I was invited by Futurelab to follow up sessions I carried out earlier in the year, where I worked with the children on their design for an interactive fountain. As the projects 'fountain expert' I've been answering questions and help the children shape the ideas for what the fountain might look like, where it will be sighted and what it will do.
The fountain is now under construction by a local firm in Bristol and is due to go into the school during December. Since my last visit in the Summer term, the fountain has changed design and position. There has also been a long break for the Summer holidays and the beginning of the new school year.This visit formed part of the schools 'Talk' week, with the emphasis being on reminding the children about the fountain and getting them engaged with the project. Other experts from Futurelab came into the school to cover maintenance and programming of the fountain witgh the older years. My work was with years 2,3,4 and 5, running a basic refresher course and getting some actual water jets running again.
I used a beta test version of the new Apollo Controller software, to link a number of pressure pads and sensors to a couple of water jets (via a DMX dimmer pack). By programming various scenarios into the Apollo, I was able to demonstrate the various behaviours the fountain might have. Specifically ACT, REACT and INTERACT. The workshops went well and we all seemed to have a good time. My thanks go to Rose who helped me with all the sessions.
