«Reviving Ponds» Projector Installation

Within four weeks, as part of the modules Think and Play 4, Jill Amber Kaser and I developed a concept for a projector installation and realized it in another four weeks. The project is based on monitoring data from the Canton of Aargau, provided by EAWAG. Over a period of 20 years, spawning ponds were created to reintroduce endangered amphibian species. The research project was highly successful and attracted attention beyond Switzerland. In our work, we focused on pond size, water fluctuation, forest density, anonymized coordinates, and the two amphibian species great crested newt and tree frog. The project consists of a coordinates-view showing the 20-year timeline and the changes in animal numbers, and a grid view that allows interaction with the installation. When someone steps on a pond, the camera detects the person, causing the animals to flee and additional information about the pond to appear. With buttons on the wall, the view can be switched between coordinates and interactive grid. The buttons were built with an Arduino, and the casing was made with a laser cutter. The entire project was implemented in p5.js. Jill and me actually both kept switching roles in this project, so we both worked on concept, code and setup. I developed the first pattern concept, which made it into the final project.

🏆 Second place at the 2025 Swiss Viz Award 🏆