WTPh? – What the Phonics {+ installation}

15Jul12

WTPh? (What the Phonics) is an interactive installation made by Momo Miyazaki and I (Andrew Spitz). Street names in Denmark are close to impossible for foreigners to pronounce, so we did a little intervention in the touristic areas of Copenhagen.

We recorded a Danish person speaking the street names then split up each syllable. In true karaoke style, we placed lights above the matching syllable so that in real-time, you can see which part of the word is being spoken. When participants lift the speaker off the wall, it starts playing. We used Max/MSP and Arduino to build the installation.

Here’s a video about the process and showing WTPh in action. Enjoy!

This project was made during the Systems and Layers module at CIID and was run by Adam Greenfield and Engin Ayaz.

The music we used, is by the amazing artist Jacob Montague. The track is Lambent from the album Fly On.

Filed under: arduino, CIID, Interaction Design, interactive, interactive installation, video   |  21 Comments

21 Responses to “WTPh? – What the Phonics {+ installation}”  

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  1. 1 Dale on Jul 16th, 2012 said:

    Drooza & Momo, what a spectacular concept and wonderful execution. In our rainbow nation we have 11 official languages and this would work great here. Congratulations on a job well done. I’m going to post on my page…

  2. 2 Jessica on Jul 18th, 2012 said:

    This is just so nice. Congratulations to both of you :)

  3. 3 Andrew Spitz on Jul 18th, 2012 said:

    Thanks, Jessica!

  4. 4 Rasmus on Jul 18th, 2012 said:

    I love the idea! Cheers from a Dane :)

  5. 5 Billy O'Shea on Sep 17th, 2012 said:

    Excellent, innovative idea! Now could you do the same for Danish bakeries? :-)

  6. 6 Ianus Keller on Nov 21st, 2012 said:

    Very nice project. For April Fool’s you might want to get the guy from Pronunciation Manual to get you some alternative pronunciations? http://kottke.org/12/01/how-to-pronounce-things-hilariously

  7. 7 Andrew Spitz on Nov 21st, 2012 said:

    Ha! Brilliant!

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  2. 2 WTPh? What the phonics : Broken City Lab
  3. 3 WTPh? – What the Phonics / Andrew Spitz e Momo Miyazaki | Atelier Livre – Tecnologias Interativas e Processos de Criação
  4. 4 What the phonics? | Marzipan and Marmite
  5. 5 What the Phonics? Helps Non-Dutch Speaking Tourists Navigate the Streets of Copenhagen | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
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  7. 7 Talking Street Signs Help Tourists Pronounce Danish Street Names - PSFK
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  12. 12 Adictivox – Digitalizando ideasInstalación interactiva enseña a turistas a pronunciar nombres de calles en Dinamarca
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