Bird Cage is an interactive display that appears as a menagerie of birds held within a viewing box.  Working with artist Jacky Tsai, we wanted the birds aesthetically to take queues from ornithology illustrations and Chinese water colour renderings. The birds were created using a range of procedural 2D rigs that are animated in a real-time game engine so they are prepared to move depending on audience input.  Using SBC computers containing our own custom-made software, the birds react based on sensor input that indicates to the program where audience members are standing.  Based on this information, the birds fly to that section of the box; for sensor input, the box was divided vertically along 3 ‘action’ sections.  When multiple members of the audience stand across all three sensor sections of the box, the audience is greeted with a crescendo of movement, with the peacock flourishing his tail and a Phoenix appearing onto the scene.