Client: City of San Jose CA

Overview

Sensing YOU transforms a dreary underpass into a dynamic interactive gateway at the entrance to Silicon Valley. Utilizing light, paint and interactive technologies, the project seeks to create a more dynamic awareness and experience of San Jose. Sensors react to people and bicyclists moving through the site changing patterns and low-resolution video over the ceiling. In addition for players of the mobile game Ingress (originally incubated by Google) can temporarily transform the ceiling making manifest aspects of the game.

Goals

Integration into the existing site was of paramount importance. Dealign with existing infrastructure and site conditions and traffic safety was very important and challenging.

Process

Collaboration between the team was very important- as is the case for most infrastructure projects. Analysis of existing infrastructure, structural and design limitations, and of course multiple agencies made this a challenging project that needed deep collaboration and communication across many channels. The design team of structural and electrical engineers and programmers made this project the success it became.

Additional Information

This is part 1 of 2 gateway projects for San Jose (Sensing WATER is the other). From a car safety perspective, the lighting animations are designed to be slow enough so the average car will not see any movement when driving past, but that while walking through or pausing, the movement will be highly discernable. The patterning was originally inspired by the pattern of raindrops falling on still water as well as being inspired by the crowds of people moving through the underpass- every person with a cell phone emitting echos of radio waves.