Seduce the Train

Interactive installation
Eniarof #22 / Tunis 2017

In december 2017 Niklas and I took part in the 22nd edition of Eniarof, which is a pop-up fun fair concept by Antonin Fourneau. The idea is to gather in a place – in this case Abdellia Palace in La Marsa in Tunisia – and to create a bunch of DIY games and attractions. Eniarof was part of Efest’s art residency program and the final outcomes were presented at the festival.

We were a big group of French, Tunisian and German students and teachers. Splitting into smaller teams, we started the residency week with brainstorming and exploring a pile of electronics, old toys and other objects that were to be upcycled into amusements. Altogether about ten attractions were built – you can see snapshots of the process in this video by Efest.

I built an attraction called Seduce the Train, which was inspired by an old model train. The train was in fact from our very own basement, but I hadn’t paid much attention to it earlier, as our basement is, well, quite full. I combined the train with a pair of abandoned Essential Reality P5 gloves, which were once designed as a high-tech 3D input device. Using the bend sensors in the gloves, I made fabric gloves with which it is possible to move the toy train by bending the index finger. Two people can play the game in turns and move the train from one station to another. (We also tried a version where the players can move the train simultaneously, but in this case the train remains mostly in the middle of the tracks.) The player who gets the train fastest to their station wins, although the most fun part seems to be coming up with inventive seduction gestures.

The Eniarof attractions were also shown in Paris in February 2018 as part of the Second Square #9 – Makers event. For this event I made an improved version of my game with a new, proper model train and sensor. You can see people playing it on the video. Seduce the Train was also presented as a part of MalakoNiarof in June 2018 at l’Atelier de curiosité urbaine in Malakoff, France.

Check also out the awesome Bubble Blast by Niklas!

Special thanks to Antonin for inviting us and for Afif and Scander from the Efest team for taking such good care of us. Thanks also to the other members of our mega-team and to Niklas for helping out with the sensor programming.

In december 2017 Niklas and I took part in the 22nd edition of Eniarof, which is a pop-up fun fair concept by Antonin Fourneau. The idea is to gather in a place – in this case Abdellia Palace in La Marsa in Tunisia – and to create a bunch of DIY games and attractions. Eniarof was part of Efest’s art residency program and the final outcomes were presented at the festival.

We were a big group of French, Tunisian and German students and teachers. Splitting into smaller teams, we started the residency week with brainstorming and exploring a pile of electronics, old toys and other objects that were to be upcycled into amusements. Altogether about ten attractions were built – you can see snapshots of the process in this video by Efest.

I built an attraction called Seduce the Train, which was inspired by an old model train. The train was in fact from our very own basement, but I hadn’t paid much attention to it earlier, as our basement is, well, quite full. I combined the train with a pair of abandoned Essential Reality P5 gloves, which were once designed as a high-tech 3D input device. Using the bend sensors in the gloves, I made fabric gloves with which it is possible to move the toy train by bending the index finger. Two people can play the game in turns and move the train from one station to another. (We also tried a version where the players can move the train simultaneously, but in this case the train remains mostly in the middle of the tracks.) The player who gets the train fastest to their station wins, although the most fun part seems to be coming up with inventive seduction gestures.

The Eniarof attractions were also shown in Paris in February 2018 as part of the Second Square #9 – Makers event. For this event I made an improved version of my game with a new, proper model train and sensor. You can see people playing it on the video. Seduce the Train was also presented as a part of MalakoNiarof in June 2018 at l’Atelier de curiosité urbaine in Malakoff, France.

Check also out the awesome Bubble Blast by Niklas!

Special thanks to Antonin for inviting us and for Afif and Scander from the Efest team for taking such good care of us. Thanks also to the other members of our mega-team and to Niklas for helping out with the sensor programming.