StairWELL

Using a novel combination of art, technology, and clinical psychology, the StairWELL project is an interactive sculptural installation to create a sense of beauty, respite, and play via an inventive user interface. Viewers become participants in an expressive journey that creates community while also delivering powerful supportive connections where they may be needed. For this project, we collaborated with many different individuals at Purdue University, including Convocations, Counseling and Psychological Services, Hall of Music Productions, Department of Theater, visiting artists-in-residence, the Chromic Duo, 

Located at the heart of student life on Third Street, West Lafayette, the StairWELL installation is open to students, faculty, staff, and visitors to click a QR code, answer a series of well-being questions based on the World Health Organization’s WHO-5, and connect with the stair-shaped structure clad in LED panels. This innovative project features a captivating visual display with user-generated avatars, and a responsive soundtrack written by chromic duo. The StairWELL project is a sculpture that focuses on the emotional wellness of students through interactive media. The interactive technology design is broken down into three components: a mobile device interface, a data processing server, and sculpture visualization. The goal of this project was also to show that mobile devices and webapps can be used as an effective participation method for real-time interactive art installations.

A project by Purdue Convocations 
Art Direction: Esteban Garcia Bravo 
UX Design: Nandhini Giri 
Programming: Trey Cluff and Maddie Wilcox 
Animators: Aidan Janes and Andrea Medina 
Script: Armond Bigler 
Sound Design: Chromic Duo 
Engineering: Hall of Music 
Date: October 16-30, 2023 
Media: LED Panels, Speakers, Webapp 
Location: Purdue University 
Dimensions: (w)10’ x (d)10’ x (h)11’