Footfall

Feature image credit: bruntwood.co.uk, with thanks

Creating a responsive, interactive wall for a landmark Bruntwood building

This project was a collaboration between DefProc and the artist Andrew Small.

Bruntwood is a major building development company that provides high-quality office and workspaces. Aiming to enrich areas, Bruntwood is a key player in creating thriving cities across the UK.

Andrew Small is an Artist and Designer based in Liverpool. Working with consultants, curators, architects and developers, Andrew explores and offers proposals through a design process that responds to the site and the users. His socially engaged works include sculpture, interactive artworks, integrated installations, interior design, lighting, furniture, film and digital technologies.

The Challenge

DefProc was commissioned by Andrew Small and Bruntwood to build Footfall – an interactive wall that responds when a person walks into the Bruntwood Piccadilly 111 building in Manchester (This building is set to be Manchester’s smartest workspace reimagined for 2020).

Services

• Computer Vision
• Software
• Hardware
• Firmware
• Unity game engine
• CAD
• On-site installation

The Project

Research, experiment, create 

We worked collaboratively with Andrew to determine the overall aesthetic and features of the installation. Our team began researching how to get computer vision to integrate with Unity (an animation software) so that it could become interactive. This commission required research and experimentation to get the desired effect; using computer vision and Unity is still a new way of working for many companies.

A bold, playful display 

Golden glittering cubes fall like a waterfall against a black background in the final iteration of the design. To represent the movement of a person, we created a void shape that appeared when the falling cubes part. This void shape would move across the screen, getting larger as the person got closer and smaller when they move further away and finally when they are no longer in view their shape would gracefully disperse and the cubes fall into the space.

This bold use of animation will create an impactful entrance to the new building once it opens, positioning Bruntwood as the moden, innovative company that it is. We believe the installation will act as a source of inspiration for people using the building, influencing how they tackle their own creative projects.