The Interactive Swing Sets I Built For Alys Beach In 2019

In 2019, I built a piece for Digital Graffiti in Alys Beach that I think about almost every time I sit down to design a new Table 30A show. It was a set of interactive swing sets that connected to a projection-mapped building and a real-time soundscape. Visitors sat on the swings, and as they moved, the building came alive with projected visuals and the space filled with generated sound that changed with the rhythm of the swinging.

It was a simple idea with a profound result: people became the artists. They did not need instructions, skills, or technology knowledge. They just needed to swing. That simplicity, the idea that natural human behavior can drive complex, beautiful art, is the principle that The Table 30A is built on.

How It Worked

The installation had three connected components.

The first was the physical swing sets. These were real swings that visitors could sit on and use. They were comfortable and inviting, which was important. I wanted people to approach them without hesitation.

The second was a projection system mapped onto one of the white buildings in Alys Beach. The projections displayed abstract, colorful visuals that responded to data from the swings. As visitors swung higher, the visuals expanded and intensified. As they slowed, the visuals contracted and softened. Multiple swings feeding data simultaneously created a layered, complex visual output that was different every moment.

The third was a sound system that generated a real-time soundscape driven by the same swing data. The pitch, rhythm, texture, and density of the sound changed based on how many swings were active, how high people were swinging, and the collective rhythm of the group. The sound and the visuals were synchronized, creating a unified sensory experience that was entirely generated by the behavior of the visitors.

What I Learned

People Will Play

The most important thing the swing sets confirmed is that people will play if you make it easy. I did not need to explain the installation. I did not need signs or instructions. People saw the swings, sat down, started swinging, and within seconds they realized the building and the sound were responding to them. The discovery was intuitive and delightful.

This lesson is the foundation of the interactive projection at The Table 30A. The tracking system responds to hands, glasses, and plates on the table. Guests do not need instructions. They reach for a glass, notice the visual response, and start exploring. The discovery happens naturally, just like it did with the swings. That design principle, make the interaction so intuitive that instructions are unnecessary, came directly from watching hundreds of people sit down on those swings without being told what to do.

Group Dynamics Amplify the Experience

When one person was swinging alone, the installation was interesting. When five or six people were swinging together, it was magical. The collective motion created complex visual and sonic patterns that no individual could produce. The group was creating art together without coordinating, and the result was greater than what any person could achieve alone.

This observation directly shaped the communal table at The Table 30A. When twelve people are eating, talking, passing food, and gesturing around a table with interactive projections, the collective visual output is rich and dynamic in a way that a solo diner could not produce. The group makes the art together, and the shared creation builds a sense of connection. I explore that communal dynamic in The Communal Table At The Table 30A.

Outdoor Interactive Projection Works on 30A

On a practical level, the swing installation validated that interactive projection works outdoors on 30A. The evening conditions, the quality of darkness after sunset, the mild Gulf Coast climate, are ideal for projected media. The white buildings of Alys Beach were an exceptional canvas, but the broader lesson applied: this coast has the conditions to support outdoor projection art.

That validation gave me confidence to design The Table 30A as an exclusively outdoor experience. Every event is held at outdoor partner spaces along 30A, and the projection system is designed for those conditions. I would not have had the confidence to commit to an outdoor format without the experience of seeing the swing installation work perfectly in that environment.

From Swings to the Dinner Table

The swing sets were a public installation at a festival. The Table 30A is a private dining experience. The contexts are completely different. But the core idea is identical: natural human behavior drives real-time generative art, and the experience is co-created by the participants without requiring them to do anything unnatural.

The swings tracked physical motion and translated it into projected visuals and sound. The Table 30A tracks hands, glasses, and plates and translates them into projected visuals on the table surface. The input is different. The output is different. But the principle, simple interaction driving complex beauty, is the same.

The swing sets showed me that this principle works with strangers in a public setting. The Table 30A proves it works with a small group in an intimate setting. And the intimate version, it turns out, is more powerful. When twelve people around a dinner table are unknowingly co-creating the visual experience while eating five courses of food and moving through an original story, the result is something that a festival installation cannot achieve. It is personal, shared, and deeply connected to the most human activity there is: eating together.

FAQ

Was the swing installation interactive for everyone or just one person at a time?

Multiple people could swing simultaneously. The installation was designed for collective participation, and the best results came when several visitors were swinging together, creating a complex, layered visual and sonic experience.

Where in Alys Beach was the installation?

The installation was part of the Digital Graffiti festival, which projects art onto the white buildings throughout Alys Beach. The specific location was chosen for the proximity of the building surface to the swing sets.

Can I experience something similar at The Table 30A?

The underlying principle of the swing installation, natural behavior driving real-time interactive art, is the same principle at work in every Table 30A event. The format is different (a dinner table instead of swings, food and story instead of a festival), but the magic of watching art respond to your presence is the same. See How Interactive Projection Works At The Table 30A for details.

Do you still build public installations?

My primary focus is The Table 30A, but my background in public interactive installations informs every show I design. The skills I developed building pieces like the swing sets are embedded in the projection system, the interaction design, and the experience architecture of The Table 30A.

Was this the project that led to The Table 30A?

It was one of the key projects. The swing installation confirmed that the 30A audience engages with interactive digital art, that outdoor projection works in this environment, and that group participation amplifies the experience. Those confirmations gave me the confidence to build The Table 30A.