Riverpulse at Starlight Park

Riverpulse is an interactive, heartrate-responsive light installation; it celebrates the vibrancy of the Bronx and draws the community into the revitalized Starlight Park to encourage physical activity and interaction with the park’s natural beauty and with one another. Riverpulse is comprised of a field of acrylic lights that resemble “common reeds,” a native plant of New York. The reeds are internally lit with LED lights which respond to the human pulse, as detected in several touch-sensitive sensors. Sensor nodes are distributed among the reeds and use technology to detect pulse rate. As participants interact with sensor nodes, their pulse transmits in wave-like light ripples through the surrounding reeds. If participants are exercising, eliciting a higher pulse rate, a more brilliant response is generated. This works via software running on each sensor node which picks up the change in heart rate and influences the animated lights accordingly. These responses encourage participants to be physically active, with the idea behind this being that achieving 55-85% of

one’s maximum heartrate (MHR) for 20-30 minutes a day has been shown to improve cardiovascular health ( MHR= 220 - age). By also responding with a more complex pulse-wave when several people interact at once, Riverpulse brings together friends, family and even strangers to interact at the park and play with one another. Data collected will be uploaded to a website that demonstrates real-time and historical use, that participants can access. It will have user-friendly graphics that illustrate activity in the park and interaction with Riverpulse.