Kickstarter

The Tesseract is a four dimensional interactive fire cube, a radical interactive fire sculpture going to Critical Massive, a Pacific Northwest Burning Man regional festival, to Burning Man itself, and at many places afterwards as a 3D testing platform. We expect that important graphic interface designs and other 3D motion capture technologies like Kinect will be tested on this platform in the future. But in order for this blazing beauty to work correctly, we require a LOT of parts, and their costs are adding up. We already have two grants but need to raise more money for the right valves, ignitors, etc. Please help the Tesseract become a reality!

The Tesseract is a massive iron cube composed of hundreds of smaller, suspended cubes and 216 fire nodes. The interactive element means the user will be in complete control of the shape and direction of the blazing design in the cube's interior, much like painting in 3D. The user will stand at a designated spot activating the three dimensional sensor. This small black device will register the user’s physical location; indexing his or her hands for motion control. The sensor will relay that information to a computer, signaling to the appropriate gas terminals, and igniting controlled burst of propane that mirror the user’s motions in arms. 

The structure is made of an outer cage, support grid, and 216 valves, each with its own ignitor. The grid will house gas lines and wire connections that supply the terminals. The cube represents a Cartesian layout of parallel lines on the X, Y, and Z axes. The fourth dimension is provided by the participant's interaction! 

Even when resting, the piece will still be visually engaging. The vanishing lines in space and grid-style layout, fifteen feet (or more!) in all dimensions are aesthetically powerful. At night, these will be further amplified by a series of LEDs housed in the support cube, shining into the interior, and emphasizing its structure. 

Again, your help is needed to make the Tesseract an exciting interactive sculpture that will further 3D motion platform testing.