Tranquil interaction: exploring archaic culture in the Kylä installation

ABSTRACT

A group of people walks into a dark room. On the walls there are photographs of peasant life in Viena Carelia, taken in 1894. One of the people is carrying a candle in her hand. The flickering flame is the only source of light in the space. As she nears the first picture, a lullaby begins. After a while the group moves to the next picture. As they move the song changes by itself. This is Kylä --- an interactive installation that presents photographs and folk music from the 19th century Viena Carelia. The aim of the installation was to design a space that could create a rich experience of an archaic culture for the visitors. The installation is computer driven with novel candle-based interaction. This paper describes the design issues involved, two deployments of the installation, and how visitors have reacted to the system in the two contexts. Finally we elaborate on the style of the interaction--tranquil interaction.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  A. General Literature
  A.0 GENERAL

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)