The Rain Room – is it art?

Yesterday I watched a BBC news item about the Rain Room at the Barbican Centre in London, a new 3-D exhibition which aims to marry art, science and technology. I found this concept absolutely fascinating. In basic terms it consists of a room, where it rains, yet you don’t get wet. With 3D sensory cameras fixed to the ceiling of the Rain Room, each person who walks into the space is recognised and so the rain avoids them (so long as they don’t move too fast). The idea is to create the feeling of contemplation as the sensation of being dry in a rain storm is very calming and the sound of the rain is hypnotic.

The Rain Room

I want to go!

References:

BBC News Website, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19873953 [last accessed 10 October 2012]