille, is one of the most interactive and crazy stuff for kids I've ever seen, as it consists of a cool interactive ecosystem where children can create trees and flowers using their own body motions.

Thus, with nothing but their intuition and bodies, they will also have to divert the water flowing from the 3D waterfall to the trees to keep them alive. Just like in a real wild ecosystem, the health of the trees contributes to the overall health of the various creatures that inhabit it. Which means if the forest is healthy, it will automatically attract insects and birds.

However, technologically speaking, the installation is nothing super complicated. It consists of a dark room filled with projectors and all sorts of assorted sensors. The Funky Forest should let all the kids develop their imagination, intuition and creativity in their own environment. You might also want to know that the Funky Forest ecosystem is highly sensitive to the lighting conditions in the space. And for this reason, it requires to be completely isolated from daylight, with the depositary space also being as dark as possible.

The project uses two sets of red lighting lights: the 10 IR lamps and two spotlights, which "should be fitted with IR gel". And if you're really interested in the Funky Forest Project, you might also want to know that Zanyparade.com offers specific info on how to build your own interactive space in just four days. What's really cool is that you can also adapt the illumination system to all sorts of other themes.

There is nothing mentioned about a price tag, but the Funky Forest does look like the type of expensive interactive stuff you may only get to see inside art museums.

Just take a look:

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Funky Forest Interactive Installation
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