Bodies in Motion

Bodies in Motion for Humanscale celebrates human movement in a large-scale interactive light sculpture.

Bodies in Motion is inspired by Humanscale’s history as pioneers in human factors and natural ergonomics, bringing a scientific approach to furniture design. A related influence was the research psychophysicist Gunnar Johansson in 1973, which involved placing lights on key points of the human body to highlight movement. Situated in the warehouse of Ventura Centrale in Milan, the work features a minimal representation of the human body formed of lights that respond to the movements of visitors. As visitor's bodies are scanned, 15 motorised lights project tightly-focussed white beams onto a screen fifteen metres away. The points of light on the screen correspond to key points of the person's body including the head, shoulders, elbows, hands, sternum, hips, knees or feet. Each person that interacts triggers a specific visual and sound experience that is tightly synced across the two.

This is a TheGreenEyl project created in collaboration with Todd Bracher for Humanscale at Milan Design Week 2019.