Homing in on the Senses

The sensory pavillion is in the house at Milan Design Week!

BE OPEN commissioned award-winning architect and designer Christophe Pillet to create the "House of the Senses" - a sensory exploration which calls upon our sixth sense, intuition. The installation challenges pre-conceptions of structure by interplaying unusual materials. Visitors enter a simple black wooden box covered in vegetation. On the three walls of the pavillion are projected a constantly changing series of moving images, whilst the floor and ceiling are made from a reflective material which distorts our impression of space.

"I wanted to give a pared down, almost simplistic vision of architecture,” says Pillet. “The outside is rather 'quaint' - a simple black wood box, covered in vegetation. Inside an eclectic, impressionistic collage of random video images loops in no particular order. The visitor can only have a visceral response to these very different experiences - a sensory overload.”

Bringing design and architecture together, the "House of the Senses" creates an intense multi-sensory experience which inventively combines nature, technology and structure. 

What next for Pillet? On his "wish list" is creating a space using only light as the material...we can't wait to be  enlightened!

Watch the Interview with Christophe Pillet in the House of Senses for a glimpse of the action.

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Read more about BE OPEN's sensory feast at Milan Design Week and catch the review in Dexigner.

Forget the 3D glasses...there's a new generation of sensory aids coming to the big screen

Fed up with over-sized and over-priced cinema food? Edible Cinema has come to the rescue with a cinematic tasting menu. The audience experiences tastes, smells and textures evocative of those that the characters are experiencing. Pairing the eating experience together with the film adds another sensory dimension, so the audience can experience the film more intensely.

Following their successful interpretation of Pan's Labyrinth at Notting Hill's Electric Cinema complete with pine-smoked popcorn, the next project is 'Spirited Away' featuring foaming tapioca 'soap' powder!

For further details, see

The Electric Cinema >>

The Aubin Cinema >>

Guardian Film Review >>

We'd love a ticket to their screening of Chocolat!

Walls Have Feelings Too!

It's well known that buildings affect how we behave, and now in the Gaîté Lyrique theatre in Paris it's a two way relationship!

As part of an exhibition titled Joue le Jeu, game design studio Hide&Seek has bestowed the building with a collection of senses. The building can hear, smell, feel and see, and while you're there, it's focusing those senses on you.

More about the interactive building by Hide and Seek >>

We love the bit about plucking at the building's heartstrings...imagine having this room at home!

A birthday greeting with a touch of magic

Card company American Greetings has launched “Magic Touch™” cards which deliver a multi-sensory experience to surprised recipients. The greetings can be controlled by the reader if they rub a section of their card…the little characters on the card will then sing ‘Happy Birthday’ in their honor!

For example, pat faster and the cat meows the song faster, strum the guitar slower and the rift slows down as well. Additional characters include a rabbit as well as a hot guy singing the perfect birthday tune!

Here at Sejuiced we think this interactive element is rather fun. Engaging a person with their birthday card almost makes it a present, no? (or are we just getting carried away here!!)

Check out this stroke of genius at the American Greetings website

Stop the bus! I want to warm up.

Caribou Coffee is giving Minneapolis residents a heart-warming improvement to their journey to convey their "Hot 'n Wholesome" message. They have installed oven-shaped bus shelters complete with working heaters to recreate the warmth of a cooked breakfast and a hot cup of coffee. We think this would bring welcome cheer to commuters during the winter months! 

See for yourself!

People quick to experience the Google Chrome Game!

An interactive game promoting the Google Chrome browser managed the impossible – it tore the Westfield crowd away from their Christmas shopping! The public could take part in the multi-sensory action by being transported into the game!

The gamer stood on the Google Chrome platform and when the music started their colour changing   silhouette appeared on the HUGE paint splattered gaming canvas projected on the side of Westfield Shopping Centre! This interactive game involved bouncing multicoloured balls around the bright background by moving your body fast and furiously! The bold moving patterns, music and engaging gaming experience meant the fun went on all day - everyone wanted to be a rainbow coloured 10ft computer game character!

Forget the speed of light, this quick paced multi-sensory experience allowed the participants to experience 'Fast is moving at the speed of chrome'. Watch the video to see the interactive fun bouncing about on your screen!