The Blastproof exhibit is a hands-on interactive experience designed to offer visitors an unparalleled insight into the everyday lives of civilians and landmine removal teams working to clear conflict affected areas. Reactive electronic replicas of the potentially lethal devices are presented as both artifacts accompanied by imagery and as part of a simulated minefield. Reactive training mines and blast resistant hand tools have been developed to prevent accidents and avoid trauma respectively; These items are presented in an installation that brings the context of their application to life.

Blastproof is an R&D project that I conducted during the final year of the Innovation Design Engineering Masters Program at the Royal College of Art. The aim was to create a scalable multi-level injury prevention strategy (including new innovations based on existing technology) that has the potential to reduce injuries to mine removal teams and be implementable within a 12 months period. A collection of tools was developed including simulation mines for training and blast resistant hand tools for protection.

The Landmine Monitor reported that in 2013 humanitarian landmine removal operations were conducted by numerous organization in 52 states. This work is essential not only to prevent injuries but also to allow development to take place in conflict affected regions – allowing for land to be farmed, homes erected, children to go to school and move around in safety. Whilst landmine related headlines occasionally make the tabloids not many people know how mine removal is carried out on the ground or how the presence of mines affects the daily lives of civilians.

Presenting the work at the RCA Sustain show offered a unique opportunity to frame the project within an installation. The aim was to create an experience that could effectively engage public attention - offering a first hand account of the hazards and a taste of what challenges humanitarian workers face on the ground - in turn giving context to the project.

The intent of the installation is to connect visitors with this unfamiliar problem in an immediate way - reflecting the sensitivity and unpredictability of hazards found, and to illustrate typical scenarios which confront those who live and work in conflict affected areas. It also frames the need for properly equipped teams who fully understand the hazards they are working to remove.

When training mines are disturbed beyond a randomly set threshold they ‘detonate’ triggering auditory, visual and tactile stimuli which communicates this event. Visitors can be caught by surprise, leaving them with a memorable experience, transforming a perceived understanding of a danger into a tangible one. Visitors can choose to pick up mines that are presented to them as artifacts, step into minefields and try their hand at manual mine clearance comparing standard tools with those developed during the project.

On a deeper level, the installation aims to provoke conversation about the wider issue concerning landmines.

The installation was built over a two months period. The interactive elements were developed through an iterative process that involved live testing to perfect the interactive elements. The main design challenge of the installation was to balance a realistic imitation of a real life scenario with the theatrics of the game like interactions. The interactive elements were accompanied by a publication (book) outlining the findings as part of a detailed visual map of mine action, created to illustrate the interwoven stories of stakeholders that had been collected throughout the project. The use of imagery of landmine victims and short stories provided a sense of realism and consequence to the interactions.

The reactive ordnance imitate the form, weight, sensitivity and unpredictability of real mines and were reverse engineered from real decommissioned artifacts accessed through various NGOs and specialists. The mines are one of the solutions showcased in the exhibition, which I developed earlier in the project and were designed as a tool for my own research purposes and later further developed to train deminers in the field - these prototypes were modified with additional components and robust casings to withstand heavy hands-on use.

As part of the developmental process, visual and auditory stimuli were experimented with. It was noted that people would come to expect audible and visual cues that communicate when a mine had detonated. An additional unseen tactile stimulus was added to the mines (created by 2 powerful vibration motors). This ensured that there would be an unexpected element of surprise when the visitor handled a 'detonating' mine.

Mines were customized for use in different parts of the exhibit. When presented as artifacts (accompanied by imagery and information graphics) the mines were programmed to react in a self contained way. Others were modified to be used as part of a simulated minefield – in addition to reacting locally, the mines wirelessly streamed data from accelerometers and pressure sensors to a custom made base station with a built in array of LEDs, animated to represent the level of disturbance that the landmines were being subjected to. The base unit also contained an MP3 trigger and line out for connecting an external speaker and several connection terminals into which modular flash units could be plugged for additional effects.

For people who live in countries untouched by war, the threat of these devices and the situation people face can seem intangible and difficult to contemplate - The installation aims to project visitors into the context of a conflict affected scenario involving the unexploded remnants of war, from the perspectives of both civilian and mine removal teams through a hands-on interactive environment. The installation helps ensure people clearly understand the context of the problem which the project aims to tackle. Aside from promoting the project presented, the installation highlights the invaluable role of the work of NGOs who work in conflict-affected communities to help reclaim land contaminated by mines and the explosive remnants of war.

The hands-on experience extends beyond the familiar media headlines about the legacy of landmines, and places the visitor in a position which encourages a heightened perception of the hazards. Conversation can flow around the personal experience – I spent time gaining feedback during the RCA Sustain show held during design week. The conversations highlighted how forgotten the problem of landmines has become - many visitors were unaware of the scale of clearance operations and the methods by which mines were removed (having assumed that large unmanned machines had taken over) the reactions ranged from fascination to shock.

I am looking for a permanent home where the installation can be kept set up. More information about the separate elements can be found at www.blastproof.org