Xperception has created an environment where users of the printing hub of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney can gain a sense of knowledge about the labs and other surrounding areas. They flood the hub with meanings by incorporating an ambient installation, called The Hubscape, with a projection and lighting.

The system was inspired by the Activity Wallpaper Ambient Visualization which presented the users of a public space with information that was relevant to them in the form of a non obtrusive wallpaper.

The shape and the intensity of the colours of the Hubscape wallpaper are influenced by factors such as: the timetable/scheduling of the classes, the sound levels, temperature and entropy within each lab but also the current incoming/outgoing network traffic data and the external temperature.

Above each printer the group installed lights. The speed of rotation animation of each light cluster is based on the printer queue size at their corresponding printer. The shorter the queue, the slower the rotation animation, for example. Besides, when a file is sent to one of the printers, its size is a measure of the number of bytes. This is represented in the installation by the relative brightness of the lighting devices.

Sounds a bit complicated, but have a look at their website and it will get much clearer.

The work will be presented at IE2005, Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment, 23-25 November 2005, Sydney.