Boston Children’s Museum

The Boston Children’s Museum selected Damien’s “Crystalline Entities” installation as a featured exhibit for their 2022 CreatedBy Festival, a maker faire designed to get kids excited about STEAM education.  As the installation was originally intended to be accompanied by music, Damien expanded upon the concept by adding an interactive mode of interaction.  The interactivity was developed using a combination of TouchDesigner and Lightjams software platforms.  These visual programming environments provided a way to explain how code worked in a visual way that made it easy for younger audiences to comprehend.

By utilizing infrared motion-capturing sensors, the viewer is able to control the installation with their hands.  The X and Y position of the hands determine the position of which crystals light up, while the Z (height) of the hands control how large the effected area is. The direction of the user’s fingertips determine the color of the effect. When activated, each crystal plays a unique resonant note, creating a sound effect akin to wind chimes.

The exhibit was so well received, that it returned to BCM for their Festival of Light event for several weeks in January 2023.