Something May Answer
Interactive Forest Light Trail Projection Mapping
Rendering
This project is an interactive experience that uses sound to summon hidden, imaginative creatures within the garden beds. The work unfolds across one selected garden bed, where one, two, or three semi-transparent, irregularly shaped projection fabrics can be suspended between trees and dense vegetation, depending on the site conditions and the festival's preferred installation scale. Using back projection, light and imagery blend with the surrounding plants, creating the impression that movement and creatures are emerging from within the foliage itself. In its default state, flowing particles, shifting color fields, soft light rays, and occasional firefly-like forms drift through the layered projection fabrics.
Credit
Creative Direction, Art Direction, Music Direction, Animation Creation: Lois He
TouchDesigner and C++ based interactive system: Vio Zhu
Fabrication Production Partner: Enddle Zheng (Cubicten Co)
Interaction
Description
The installation consists of up to three microphones, each paired with a corresponding projection surface. Speaking into a microphone directly activates its associated screen, making the spatial relationship intuitive and easy to navigate.
As visitors approach and make sound, even the slightest voice triggers immediate visual responses—particles gather and ripple in sync with the sound, creating a clear and continuous feedback loop. Sustained sound gradually summons a creature; the longer the interaction, the closer it comes to appearing.
At times, creatures flicker briefly in darker areas—appearing momentarily before disappearing again—hinting at their presence before fully revealing themselves.
Subtle text on each microphone surface guides visitors, suggesting the existence of these hidden beings and inviting them to engage.
Sound is captured through a microphone and processed in real time by our custom-built system, where it is analyzed and used to trigger responsive behaviors within the installation.
1. Idle State:
In silence, the scrims display a tranquil world of magical plants and softly glowing vegetation. Gentle movements, drifting particles, and subtle light create the feeling of a hidden enchanted landscape waiting to awaken.
2. Sound Reactive State:
Voices bring the environment to life. Audio-reactive particles surge, swirl, and gather in real time, transforming sound into visible energy that spreads throughout the installation. As visitors continue interacting, the environment becomes increasingly vibrant, signaling that something is about to emerge.
3. Creature Appearing State:
As the energy builds, imaginative magical creatures gradually emerge from within the vegetation. Their appearance responds directly to the audience's collective participation, creating the sensation that each interaction helps reveal a hidden world. As visitors continue to contribute sound, more creatures may appear throughout the installation before the environment gradually returns to its calm, magical state.
Interactive
Video Playback
System
We rendered six animation states for each animal and built a real-time playback system in TouchDesigner that dynamically responds to the duration of each interaction.
The system tracks how long the participant is speaking and triggers different animation sequences accordingly. Shorter interactions result in subtle movements, while longer conversations gradually reveal more active and expressive animations. Each sequence was designed with matching start and end frames, allowing the system to transition smoothly between states regardless of the interaction length and create a continuous, seamless response.