summ( )n

One of the most impressive presentations at the WCIT was by the Flood Control 2015. Flood Control is a relatively new organization, a partnership of private companies and public agencies, aimed at improving flood management operations in the Netherlands. Accurate and time prediction is one of the key elements of the successful flood management, so the agency develop complex forecasting systems; but predict is only part of the game, so to say. Multiple actors should be ready to act, react and interact with each other, in the conditions that can deteriorate very rapidly. Flood Control is designing both virtual and real (and real-size!) environments where participants can rehearse their response to a variety of scenarios, which makes them much better prepared to the real floods.

Holland is already a success story when it comes to flood protection, and broader, water management. The country has a large, and growing number of specialists available in every conceivable area: from the design and construction of dikes, to specialized equipment, and through to crisis management, measurement systems and evacuation plans. They can now add forecasting and serious games to this toolbox, making export potential of this industry event higher.

After the long and full opening day of the WCIT in Amsterdam some guests (including myself) went to a PICNIC party in the Westergasfabriek (see also a small report about the event at their site – An Amsterdam PICNIC at WCIT). There were a few interesting interactive installation, both new and already well-known. The Umbrella Cloud (see above) by SENZ was not perhaps very ‘interactive’ but it created an amazing ambience in the space (plus, of course, it is a great story of innovation).

An Interactive Graffiti is a relatively old piece, but it still attracts attention and people are queueing to try this experience themselves.

Some of the installation were ‘nice’ and ‘interactive’, but also a bit confusing (at least, it was not very clear what exactly you are interactive with); or may be a chaotic party atmosphere didn’t leave the room to figure out what it’s all about).

I enjoyed the installation by Dutch artist Mark Ridder; called Attracted, it was indeed a very attractive and engaging experience. Basically, it was a large hanging curtain of some sort, which reacted to your movements and created a quasi-silhouette from the colorful blinking spots, following you as you walk across this wall. A very intuitive and clear, yet also beautiful and magical. I’ve made a short movie showing how this installation works, you can see it here: Attracted by Mark Ridder.