Whispering Dishes

Market Street and Yerba Buena Lane
Financial District

This exhibit is the first of  a series titled Living Innovation Zones.  Living Innovation Zones (LIZ) are new public spaces opening up along Market Street between Octavia and The Embarcadero.  The LIZ’s  are collaborationa between the community, innovators, and the City to enhance the public good, foster learning and sharing, and showcase innovation.  The City plans to streamline permitting in order to boost participation in the program and bring more projects to sidewalks.

“Whispering Dishes” is the first exhibit, and is a partnership between the Exploratorium and Yerba Buena Community Benefit District.  It features two 8-foot-tall dishes facing each other on the sidewalk 50 feet apart. They focus sound in such a way that two people whispering across the 50-foot distance are able to hear each other even with surrounding street noise.

The project was funded through Indiegogo.  The goal was $75,000.  The amount raised was $32,696.  with an additional $5000 matching funds by the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District (YBCBA).

This is the “Singing Bench.”  It is next to the Whispering Dishes.  If two people sit down, each places one bare arm or hand on the metal-plated armrests, then they hold hands with the other, a tune plays as a subtle electric current courses through this newly created circuit.

These two projects are some of the favorites at the Exploratorium on the Embarcadero, which is how they were chosen.

This piece no longer resides on Market Street