Google Fiberhood Dulcimer
Interactive musical data-driven experience for Google.
Google Fiber
Summer of 2012, Occurrent Arts worked with Wildlife to take the Google Fiber Campaign and re-imagine it in a new visual, sonic, and tactile manner in Google’s Fiberspace in Kansas City. The Google Fiber Campaign is the means by which Google is providing their new ultra-high-speed internet to users. A certain number of users within a given area are required to sign up for the service before Fiber can be provided to that area.
The Dulcimer
We took the sign-ups and corresponding progress for each of those areas during Google Fiber’s release in Kansas City and represent them in an audiovisual manner on a large digital screen in Google's store. We opted to outline the different neighborhoods with digital “strings” which would be plucked whenever a user signed up within a region, creating a visualization and sonification of the unfolding campaign within the Google Fiberspace.
The Tablet
We also created a component to the experience which lived on android tablets which would move throughout the space. You could browse the different status of the various neighborhood signups and by sliding your fingers over the fiberhood on the tablet you could strum the strings of the dulcimer.
The Results
90% of the Fiberhoods reached their signup goals, the campaign was a success! As a result Google’s Fiberspace continues to house our installation which nows displays the unfolding construction progress of Google Fiber across Kansas City.
Below is a short video showing the map loading:
Credits
