A breadcrumb trail of project notes
Here’s a video of the Arctic Ice interactive installation at the California Academy of Sciences. I was the primary engineer for the project while working with the team at Snibbe Interactive. The piece is a permanent installation at the Cal Academy in the section of exhibits dealing with climate change.
Snibbe Interactive Arctic Ice from Snibbe Interactive on Vimeo.
Arctic Ice is based around the idea of the feedback loop that occurs between global temperature and shrinking ice caps. As rays of sunlight approach the ocean’s surface they will either strike an ice floe and be reflected back into the sky or absorbed if they strike open water. If the rays are absorbed by the water the global temperature increases and the ice floes melt and decrease in size. If the rays are instead blocked by the visitor’s “ice shadow” the temperature will decrease the ice floes reform. When the ice floes are large enough the baby polar bear can easily hop across to be reunited with its mother.