Photo: inside MEDIATE. Courtesy of University of Portsmouth.

Katy Morris goes inside MEDIATE, on display at the Aspex Gallery until April 17.

The Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth has been taken over by a huge box. It is the size of a small room and hidden behind it is a bank of computers with some very strange patterns flashing across the screens.

Mounted on the gallery wall are 12 more screens, which display what is going on inside the 'box'. As the person inside touches the wall, you can see colours radiate out across the screens, and as they walk across the floor you can hear the noises that are made.

Photo: Courtesy of University of Portsmouth.

The MEDIATE project has been designed by a team led by the University of Portsmouth and is an environment designed for children with autism.

The project sits happily in the gallery, and visitors all enjoy watching the screens or trying out the 'box'. But it is also something that can potentially make a difference to the lives of children with autism.

"It deals with a real issue. It is art but also it is about real life," says Jo Bushnell, director of the Aspex Gallery.

Photo: special cameras make it seem like the screens are touch-sensitive. Courtesy of University of Portsmouth.

The project allows children with autism to have fun, but also gives psychologists a chance to gain an insight into their behaviour.

Chris Creed the project co-ordinator says: "The project is interactive in every sense. You can go in there and fire things off, shout and it will shout back and the floor pulses as you walk across it.

"It works by recognising the patterns of movement which these children do in the environment and responding to the patterns of each individual. We are hoping the children will instinctively feel they have some control."

Photo: Courtesy of University of Portsmouth.

A sense of control is not something children with autism can normally experience, and although the results of the project have not yet been analysed, the MEDIATE team say that many children seem to enjoy the environment.

As a visitor to the gallery, you can go inside the 'box' and try it out, which makes you feel in touch with the project. It is an intimate, gently lit environment where you can create sounds and patterns of light.

One of the visitors who tried it confessed: "If I hadn’t known that everyone was watching the screens outside I would have had a good run and roll around."

If the project is a success Chris Creed hopes to make it available to as many children with autism as possible and he hopes it will be something that can make a difference to their lives. He says, "We would like to build something that is simple and affordable and could go to the places where these kids will be able to use it."