THE RAIN ROOM

We all know that "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain". Now apparently, studio rAndom International has taken this saying to a whole new level, when they installed "The Rain Room" at the Barbican in London in 2012, as it allowed people to dance in the rain without getting wet! Fair enough, you could argue that walking and stading in the rain without getting drenched was also an option, but you'd be missing the point, which lies in the engineering work and the need of human interaction, (and ruining my introduction), my friend. The whole installation was enabled through a custom software and 3D tracking cameras, which documented every move of each visitor and adapted the water systems in response, allowing for a "hurricane's-eye-perspective". The installation definitely is a great example of interaction design and future media, and personally, I would have loved (loved!) to visit it, but you can't deny that the fun of getting soaked to the skin and the conjoined, liberating feeling are kind of taken out of it. Also, if this was reality, I would have to give up my small, but lovely umbrella collection and that is so not happening.