Randomly In Its Place is a multi-screen, interactive installation. It is aimed at facilitating a degree of emotional healing for the users of the Critical Care Unit Waiting Room at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, Canada.
Part of the complete redesign of the space called for the development and installation of a custom-designed immersive artwork. With the objective to provide a therapeutic and calm environment for worried family members and friends, the artwork is meant to help users cope with their anxiety while waiting for a loved one under critical care.
The visual engine combines picturesque plant-life with the soothing motions of growth patterns. All contained within an evolving ecosystem that encompasses a full-day-cycle, it suggests the sensations of looking out through windows onto an infinite and beautiful landscape. Deliberately designed with slight abstract characteristics, the visuals remain subjective with the content being easily acceptable. The graphics and forms were carefully considered not to raise negative opinions or hint at sensitivities surrounding the patient’s well-being.
The graphical elements and their motion are generated by a custom-built software system utilizing tracking data collected from a series of sensor devices installed within the space. The engine discretely encourages the users to think positively. Through subtle choreography and interaction, users are subconsciously provided with a sense of greater support. The technologies and techniques remain non-intrusive, to avoid creating any sense of feeling manipulated. It is important that users not feel as though they are part of a game.
The experience is designed to be mesmerizing and to evoke a sense of timelessness. Its calculated pace, rhythm, and esthetic offers users the opportunity to redirect their nervous energies, to settle into acceptance and peace within themselves. We wish to assist them to gain a better perspective during the time they spend within the waiting room.
The artwork was commissioned by Sick Kids hospital and developed at Foundation Creative Studios by a team comprised of Tom Kuo, Alex Kurina and myself.