Kjell Yngve Petersen & Karin Søndergaard. 2001

Fig.: Users on interactive furniture.

The piece by Petersen and Søndergaard could be called an augmented reality project. It has the subtitle: Part 1: Situations for Augmented Relationships.

"Smiles in Motion" is an interactive pieces of furniture designed for augmented relationships between two people. Two chairs link two visitors that enable them to converse with each other in a very special manner.
This construction might be called a "relation apparatus" and is able to transform speech into movement. Speech and sounds produced in the audible spectrum by the two visitors are converted into vibrations, through motors placed in the seats of the chairs. As a visitor is perceiving what is spoken in the form of vibrations, he is also shown the mouth of the other visitor on a monitor fixed in a globe. The visitors "hear" each other through vibrations, synchronized with the images of the movements of their mouths. And so may converse through vibrations and smiles.

"Smiles in Motion" is on part of the Augmented Reality Project that consists of a total of four installations. The other three installations are "Mirrechophone", "I think You - You think Me", and "The Different Stories of a Bride and Groom".

The installations operate on three levels. They each have a constant life of their own, they react immediately, with a specific function, when single visitors are present and when two visitors are present they promote an augmented relationship."