Pixel Artworks illuminates Garden of Light
- Details
The Garden of Light uses the latest LED pixel lighting and immersive audio technology to create a 360° virtual garden environment and is part of the expansion of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet. In tribute to Kent’s status as the ‘Garden of England’, The Garden of Light provides shoppers with a multi-dimensional walkthrough experience designed to stimulate the senses and reflect on visitors’ connection with nature.
The experience will also feature “Europe’s largest living wall installation”, made up of more than 120,000 leafy green plants, and although the experience is free, visitors are encouraged to donate money towards building a sensory garden for the William Harvey Hospital.
Light is the key factor of the installation, and the immersive and interactive experience offers shoppers a journey into a lush secret garden through projection and LED, with elements of the four seasons accompanying their journey.
Riaz Farooq, creative director at Pixel Artworks comments, “Producing The Garden of Light has truly been a creative journey through a multitude of artistic and technological disciplines. Collectively we have explored the boundaries of motion design and real-time graphics, effectively creating a living game-like environment, full of discovery and play.”
The Pixel Artworks team used TouchDesigner (TD), a visual development tool, to combine projected visuals, pixel lighting and intuitive interactions. TD also facilitated the management of multiple arrays of continuous projector outputs on several canvases - all vastly different in nature. In total, 16 projectors will create over 200,000lm throughout the installation.
“Real-time generative content has been a focal point of achieving a beautifully fluid experience in the space - something we’ve only seen achievable to this extent in Notch,” says Haaziq Farook, senior technology consultant. “The recent integration into TD opens up a new world for us in this installation. We’ve manipulated incoming sensor data using TD, and affected parameters in Notch inside a single project. The net result is an optimised workflow to output precisely triggered, high quality motion graphics.”
Peter Corr, centre manager at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, Ashford also comments: “In celebration of the £90m expansion opening this autumn, we wanted to offer visitors a brand new experience. Guests can expect to journey into a virtual garden of discovery, exploring nature’s four seasons represented through the power of light.”
Laurence White, business director of Pixel Artworks, says, “We were excited by McArthurGlen's proposal from the outset. The scope to design and deliver all aspects of a shared immersive experience ticked all our boxes. It has been a joy to collaborate in partnership with McArthurGlen to make this project become a reality.”
(Jim Evans)
