Proposal for the Avesta Steelworks Visitors experience

2.2 The demonstrator

[click here for the interactive model]

The demonstrator is showing the before mentioned scenarios in a tangible, fully interactive form at full scale. It is constructed to act as an example for a more comprehensive installation, which would cover larger areas of the steel works.
The demonstrator can be installed 'on-site', around the lower part of the middle blast furnace, or 'off-site' in any suitable exhibition venue.

The demonstrator picks one of the possible location for interactive zones in the blast furnace hall, to offer a hands-on experience of the proposed ideas. The experience of interactive media is hard to describe, if not experienced first hand, so the installation is an integral part of the proposal and complements this document.

The demonstrator is placed around the blast furnace. Several yellow glowing hotspots are distributed on panels or items in the environment. Those are indicating the possibility to discover hidden stories about the place by pointing the flashlight towards it.
There are three main interactive zones, linked together in a digital hyper-media context. Each zone has a set of associated media, which is centrally held in a computer database.

For the demonstrator, the Meta.L.Hyttan is focusing on two narrative layers: the poetic and the educational. For each layer there is one flashlight, the visitor can therefore chose either the educational or the poetic lamp upon entering the installation. The corresponding mode will follow him throughout the enabled environment.

The poetic layer is mainly trying to give impressions and ambience to the place, stimulating the senses through sounds, lights and atmospheric conditioning. It is not about hard science, more about getting a feeling for how the place must have been a long time ago.

The blast furnace was a mystical place, where complex processes were taking place. It was hard even for skilled workers to know exactly what was going on. So rumors and hearsay were flourishing, which led to countless stories, fantasy and fiction. People at the steel works were great at telling stories and took great pride in it.

The educational layer on the other hand is giving the visitor information and facts on the science of steel production. To support the learning process, the factual content is also supported by rich media content and ambient events, so the magic is still part of the experience. Thisshould help make the facts stick to the mind.

Zone 1 - the tapping process

On the poetic layer, the visitor encounters the people working in the process of tapping of the molten iron. The events are almost purely fictional, but they aim at reconstructing the harsh working conditions in the darkness, laboring right up to the incandescent steel.
On the educational layer, a narrator is giving information about the unfolding process. This layer is focusing more on the reality. In this scenario, it is showing the process to be told to a school child, stimulating curiosity and learning.

Zone 2 - 'The Woman in White"

The woman in white is a well known tale, a ghost that wandered through the blast furnace hall warning workers. To encounter her, meant that something would go horribly wrong, very likely that somebody would die.
In the poetic mode, the installation produces a ghost-like shining, smoke appearance, which is complemented by voices of the steel workers in the background. Then an accident occurs.
The educational layer is running a shorter version, commenting the situation and providing facts about the folklore and traditions around the furnace.

Both layers are relating to the same traditional story.

Zone 3 - The air pipe for the blasting process

The third zone is dealing with oxygen as a an extremely important element to the process. It was used to blast the fire in the furnace and it was the dirty air, the workers had to breath in the smoky vicinity of the furnace

Projected diagrams are complementing the narrated information, while a strong fan comes on to push a stream of air into the visitors face, giving a first hand impression of the force that the air was circulating with in the system.

There are two more hotspots, which are providing simple interaction events to add to the experience around the blast furnace. One is highlighting a slag brick, which is a by-product of the iron making process. By shining on the brick and its hotspot, the areas is highlighted by a spotlight, and a narrator explains about the material.
Another hotspot is mounted on the blast furnace itself. When shining up, a massive lamp come on to light up the entire furnace.




Zone 4 and five have only limited interaction possibilities. The trigger simple sound and light events.

SMART studio EMOTIONAL studio