Digital 'Cloud' Floats into Heathrow Airport

Posted February 22, 2008 by Zak Patten

Looking something like a misshapen disco ball—perhaps after being sat on by a Hairspray-sized John Travolta, after trying to squeeze into his Saturday Night Fever white suit—British Airways' digital sculpture, Cloud, is now installed in Terminal 5 of London's Heathrow airport.

The artists, called Troika, were inspired by the "flip-dots" used in the '70s and '80s to make signs in train stations and airports. They were so inspired by these dots that they took 4,638 of them and wired each of them to a computer, which controls their movements and as you can see in this video of Cloud, creates all sorts of trippy (pun intended) travel sounds and movements.

Cloud may not be quite enough of a spectacle to cause a massive uptick in British Airways flight sales, but can you think of a better way to spend your time while stuck in an airport?

Categories: British Airways News, Europe, London, United Kingdom