Client: Ontario Place Corporation

Overview

Stella Polaris, Latin for The North Star is an interactive light installation that allows visitors to participate in creating an ambient experience by influencing their surroundings through movement and positioning. Inspired by the navigation of our paths throughout history, Stella Polaris connects past and present technologies to investigate how unseen forces can alter our surroundings. Stella Polaris encourages thought about the adoption and acceptance of technology, and the ever-changing complex role it plays within our society. How can seeing our digital reflection affect our relationship and understanding of the impact that technology has our population in public and private space?

Goals

To create a new interactive light installation for the festival Winter Light Exhibition hosted by Ontario Place.

Additional Information

Stella Polaris consists of five autonomous pillars, outlining the shape of a star. The installation and its North Star pattern are oriented such that the top of the star is the northernmost pillar and faces due north. For generations, The North Star was used for navigation and global positioning. Stella Polaris employs invisible and often unexplained Bluetooth Low Energy beacon technology traditionally used for navigation and positioning to facilitate engagement and interaction through sensing emitted signals from various smart devices. It's this passive listening that allows Stella Polaris to calculate the position of the participants and react to their presence.