ben dalton
bcd@media.mit.edu
(617) 253-1631

Rabbit Field is an infestation of inflatable rabbit-like forms, filling their display space and inviting tactile interaction. It won honorable mention for exhibit Best-in-Show at the DIS2004 conference. The rabbits cover much of their floor space, and any other available surfaces. Each rabbit is self inflating using a simple computer fan, and can sense its internal pressure state by monitoring its fan speed. If a rabbit is squeezed, and partially deflated, the rabbits around it respond, as if out of empathy, deflating themselves. In this way, a wave of deflation ripples out from the squeezed centre.


The rabbits in action (Quicktime)
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technical requirements for exhibit

No technical support is required from the exhibit committee apart from access to a small number of AC power sockets from which power for the rabbits and control computer can be drawn and distributed. Each rabbit consists of a plastic form, small low-power fan and minimal control electronics.

interaction experience for the audience

People evoke an organic movement response from a field of inflatable rabbit forms by squeezing air from one of them, and inducing a ripple of 'empathetic' deflation spreading out from the point of contact. The tactility of the interaction, in itself, plays a strong part in encouraging this playful control of the system. The physical response of these white, simple forms deflating and inflating in rhythm is visually strong, evoking a feeling of breathing shapes. The rabbits are spread over the space, as if grazing, inviting observers to approach them. Repeat viewing over the length of the exhibit will reveal growing numbers of rabbits. This is intended to intensify the overall wave-like response with time, and also evoke a slightly sinister feeling of unstoppable breeding and impending critical mass.

space requirements

The field of rabbits should ideally begin to subtly dominate their space and eventually implying complete flooding as their numbers increase. They also need to be approachable from at least one side for viewers to engage the forms. I think the rabbits would work well spilling over multiple surfaces as well as the floor, or inhabiting a less conventional space such as an unused corridor, toilet, stairwell, etc.. The feeling of escaped pets is encouraged. Equally, the piece would be effective gradually encroaching from the corner of a room.

aims, objectives and form of the project

People seem universally drawn to interact with inflatable structures -  the forms are soft, tactile, yielding shapes. Whether it is a beach ball, bouncy castle, inflatable building or art work, there is an undeniable urge for humans to reach out and touch these distinctive, air supported surfaces. This piece seeks to encourage and reward a 'tangible dialogue', of sorts, between viewer and inflatables as well as hoping to establish social connection between viewers who co-interact with the system. Rabbit forms were chosen to engage and invite inquiry. The cute nature of rabbit characters are prevalent in modern eastern and western aesthetic and appeal to the child in all of us. These animals also have strong cultural connotations of fertility and innocence. A random formation of the inflatables over the space further enforces their organic aspect, suggesting grazing and exploration.

The piece utilises a novel technique for sensing and actuating air supported structures. The organic feel of the forms and the rhythm of their inflation and deflation in reaction to human touch are easily anthropomorphised by the audience as simple expressions of empathy or dialogue. This initiates and encourages play and exploration. When someone is drawn to squeeze and deform a shape, therefore partially deflating it, the other shapes echo this, deforming by the same amount. The sensors and actuators in the fans used for inflation, allow the inflated objects to be linked across a table or across the globe with the same responsive qualities. By connecting the entire field of forms into a network of sensors and output media, interactions between viewer and inflatable are further displayed and amplified as deflation data is passed from one rabbit to the next. Waves occur naturally across the large number of rabbits (approx. 20-30 in total), and multiple waves from several people squeezing rabbits at the same time should combine and interact across the space.

Use of the unique properties of inflatable structures in architecture, art and design has a long and creative history, flirting between chic design and tacky novelty. Christopher Doswald (AirAir exhibition catalogue, 2000) ascribes the universal appeal of the inflatable to its diversity:

"This mimetic, simulative quality, as befits our era, no doubt explains why the inflatable medium is so popular among contemporary artists. When it comes down to it, an inflatable has no opinion of its own. It serves as a medium for criticism as much as for a statement, it serves irony as willingly as it serves affirmation. It corresponds to a globally nomadic lifestyle."

The rabbits are constructed from satin finish fabric, pink flannel and thin plastic, cheap small computer DC brushless cooling fans with Hall effect sensors and microcontroller circuits. The rabbits are interconnected with wires, and long term dynamics of the inflation and deflation patterns can be easily mediated through a USB connected computer.

prototype



Inflatable empathetic-response demo (Quicktime)
This video shows an electronic connection between two inflatable shapes. When the sphere is squeezed, the cross attempts to mimic this, and deflates itself by an equal fraction of it's volume. In the case of the rabbits, this response would be tuned to be quicker, and all the shapes would be of equal volume, so they would refill at equal rates.



brief cv

Ben Dalton grew up in London, UK, interested in both graphic design and physics despite frequent advice that the two don't mix. He earned an Art Foundation in Fine Art and Design at Middlesex University, in London, following this with an MPhys Masters in Physics with Electronics and Instrumentation at the University of Leeds, earning the 2002 Whiddington Prize for excellence in experimental research. He then worked with an animatronics, technology and design firm spin-off from Jim Henson's Creature Shop, UK, on projects ranging from novel instrumentation, to puppet control and gallery installations. Dalton is currently a Masters student in the Object-Based Media group at the MIT Media Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he is exploring questions of dialogue, connectedness and the technology to support and enrich human interaction.

Dalton has produced an experimental electronic, montage and narrative radio show throughout his studies, broadcasting over the years on Leeds Student Radio, Aarhus Studente Radio - Denmark, Resonance FM - London and now WMBR in Cambridge, Massachusetts.