Project Website: future-cities-lab.net/lightswarm/ Lightswarm is an interactive installation at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California, and it uses sound sensors to trigger playful swarms of light. One night, we decided to hack our own artwork and experiment with some new methods of activation and visualization. Music: As Colorful As Ever by Broke For Free

Project website: http://www.future-cities-lab.net/projects/#/lightswarm/ Responding to sounds harvested from YBCA’s interior space and the Yerba Buena Garden and nearby city street noise, this site-specific artwork activates the south facing glass façade of the Grand Lobby with playful patterns of light reminiscent of a swarm of flying birds. During the day, filtered sunlight produces ever-changing flickers of light and shadow, while in the evening the façade is transformed into a dynamic electro-luminescent composition that electrifies the glass wall. Sound sensing spiders, attached directly to individual glass panels in the Grand Lobby, transform the facade into what the artists call “urban sensors—instruments to sense the city, visualize its auditory pulse, and amplify its latent energies into cascades of light.” Real-time data collected from these audio sensors drive the direction and color of the swarming algorithm, which generates patterns of streaming light. The result is an artificially intelligent façade: a smart surface that can sense, compute, respond, and interact with its surroundings. Lightswarm’s unique suspended light modules individually change their intensity and color. Each module was created from 3D printed components, custom electronic elements, addressable LED strips, and laser-cut skins made out of recyclable PET plastic and synthetic paper. This work is an exemplary display of Future Cities Lab’s interest in liminal spaces and location, as the glass wall allows for multiple views and perspectives on this ever-changing installation. Artist: Future Cities Lab, San Francisco Project Team: Jason Kelly Johnson, Nataly Gattegno, Ripon DeLeon Production: Fernando Amenedo, Jeffrey Maeshiro, Ji Ahn, Nainoa Cravalho, Kate Richter Fabrication: Machinic Digital Prototyping & Consulting Services, San Francisco Video Lead: Jeff Maeshiro YBCA: Betti-Sue Hertz, curator; John Foster Cartwright, lead preparator / media specialist Music: Air Hockey Saloon by Chris Zabriskie