KAVE

Her main purpose is to inflate and deflate, guiding users through her grid, communicating in light and sound. Her machine intelligence can create any sound and display any colour. If required, she can talk.

Within her grid, there is the possibility for an endless variety of spaces for user interaction. Her soft robotics can either behave randomly, so her grid is never the same, or she can be coded to play intentional games.

She senses user movement; she can anticipate, she can hear, she can see, she can reward, she can warn, she can grant access and she can block.

Each part of her modular, reconfigurable design is like a symmetrical jigsaw puzzle designed to be easily reshaped, depending on the space. She’s made from a simple, uniform kit of parts designed to be reused and re-erected in any space, indoors or out.

Grid Ideation

Given the infinite variety of possible games, we decided to create a game about human connection, and disconnection. After all, she was born from the first pandemic, where physical connection was taboo. So we made a game where the goal was to connect; to seek out other users. But on the way, we created obstacles to connection and many distractions.

Game Play

As she deflates, pathways close, creating disconnection. When she inflates, pathways open, creating connection. When two or more people connect, we programmed her to vividly light up and sing with glee. This is her way of saying, well done, well connected, well played. YOU WIN!

Connection is our primary purpose.

Given an infinite variety of possible games, the question we ask you is, how would you programme her? What game would you play in Soft Grid? We’d love to hear from you.

Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Environmentally friendly. In Prototype 1, we created an air system that relied on expensive, large, heavy compressors to inflate and deflate the balloons. Not only were they unaffordable, air compressors are not environmentally friendly, and impractical, in indoor spaces, because of weight and heat. We wanted to deliver an environmentally friendly design, without heavy machinery, that could be erected and deconstructed anywhere.

So we designed and built our own air system, inspired by bellows.

• Technical Artist: Jenny Xu Zhanyi
• Artistic Director: Byron Biroli
• Technical Design Consultant: Alan Bartlett
• Sound Design Consultant: James Bagshaw