MINI Sound and Light Art Installation

MINI is once again using the Salone del Mobile to showcase its visionary design perspectives with an impressive installation. The MINI design team fronted by Head of MINI Design Anders Warming has joined forces with London-based art and design collective United Visual Artists (UVA) to present PARALLELS.

This three-part light and sound installation, a new artwork by UVA, was inspired by MINI connected and the possibilities inherent within intelligent connectivity. UVA’s creative interpretation of MINI Connected – MINI’s in-car infotainment solution – stimulates dialogue on the myriad possibilities generated by digitally interconnected mobility, which extend well beyond the boundaries of the vehicle.

MINI Connected links up the MINI and its driver. Internet-based smartphone services can be integrated directly into the car’s high-resolution on-board display to turn the MINI into the driver’s own personal assistant. The interactive character of the MINI Connected technology is visually enhanced by the new MINI interface design, which passes feedback onto the driver by means of light effects.

The three-part PARALLELS takes inspiration from MINI Connected’s seamless transition between home, office and car – interpreting this connectivity as a palpable art form and invoking the most striking element of the new MINI interface design: light – as illustrated by MINI’s interactive LED ring. The signature ringencircles the new MINI central instrument and communicates silently with the driver via light impulses in different colours.

In PARALLELS this feature is reflected by three rings, each with a diameter of 1.5 metres. The rings are fixed to the wall one metre apart and each projects a tunnel of light measuring around 10 metres in length and creating a virtual “space inside a space”. Visitors can move around between the cylindrical bodies of light, free from physical boundaries. Each light tunnel forms a separate, enclosed, atmospheric world, the spectrum of colour in the light ranging from diamond white via turquoise to a forceful dark blue. The light cylinder uses motion sensors to engage visitors in interactive dialogue. The visitors’ movements trigger feedback in the form of changes in colour and light, as well as atmospheric sound effects. This action and reaction generates an emotional connection between the installation and the visitors, who become its focal point, turning it into a personal experience through their movements.

To find out more about the MINI line of vehicles, or to schedule a test drive, please visit Braman MINI of Palm Beach.