Image Credit : Tim Griffith, Ed Housden, Rob McHaffie
Project Overview
Feathers in the Wind is a hand-crafted digital interactive experience designed to ease the stress and anxiety of visiting a law court for young children, as part of Victoria’s first purpose-designed regional children’s law court.
A fusion of digital technologies and hand-painted watercolour and gouache, Feathers in the Wind depicts an imaginary park scene as an interactive digital collage, inspired by the local Bendigo landscape.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Commissioning Curators: Kelly Gellatly & Kirsty Grant
Artist: Rob McHaffie
Production Company: AIRBAG
Head of Creative Technology: Steven Nicholson
Creative Technologist: Dan Macnish
Producer: Johanna Rayner
Managing Partner: Adrian Bosich
Executive Producer: Martin Box
Animator: Henry Bullen
FX: Jack Cornish
Developer: Stephen Burns
Storyboards: Xavier Irvine
Screen: OnQ Digital Group
Architect: Kah-Fai Lee, John Wardle Architects
Project Brief
Every year, thousands of young people pass through the Victorian justice system. Children often attend court with their parents and guardians, for reasons as diverse as family violence, mental health, and family reunification. This can be a stressful experience.
The newly built Bendigo Law Courts incorporates Victoria's inaugural purpose-built regional Children's Court: meticulously crafted with a strong focus on catering to the needs and experiences of children.
Our brief was to create a large, screen based digital interactive artwork to alleviate stress and anxiety for young children visiting the court. The challenge was to create an experience that was enjoyable and accessible for all regional visitors. Including young children, adults, and people with disabilities. An experience that was fun, engaging, and driven by escapism; permanently installed in the court waiting area for young people.
Project Need
As people in regional areas are all too aware, regional services often lag behind equivalent city offerings, in terms of quality and accessibility. Feathers in the Wind seeks to flip this paradigm, delivering a completely novel experience for those seeking justice in regional areas.
A unique fusion of traditional hand-painted techniques and digital technologies gives the work approachable visual style, presenting people with a scene that is both comfortingly familiar & inspired by the local Bendigo landscape, yet fantastical and driven by escapism.
As a permanent work, Feathers in the Wind uses body tracking to create a work that is durable and designed to last in a public setting. With no touch surfaces or buttons to press, the work is designed to last indefinitely with minimal maintenance.
User Experience
Our design-led user experience is created for bodies of all shapes, sizes, and abilities - whether you’re four years old, an adult, or use a wheelchair. A range of interactions support the many ways that we all seek to alleviate stress, from quiet meditation to active movement and play.
Local Artist Rob McHaffie led the visual composition, creating the key visual elements of the work in watercolour and gouache, before digitising his hand-painted works. Driven by bold colours, the visual design is inspired by the Bendigo landscape. Each tree, flower or figure is drawn from something that Rob has observed in the Bendigo area where he lives.
Working in collaboration with Rob, the AIRBAG team designed a series of playful immersive activities made specifically for children. We purposefully chose a technology that encourages kids to get up and move. The two cameras below the screen allow for the non-contact body tracking powering the installation to keep track of people as they approach. Whether walking, jumping, dancing or waving, the installation follows the motion of each person's head, hands, arms, and legs as they move in front of the screen.
As an integral part of the first purpose-designed regional Children’s Court in Victoria, Feathers in the Wind is sensitively tailored for the most vulnerable Victorian families, children, and young people as they access timely justice.
Project Marketing
The new Bendigo Law Courts opened in January 2023. Since the opening, Feathers in the Wind has already positively impacted the experience of hundreds of children and young people.
Nearly two thousand people sought justice in the Bendigo area for family matters last year. We anticipate that tens of thousands of young children will be positively impacted by the work over the next ten years.
As a permanent feature of the court, Feathers in the Wind has a long-lasting design impact.
Two more unique interactive play experiences have since been commissioned for other family courts in Victoria.
Project Privacy
Feathers in the Wind is publicly accessible. Please credit AIRBAG on any social posts.
Digital - AR / VR - New Experiences
This category relates to AR / VR - New Experiences.
More Details