project opens the discussion
about using electrostatic
energy as a source of power
in the future.
Was this a collaborative
process, and if so, who
was involved? Electric
Flora is an outcome of a
collaboration between
Disney Research Pittsburgh
and the Berlin University
of Arts. After exploring
the use of electrostatic
energy for interactive
books (in the project
Paper Generators, Disney
Research Pittsburgh) we
wanted to take advantage
of the low-cost technology
of harvesting electrostatic
energy and use it in a
big installation in space
where the whole body is
generating energy.
Did anything go wrong?
We totally underestimated
the influence of
atmospheric and
environmental conditions.
We were developing and
testing the system in our
lab, where the temperature
is constant and the
humidity is always around
10 percent because of
the air conditioning and
climate control. When we
set up the installation for
the first time in a gallery
space, we realized the big
impact of the weather on
the output. On a warmer
rainy day you had to do a
vigorous workout with the
Teflon shoes to get a bright
light. However if it was cold
and dry outside, it was even
Describe what you made.
Electric Flora is an
installation that creates a
space of interactivity by
harvesting electrostatic
energy from the human
body. Our idea is to create a
jungle of interactive plants
that are suspended from
the ceiling. When the user
touches the conductive tip
of the plants, made from
acrylic tubes with an array
of LEDs, the leaves light
up. The only power source
of the installation is the
user’s own energy/electrical
charge. The user wears
Teflon shoes to amplify the
body’s electrostatic charge.
What for you is the most
important/interesting thing
about what you made?
The “technology” we are
using in this project is
based on a type of contact
electrification called
the tribo-electric effect.
Everyone has experienced
this phenomenon; in dry
winter air we easily charge
ourselves up and get little
shocks by touching metal
surfaces. The principle of
this electrification is very
simple, but at the same
time it’s fascinating to
explore our body as a cloud
of atoms and electrons and
as a carrier of electrical
charge. In this installation,
you can even feel how the
charge is floating through
your body when you are
touching the conductive
end of the acrylic tubes.
Besides offering the body
experience in space, the
→ Embedding wires in the
acrylic tube.
→ Fitting the LEDs through the
holes.
→ Connecting the LEDs.
Electric Flora
Harnessing electrostatic energy
from the body to power a forest of light.
Specs
Materials:
Acrylic tubes, LEDs,
wire, rectifier
Tools: Lasercutter,
pliers, soldering iron
→ Hanging the rods to the metal
structure.
→ The wires connected to the
LEDs series and the rectifier
(converting AC to DC).
→ The whole installation
setup, including carpet and
Teflon shoes.
HOW
WAS I T
MADE?
→ Four stages of the acrylic rod:
( 1) the laser cut acrylic rod
with holes ( 2) the rod with the
wires embedded ( 3) the rod
with the LEDs embedded ( 4)
the finished rod with LEDs
connected.
