Inspired by Hiroshi Ishii’s vision of the ambientROOM, the mushROOM develops the possibilities of exploring seamless transitions between background awareness and foreground activity through tangible media. In interacting with a mushroom as a tangible object, the participant can squeeze, stroke and strike at it, provoking a series of ambient responses in the forest-themed room. The artistic installation has been designed to provoke thought into the actions that we take on our immediate environment, and how they might effect the world on a global scale.