Wind is the natural movement of air. It can move clouds, dust, seeds, and sound across oceans and mountains. It is the immigration of life itself. It doesn’t care for humankind’s made-up borders. It ignores the requirements of citizenship or the laws of censorship. Wind comes and goes as it pleases.
World Wind Radio is an interactive sound installation that harnesses nature’s strongest force to communicate the importance of cultural flow carried and made by people. Cultural exchange makes the world a more beautiful, less divided place for everyone.
Taking the appearance of a wind sock, the installation plays a radio station from different parts of the world depending on the speed and direction of the wind.
If a small breeze blows from the south east, the audience will listen to Romanian live radio. With a stronger gust, they could enjoy Indian radio, Malaysian radio and so forth. On a day without wind, the installation would simply play radio from its current location, Berlin.
Radios are living things, filled with curated music based on what moves the people of a nation. It’s a snapshot of the cultural landscape of a country. And, like the wind, electronic air waves know no borders.
World Wind Radio consists of two speakers, an LCD Screen, a Raspberry Pi (to trigger Online Live Radio and contro the LCD screen), an Arduino Nano (to collect the sensor’s data), a rotary angle sensor attached to a bespoke wind sock, an anemometer, and a 3D-printed mechanical piece.
The wind direction and speed is captured by the two sensors communicating the data via analog on Arduino, which creates a different value for the 41 radio combinations possible.
The Raspberry Pi triggers online radio thanks to music player Deamon depending on the value received from the Arduino. The LCD screen is also connected to the Raspberry Pi and displays the location, country and radio playing.
This installation was made by Jeanne Harignordoquy during the Interactive Berlin Program at the School Of Machines, Making and Make-Believe.
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