The Waterfall Swing

Towering steel swing set holding arrays of mechanical solenoids that create a water plane falling in the path of its riders. Formed from a tangent of ideas raised from the study of interactions of water as space, the swing is the first in a series that play with interaction in rides and installations. Riders pass through openings in a waterfall created by precisely monitoring their path via axle-housed encoders, creating the thrill of narrowly escaping obstacles.

The swing is an interactive art piece and a collaborative project between Andrew Ratcliff, Mike O'Toole, Ian Charnas and Andrew Witte and a project of Dash 7 Design. The Waterfall Swing has traveled the world with installations across the United States, Austria, The Netherlands, and Australia. The team appeared on the TODAY Show - Savanah Guthrie rode the swing on Rockefeller Plaza.

Ratcliff and O’Toole hold US Patent 20110312430 on the design.