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Shoreditch is about to get a whole lot more sparkly thanks to a new permanent installation made from 1,500 glass crystal prisms called The Ommatidium. The 4.5 metre-tall sculpture will be hard to miss as the prisms react with daylight to project thousands of rainbow patterns onto the pavement, and by night it will be lit by bright LED lights.
But it's not just a pretty face. The new installation is a collaboration from industrial designer Samuel Wilkinson and neuroscientist Beau Lotto who has created what he describes as a 'geosocial platform' to work in conjunction with the sculpture. The app, which is called Traces, allows people to send messages and information to a location, rather than a person, which means that anyone walking underneath the canopy can connect to a hub of multimedia. The idea is that you'll be able to access information on nearby TfL works, maps of the area, music playlists, videos and offers from shops, pubs and restaurants. Or you could just look at the pretty lights.
The Ommatidium is at 243 Old Street, EC1V 9EY.
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