Concept and Goal

Goal of this project is to create a real time application that generates visual and audible stress with the public, but also helps them to relax. The basic idea is to confront people with their stressed behaviour.

The Info Stress Generator reacts to peoples behaviour by generating more visual information and louder sounds if they are stressed and less visual information and sound if they are relaxed. Because the interaction is in real time, it is difficult to see or the generated information influences people, or that people influence the generated info.

The Info Stress Generator in itself is a symbol for the uncontrollable haste and info overload of modern society.

How it Works

This version of the Info Stress Generator is created for crowds in public places like trainstations, shopping malls etc.

It's a Macromedia Director application with a plugin that gets the sound input volume. Depending on the volume input (=stress) the Info Stress Genrator 'jumps' between four levels, each with a different frame rate. The higher the volume input, the higher the frame rate. With minimum input the system is at rest. When the volume/stress reaches the highest level, the heart of society stops beating.

We have plans for an individual Info Stress Generator, interacting with brainwaves.