During the physical computing class we have been asked to design an installation for the city of Venice with the purpose of giving informations in an subtle and emotional way.
We decided to focus our attention on the Venetian Lagoon and its biological cycle. The lagoon is affected by many human affections that are generally invisible to the people who temporary or permanently live in Venice.

Aequilibrium is built upon a simple concept: every action you take has an effects in the environment around you. We are not interested in showing you the right or the wrong behavior but we want you to learn that everything is a question of balance.
We identified four main categories of human affections: fishing, pollution, traffic and global warming; we used these categories to create an immersive environment that simulates the aquatic life and shows its reactions to your actions.
We decided to set Aequilibrium in the famous Rialto fish market in Venice.

Aequilibrium is a mesmerizing experience where the aquatic environment is projected on the fish market floor.
As you enter the fish market the fishes on the floor react to your presence: a dark area appears around your feet depending on the noise you are producing. Fishes never liked you, because you make noise and disturb them, so they avoid you and run away. If you are polite and respect them they will become friendly. Of course you can choose to kill them but your game will end soon..
The columns of the fish marked are used to display past information and future predictions about the lagoon.You can affect the prediction and see it changing according to the actions you and the other people performe in the installation. The future columns and the floor simulation are connected to each other and update in real time the displayed data.

We developed Aequilibrium with Processing and Wiring and the precious help by Durrell Bishop from Luckybite and Davide Rocchesso.

Aequilibrium has been featured in we make money not art.