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Hug@ree | A RTiVISS Experience
AbstractHug@ree is an interactive installation that providesa bond between urban beings and the forest.Participants hug a real tree, triggering their registrationin the virtual world for further interaction.
KeywordsEnvironmental Art, Experimental Design, Real-timeVideo, Interactive Installation, Tangible interfaces,Sustainability, Social Responsibility.
ACM Classification KeywordsH.5.0 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]:GeneralH.5.1 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]:Multimedia Information Systems - Video
IntroductionHug@ree and engage into a playful symbioticrelationship with nature, for everyone should hug a realtree every now and then [2].Hug@ree is part of Real-Time Interactive VideoSystems for Sustainability (RTiVISS), an experimentalinvestigation actively reflecting on the questions:how can we propose constructive approaches to thedestructive dynamics that aggravate climate change?Can art foster awareness and respect for nature? [4]This immersive experience provides the interaction withtrees and videos of trees in real-time, raising
Copyright is held by the author/owner(s).
CHI 2010, April 10–15, 2010, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
ACM 978-1-60558-930-5/10/04.
Mónica MendesCIEAM and Departamentode Artes Multimédia,Universidade de LisboaLisbon, [email protected]
Pedro ÂngeloLCD – Laboratóriode Criação Digital,AZ Audiência ZeroPorto, [email protected]
Nuno CorreiaCITI and Departamentode Informática,Universidade Nova de LisboaLisbon, [email protected]
figure 1: Sketches of the interactionsat the two installation spaces.
2
environmental issues in urban culture. Itsimplementation aims to express new values regardingsustainability in the present and future.
Implementation and Interaction DesignThe Hug@ree experience is composed of two distinctmoments. In an outdoor space, a real treeis instrumented with several conductive wiresergonomically distributed around its trunk. These wiresform capacitive sensors that are used to detect theproximity of participants’ body. A microcontrollerattached to the wires triggers a hug when most of thesensors detect proximity, contact and pressure, sendinga signal through a wireless radio transmitter to theindoor installation space. While a camera continuallyrecords the tree outside, custom software captures andkeeps in memory the last few seconds of video.When a hug trigger reaches the wireless radio receiver,the software saves the video and sends it to aninteractive tangible projection. Then, participants mayaccess and place the video loop of their own hug on thedisplayed tree-like structure, becoming leaves of acollective experience.Multiple Hug@ree installations around the world willupload their leaves to the online platform, creatinga global shared nature embrace. The online platformalso enables participants to upload a photo ofthemselves, their hug being part of the world whenan installation participant hugs the tree for real.
Conclusions and Future WorkHug@ree addresses networking practices and actionsthat contribute to change the current behaviorregarding environmental protection.The aim is to promote new activities to move societytowards more inclusive modes of production and
sharing knowledge for the design of a better world.The interactive installation is scheduled to premierein November at Pop Up City [3]. The venue for thisinternational exhibition is Santa Catarina Palace,one of Lisbon’s sightseeing highlights. Meanwhile,upgrading the online platform that links togetherall Hug@ree installations is the challenge that will betackled at the Codebits hackathon [5].The project has also crowdsourced photos and videosof people hugging real trees as part of the 350.organd Greenpeace “10/10/10 Global Work Party” [1].So far, these resources have been used for testingand the contributors will be the first to populate theworld of [email protected], we propose to setup a new node forHug@ree at TEI’11 to foster locals’ awareness of therich natural beauty of Madeira island's laurissilva forestendangered by recent forest fires.
AcknowledgementsThis research is done in the framework of the PhD inDigital Media of the UT Austin-Portugal Program fundedby FCT (ref. SFRH/BD/42555/2007). We thank AZ labsmembers, who collaborated in the Hug@ree Sprint.
References[1] Hug@ree project at “10/10/10 Global Work Party”,350.org/Greenpeace http://www.350.org/en/hugree
[2] Hug@ree, a RTiVISS experience. Concept andresearch outcomeshttp://www.monicamendes.info/rtiviss/hugatree
[3] Pop Up City Lisboa 2010, November4-December11http://popup-city.com/en/popuplx2010.html
[4] RTiVISS blog on research iterationshttp://www.rtiviss.com
[5] Sapo Codebits, November13-15 http://codebits.eu
figures 2, 3, 4: Hug@ree Sprintcollaborative work.
figure 2: Hug@ree “10/10/10Global Work Party” participants.
