Bronze Installation Design · 2023
Sounds of Welser Interactive Installation
- A' Design Award 2023 Bronze Winner in Installation Design
- Awarded April 15, 2023
- CLIENT: Welser Profile
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 22,196
- Verification code 468B2D3D8A · Verify this award
About Sounds of Welser Interactive Installation
Welser Profile is a global provider of steel profiles. The company was looking for an interactive brand experience for its visitor center. Over 13 generations Welser Profile grew into a world leader in the industry. Therefore it made perfect sense for Responsive Spaces to build upon the very core of this success story and let the product be the hero. Real client products were used to build a steel organ, which aesthetically hints towards tradition and reacts to every human touch by offering a glimpse of the underlying magic through the creation of mystical soundscapes.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- While The design of the installation resembles an organ, it is far more technical, with sophisticated capacitive sensors that respond to touch and a dynamic sound engine that changes its sets of instruments every other minute.
One of the unique features of the installation is the way in which the technology is hidden, allowing visitors to focus on the tactile and sonic experience of interacting with the steel profiles. The capacitive sensors allowing for a precise and intuitive interaction with the product, while the dynamic sound engine creates a constantly changing soundscape that is unique and engaging. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Dimensions: Width 4000 mm x Depth max. 1000 mm x Height max. 3400 mm
- Tags
- interactive installation, sound installation, organ, soundscapes, touch installation
- Production Technology
- Developing the organ required a combination of advanced production technology and carefully selected materials. Hidden from the users, there are a PC, 2 speakers and a microcontroller. Capacitive sensors for each steel profile are triggered by touch through the change of its resistance. The profiles are electrically conductive but are insulated by a wooden base, which allows for safe and distinguishable interaction with them. 18 profiles result in 9 tones and two different octaves on each side.
- Design Challenge
- An alloy coating was applied to each profile to prevent flash rusting and ensure durability. However, this presented a challenge as the alloy negatively impacted the profiles' electrical conductivity. Different alloys were meticulously tested until the best solution was found. The calibration of the sensors had to be consistent across all 18 profiles, which presented an additional challenge. The developed sensor system demanded attention to detail and a lot of testing under various conditions.
- Project Duration
- The project launched in September 2021 in Gresten, Lower Austria in the Headquarter of Welser Profile and will be a permanent interactive installation.
- Operation Flow
- The organ installation is an interactive experience that allows visitors to explore and create sounds by touching real steel profiles. The sounds produced by the installation are constantly changing, and visitors can experiment with different combinations of touches to create their own unique soundscapes.
- Research
- Through a process of exploration and experimentation, an idea was settled upon for an interactive installation featuring an organ made entirely of real customer steel profiles from Welser Profile. Visitors would be able to touch the profiles to create various sounds.To bring the idea to fruition, prototypes were tested using various materials and production techniques. The result is an installation that combines advanced production technology with carefully selected materials and an intuitive design to create a truly immersive experience for visitors.
- Inspiration
- As a global provider of steel profiles, Welser Profile was looking for an interactive brand experience for its visitor center. "The product is the hero" was the core idea of this installation. The history of Welser is a ongoing success story, which building upon made perfect sense. Real products were used to build this steel organ, which aesthetically hints towards tradition and reacts to every human touch by offering a glimpse of the underlying magic through creation of mystical soundscapes.
- Image Credits
- Photos / 3D Sketches / Sound: Julian Reil
Video: Isabella Rogl (das narrativ), Manuel Bauer (das narrativ)
Colors of Sounds of Welser Interactive Installation
Grand Interview about Sounds of Welser Interactive Installation
If it is possible to use the real products of our clients, we always prefer to do so. Sometimes the creative process is a little bit longer then some other times. Here, we started with a core idea. How can we create a surprising experience around the magic, that lies "behind" the products of our client Welser Profile.
We did soon know, we wanted to create an interactive sound installation. We just needed some rounds of testing of how to accomplish it the best way. Sometimes it is really the best way, to not think too hard about possible problems but just go out there and try stuff. You never know, what might happen on the creative side while doing so
Since we believed that the interaction with the installation should always lead to a good experience, we could not build just "another piano". By rather leaning on soundscapes than very definitive sounds, we ensured that - what ever the users do - it will always sound good.
Technically, no coating would be the most stable approach to create reliable sensors for the interactivity. But since the steel organ was going to be placed on an outside location, we needed alloy coating. So we needed testing on which coating still allows the sensors to work.
The people working at Welser Profile see, feel and know about the spirit behind their products. The are aware of the brand story and its magic. We wanted to create an installation, that allows visitors at the headquarter to experience some of that magic upon the first touch.
The goal was, to stay simple and so be designed in a way, that the installation does not give away its interactivity on first sight. That's why we chose to design something that looks like any other product sculpture.
Not much to talk about here. We just got a couple of representative products of Welser and then tested the heck out of them ;-) In the beginning we were not sure, if it would work at all. We got mixed results from our first setups. But we have plenty of people in our team that love challenges and so we just did not accept the initial failures.
By simply being a fun and surprising experience. That way we could rise awareness to the fact, that there might be more to everything that Welser Profile does than one might see on first sight.
This project was just another proof for us, that if there is a creative way of attaching an industrial product to an engaging experience, happy moments are created. Marketing can be that easy at times.
Every award that is won for a daring project is a praise for everybody involved. The creative team that developed the project as well as the brave client, that allowed that team to be creative.