Interactive Flow Fields

Interactive Flow Fields was a 6.5ft x 6.5ft multi display public art installation commissioned by The City of Palo Alto Public Art Program for their biannual tech festival Code:Art. The experience consisted of a computer running a flow field algorithm, the viewers movement was tracked by multiple 3D cameras altering the path of the particle flows in real time. 

Flow fields are a branch of particle physics used to predict how objects flow through a defined medium. These underlying principles help us to understand movement: from the very large, like how gravity and electromagnetism influence the paths of celestial bodies; all the way to the very small, like how pharmaceuticals use nano-particles to deliver drugs through our bloodstream.  

The idea behind Interactive Flow Fields was to introduce the public to these concepts through an dynamic visual installation. We aimed to show that science and code in general can be fun, also highlighting flow fields in particular, as an easy introduction to generative art.