Manta at SmartGeometry 2012

The good folks at SmartGeometry have sent us some impressive images and videos of the installation "Manta," the result of a workshop at the recent SmartGeometry 2012 conference in Troy, New York.

Project Description from the Designers:

Manta is an interdisciplinary project that required expertise in architecture, fabrication, interactive technology, and acoustics. This combination drove the assembly of the design team, who came together for the first time from disparate careers and backgrounds. The result could only be achieved with a holistic design approach: all team members worked together on all aspects of Manta. Drawing from a strong group of cluster participants, and with the support of Smartgeometry, Grimshaw Architects, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Manta represents the potential of multidisciplinary design.

Manta is a surface that changes its form - and therefore acoustic character - in response to multimodal input including sound, stereoscopic vision, multi-touch, and brainwaves. While adaptable acoustics are common, Manta explores new levels of continuity and responsiveness, advancing acoustic systems beyond individual elements and corrective treatment.

Manta is comprised of CNC machined panels and connectors of two thicknesses of high-density polyethylene, and curved forms result from a combination of triangulation and bending stiffness: geometry and material in concert. The result is a controlled morphing that is suspended at a minimum of points.

Manta was designed and fabricated as part of the SmartGeometry 2012 Conference to utilize the rigging infrastructure and acoustically inert environment of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.

sg2012 cluster: reactive acoustic environments from Marc Webb on Vimeo.

The Raising and Tuning of Manta from Reactive Acoustic on Vimeo.

Manta: First Tests from Reactive Acoustic on Vimeo.

Project Credits:

Cluster Champions:

Zackery Belanger
Guillermo Bernal
Eric  Ameres
Seth Edwards

Cluster Participants:

Olia Fomina
Frederico Fialho
Daniel Hambleton
Christoffer Marsvik
Ana Garcia Puyol
Varvara Toulkeridou
Ben Schneiderman
Sarah Goldfarb
James Wisniewski

Photography: Michael Villardi, Smartgeometry, EMPAC, Grimshaw Architects

Find many more photos of Manta's fabrication process in the image gallery below.