Spectra 2, a mesmerising kinetic sculpture by FIELD.io in collaboration with design studio Accept & Proceed was displayed in the studio’s East London gallery space in Summer 2014.

The piece consists of suspended polished steel segments, controlled by stepper motors & custom electronics, that form rippling terrains inspired by NASA lunar meteor impact data.

Collaborating with lead engineer Laurence Symonds, FIELD and A&P, I was responsible for the design & implementation of the motor software control system, which played back a pre-choreographed sequence (pre-visualised and designed in Houdini by FIELD). I was also very happy to be part of the superhuman build, test & installation team.

Custom Arduino firmware and a unique serial protocol needed to be developed in order to synchronise movement across all 48 motors for the duration of the hour-plus long sequence. A Node.js server was written to handle playback and synchronisation with a wall-mounted display, and triggering of audio samples via OSC.