For children especially, hospitals can be anxiety-inducing and overwhelming space. New media studio ENESS aims to change that experience with their installation LUMES, a light-emitting wood piece, the first of which is now on display at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern, Australia.
Integrated into the building by Australian architects DesignInc, LUMES is designed to engage patients in a positive, calming environment. The interactive material straddles the worlds of art and technology, coming to life as people walk past. According to the designers, animals peek their heads out of grass that grows with movement, animated raindrops fall on passers-by, rockets launch and animated runners follow human movements—all in bright colors displayed on natural materials.
“Our goal was to maximize the space with interactive experiences that children could intuitively use,” said Andrea Rindt, Nurse Director for Women and Children at Cabrini Hospital.
Next, ENESS hopes to expand LUMES, spreading its interactive whimsy to other programmatic spaces, such as hospitality and retail. By leveraging its specialties in lighting, software, interactive media, product design, sculpture, and architecture, ENESS intends to collaborate with interior designers to broaden LUMES’s material palette and integrate LUMES into new architectural concepts.
Learn more about LUMES, here.
News via ENESS.