City of collision: an interactive video installation to inform and engage

This article describes an interactive video installation that was developed to inform and engage people about one of the most upsetting geopolitical issues of our time: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Several layers of maps information have been employed into a computer application, which was programmed with the open source tool Processing. The video installation was chosen as a medium, to achieve the following aims: 1) The visualization and communication of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and 2) the application of ambient intelligence technology into artistic works. In this article, we present the requirements, concepts and design decisions for an interactive video installation that has been tested in the lab. Moreover, we provide a reflection on the creative process and the collaboration between different disciplines, such as architecture, urban planning, cartography, computer engineering and media studies. Finally, we outline the plan to evaluate the performance of the system and the impact of the interactive video installation during an exhibition.