Suspension « 360Photography

RSS

Posts Tagged ‘Suspension’

World’s Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge Stretches Over 1,000 Feet

04 Aug

[ By SA Rogers in Drawing & Digital. ]

Three hundred feet above the valley floor, a suspension bridge gently sways and bobs as pedestrians cross its 1,621-foot length through the Swiss Alps. These impressive stats have helped the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge in Switzerland break previous records, making it the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world.

Sure, the glass-floored bridge in China is higher and forces you to look down from your precarious position, but this bridge is almost as scary, considering that it’s not stationary and measures just two feet wide. That means you have to march down its length single-file, making it harder to clutch onto others for dear life.

The bridge was completed in 10 weeks by Swissrope and offers magnificent views of the surrounding mountains, including the Bernese Alps and Matterhorn (if you manage to look up and enjoy them instead of staring at your feet and trying not to hyperventilate.) It features a grated metal floor, runs between 5,000-7,000 feet above sea level, and takes ten minutes to walk cross. The pass through the mountains previously took four hours to navigate.

Photos taken from the air (provided by the Switzerland Tourism Board) give us the best idea of the bridge’s scale. The Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge links two sections of the Europaweg hiking trail, a two-day link between the towns of Zermatt and Grächen, and replaces an older bridge that was damaged by falling rocks. It’s named for its primary sponsor.

[ By SA Rogers in Drawing & Digital. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

Comments Off

Posted in Creativity

Hammock suspension adds extra protection in the Kontrast Pro DSLR Backpack from Case Logic

25 Jul

Bag manufacturer Case Logic has launched a new backpack that features a hammock system, suspending a DSLR with lens attached within the space in the middle of the bag. The company claims this adds extra protection as less of the camera body is in direct contact with the structure of the bag. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Human Harp: Suspension Cables on Bridge Make Music

27 Aug

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Human Harp Suspension Bridge Installation

A digital and mechanical module that fastens onto bridges and connects via retractable strings to a wearable suit creates a ‘human harp,’ a musical collaboration between the user and the bridge. The harpist moves in a sort of dance to pull the strings, creating the sounds, which are felt in real-time through vibrations on the bridge. The installation will travel to bridges around the globe, so pedestrians have a chance to try it out for themselves.

London-based artist Di Mainstone got the idea when looking at the Brooklyn Bridge during a residency in New York City, and seeing its similarity to the musical instrument. She envisioned a clip-on sound interface that would allow pedestrians to ‘play’ the bridge as if it were really a harp.

Human Harp Suspension Bridge Installation 4

The Human Harp was created by a collaborative team of artists, e ngineers and researchers using cutting-edge technology. The modules on the device utilize magnets in acrylic bubbles to detect the angle of the ropes. The movements are processed using software packages to generate the sounds. Watch the video to get an idea of the process.

Human Harp Suspension Bridge Installation 2

“As I listened to the hum of the steel suspension cables, the chatter of visitors and the musical ‘clonks’ of their footsteps along the bridge’s wooden walkway, I wondered if these sounds could be recorded, remixed and replayed through a collaborative digital interface? Mirroring the steel suspension cables of the bridge, I decided that this clip-on device could be harp-like, with retractable strings that physically attach the user or Movician’s body to the bridge, literally turning them into a human harp.”

Human Harp Suspension Bridge Installation 3

“We could imagine this process is a game of international research whispers, with information passing from one laboratory onto another. All hubs will be integral to this dialogue, as the Human Harp develops and grows on its journey around the globe.”