Earlier this month the San Diego International Airport unveiled DAZZLE, a concerto of animations – a public artwork using E Ink Prism tile technology, taking shape across the façade of its new Rental Car Center.
DAZZLE, a collaboration between E Ink, an innovator in electronic ink technology, and Ueberall International, an experiential design firm, transforms a 1,600-foot long façade into an interactive tech mural of over 2,000 individual solar-powered ePaper tiles that display custom animations across the exterior of the building. “The autonomous, solar-powered tiles use E Ink Prism, similar to the technology found in e-readers, but adapted for an architectural scale.”
Each day, hundreds of thousands of airport visitors, motorists on the Interstate 5 Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway, and public transit users, will experience a work of art bigger than all its pieces, blending art, technology and animation, science, mathematics.
DAZZLE takes inspiration from Norman Wilkinson’s “’razzle dazzle’ camouflage technique used during World War I in the waters of San Diego to alter the perception of ships to the enemy by visually scrambling their shapes and outlines.”
Photos don’t do DAZZLE justice – for a better look, check out the video. Spanning 2½ years, the project blossomed out of a design brief that presented more challenges than opportunities.
“The San Diego Airport said, ‘We love the idea, it’s very daring, very bold – but the building is brand new, so we don’t want any drills, no conduit [tube or trough for protecting electric wiring],’ said Nik Hafermaas, co-founder of Ueberall International and principal project artist. “Many other people wouldn’t even attempt to find a solution. The only way we can do this is if we can make the tiles autonomous and wireless, and able to generate and store their own energy. Their energy and signaling needs to be autonomous.”
The wireless transmitters get their power from the building, and the tiles themselves are powered by the sun. The tiles have a Teflon film, and each tile has its own GPS location. In a system of algorithms, the installation knows when to wake up all of the tiles each day. Then once all of the tiles are awake, they start interacting. At the end of the day, when it hits ‘X’ time on the clock – when the sun is going down – the system is cued to go to sleep.
“We had to do a lot of design work on how and where the tiles would be placed,” said Joe Fillion, senior business development manager at E Ink. “We had to make sure all the angles of the tiles were communicating properly. And we needed to make sure the proper amount of sunlight is getting to each tiles.
“Nik wanted no wires going over the art. And we also needed to build in the option to revise and adjust in the future. We had to make the panels stick well so that they could weather the elements, but not so well that they couldn’t be removed. The tiles can be power-washed and are resistant to graffiti.”
“These tiles are not sitting in a lab,” added Mr. Hafermaas. “They have to endure the exposure to the brutal sun of Southern California.”
The project’s scale also presented a design challenge.
“It’s an incredibly huge canvas,” said Mr. Hafermaas. “You can’t wallpaper the whole thing, because it would be cost-prohibitive. You have a limited number of elements that presented big design challenges. These constraints pushed us to the final solution.”
The design uses algorithmic distances between the tile elements, so that they grow larger and then shrink smaller to fill the space.
The installation has three distinct animations, including “bouncing molecules” and “falling raindrops.”
“Our artist approach for DAZZLE was inspired by the historic form of ship camouflage, but our breakthrough came with the idea of applying e-Paper technology to the façade,” said Mr. Hafermaas, in the project’s press announcement. “We knew that E Ink technology was the perfect partner to help us achieve our design, given its flexible and extremely durable properties.”
Mr. Hafermaas and Ueberall International specialize in transmedia (telling a single story or experience across multiple platforms), using motion, interaction and three-dimensional design elements to capture every moment of engagement.
“I believe we’re now in the second digital revolution, a space and time where technology will be embedded seamlessly into the environment – where it becomes second nature, and not a hinderance.”
His viewpoint has led to an abundance of art projects that expand on the idea.
“E Ink had seen the artworks, and said, ‘We know you can use these materials, we want to work with you,’” said Mr. Hafermaas. “We were the first ones to place with this new material. Making something look effortless is incredibly difficult.”
“E Ink Prism tiles are autonomous architectural tiles with solar powered capabilities. Unlike competing technologies, E Ink Prism does not emit light, but reflects ambient light. E Ink Prism also showcases the following features:
>Fully programmable – gives content providers and designers greater creative freedom.
>Fully reflective – provides a print or paint-like appearance and a natural visual experience.
>Low power consumption – requires ultra-low power only during a visual change with no electrical outlets required.
>Rugged and customizable – can be sized to be compatible with most configurations, patterns, and materials.
>Color – E Ink Prism is available in seven colors, providing designers with greater creative freedom.”
“The DAZZLE project was essentially a product development process, even though it began and ended with an installation project,” Mr. Fillion noted.
E Ink has been awarded the SEGD Global Design Merit Awardin the Strategy, Research & Planning category for its integral involvement in DAZZLE at the San Diego International Airport. “The award program honors design work that connects people to place by providing direction, content and compelling experiences in public spaces. E Ink’s bi-stable ink technology inspired artist collective Ueberall International to do just that using solar-powered, autonomous ePaper tiles to create a monumental dynamic display on the facade of the San Diego International Airport’s Rental Car Center. Evaluated by a multidisciplinary jury, DAZZLE was chosen based on effectiveness in connecting people to place, its ability to create a unique and memorable user experience, and for solving the client’s objectives and design challenges.”
“’A technically groundbreaking project that started with more obstacles than opportunities transformed an immense facade into a dynamic solar-powered canvas of wirelessly transmitted low-resolution patterns…using electrified ink,’ commented one of the jury members.”
DAZZLE embodies the best of what design intends to do.
“This is the first large-scale deployment of E Ink’s Prism technology enables designers to create eco-friendly, durable and visually exciting designs that transform buildings and structures,” said Paul Apen, Chief Strategy Officer at E Ink, in the project’s press announcement.
As E Ink finds its footing in the architectural market, it applies its most powerful assets in a design project that changes our surroundings for the better while inflicting no negative environmental impact.
