This interactive installation, created in collaboration with Martin Bravo, Lia Martinez, Anna Pinkas, and Liza Singer, was inspired by the tradition of a “message in a bottle”, wherein a personal message sealed within a glass bottle is thrown out to sea in hope of being discovered at the end of an unpredictable journey. As a user freely moved the glass bottle over the board, a mysterious set of narratives were uncovered by distinct imagery appearing inside the bottle and variety of soundscapes emanating from beneath the board.

Five locations on the board, each labeled with a unique quote, told a different character's story. When the bottle was placed close to one of the five points, animations projection-mapped inside the bottle would reveal a new part of that character's story. While these images offered some details about each character, a complete narratives was never revealed. Instead, the user was left to fill in the blanks. The charm of the piece was akin to the uncovering of an actual "message in a bottle", which may offer delight in its discovery but uncertainty in deciphering its true meaning.

Technically speaking, the animations were triggered with switches, using a single magnet placed at the bottom of the glass bottle and five magnetic reed sensors hidden beneath the plank. The ambient soudscapes were controlled by a distance sensor that monitored the position of the bottle. All of the sensors were connected to an Arduino that communicated directly to a Processing sketch. The Processing sketch was repsonsible for playing the audio and video content. A small projector and speakers, both hidden from the user, created the illusion of animations magically appearing inside the bottle and sounds emanating directly from the board.