title. Musical River (Neo No Nero)
date. August 2016
city. Ogaki (Gifu, Japan)
collaborators. Jun Kamei, Wryneth Gay Mayapit, Praychayon Punda
In August 2016, invited by the Japan Foundation, I participated in a summer camp called Hack The World held at IAMAS, a well-known media art school in Japan. We went on a field research trip to Neo, a remote village by a beautiful river in Gifu Prefecture. There we brainstormed ways to revitalize this aging village with media-art approaches. Our team of four came up with the idea of letting the beloved river of Neo set the scene for a lantern and musical festival, with the hope that it will attract youngsters back to the village and create opportunities for interaction between Neo's rural community and city dwellers.
Installed in the middle of the water, our "sensing device" will play a musical note whenever it detects a lantern passing by. As more lanterns float by at various locations where sensing devices are located, different sounds will be played, creating a symphony, one that is directed by none other than the river itself.
I was responsible for the electrical design and programming. For this application, I used an Arduino with a Adafruit Wave Shield.
