Using embodied audio-visual interaction to promote social encounters around large media façades

In this paper we describe the design of a large-scale interactive light and music intervention on a corporate high rise building and its surrounding urban area. Designing for interaction with media façades has traditionally posed challenges regarding proxemics, scale of the augmented architecture and placement of interactive spaces. With the increasing availability and affordability of interactive technologies, factors such as playability and tangibility are assumed not only to be present but also to enable richer collective experiences. We propose a new approach for interaction with large media façades employing embodied audio-visual interaction at the floor level. That way, the floor level serves as proxy for interacting with the media façade whilst facilitating social encounters. We discuss aspects considered during different phases of the project development and derive principles for connecting zones of proxemics, promoting encounters by distributing the performance, designing for urban activation and isolating implementation concerns.