University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center

Cardiovascular Center: Donor Recognition, Ann Arbor, MI, 2009

The Donor Recognition System for the Cardiovascular Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is an animated presentation of hospital donors, and serves as a recognition of those who have helped to make the Michigan Difference.

The system is comprised of two computers running custom software with four large LCD displays that present the animated program to staff and visitors of the Hospital. An iPod Touch serves as a remote control for the system.

The animations present each donor name, appearing as a circle of text, which bursts like a bubble, spinning the letters away. As the letters drift about, new donor names appear briefly before they, too, burst. Over time, the letters come together into a formal layout of the donor's name, which then drifts down the displays and fades away.

Occasionally, a donor name appears in another form. Shafts of light play down the displays and, from the bottom of one display, a donor name emerges and "swims" away to explore the Donor Wall displays. After a bit, the words regroup and formally present the donor's name. The words stay in formation for several moments, before a cluster of donor names burst apart, and the startled words swim quickly off the top of the displays. These names are larger than the other donor names, and they represent donors who have given a greater contribution, or who have otherwise been selected for special treatment.

The presentation proceeds at a stately pace, presenting names throughout the day and night. After all of the donors have been presented, a new cycle begins to present each name once again. Although all the names are presented each cycle, each presentation is unique in its own little way.

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