Cybernetic Echoes

An interactive installation about embodied interactions within future technological ecosystems

Time to complete: 4 Months

My Role: Engineer – Robotics, Installation, Fabrication

Team: Independent

Tools used: Arduinos, Motors, 3D Printing, Projection mapping

Installation space: NYU 370 Jay Street

Time to complete:

My Role:

Team:

Tools used:

Installation space:

4 Months

Engineer – Robotics, Installation, Fabrication

Independent

Arduinos, Motors, 3D Printing, Projection mapping

NYU 370 Jay Street

Digital devices have become extensions of our bodies, lending us abilities akin to the cyborgs of fiction. Our needs from future technologies are built on the foundation of this cyber transformation. So how can we center this evolved human-cyborg body in the reincarnation of technology design?

This interactive installation envisions the future of interaction design through embodiment. As opposed to training our bodies to the dictated interactions limited behind a digital screen, what if computational intelligence conformed to the natural behavior of our bodies? This space echoes the symbiotic relationship between our cyborg version and the natural environment. Through tangible wearable components that can communicate with the space, the heart of this installation lies in its ability to evoke movement and exploration through the human body.

How to Make People Move?

The idea for this installation originated from my research about observing the creative process within us. Why are we scared of generative AI tools in the creative industry? I inquired within my peer group and among professionals (artists, designers, musicians etc.) in the creative industry about what their dream tools would look like if it were not restricted behind a digital screen. It was no surprise that everyone used their hands and bodies to ideate.

These demonstrations reminded me of an article by Bret Victor, A Brief Rant on The Future of Interaction Design where the author talks about the rich capabilities of the human hands which we have used to discover and learn about the world, but only restricting them to the screen based interactions dictated by tech makers. So I decided to create an environment, a space where our perspective of the world is presented in a peculiar manner, where conventional physics breaks down and challenges us to discover a new world. To create with what the new world provides.

Building a World

I imagine a world where our devices have not only become extensions of us, but integrated into our evolution. We emerge as cyborgs, with the ability to communicate directly with mother nature. Except nature has switched to being powered by our endless consumption of content, and the AI that fed on our vast collection of data, has found life crept into the trees, rivers, flowers and even the air we breathe.

This is the story of the new cybernetic humans emerging into this world, where they curiously discover, learn and create with a nature that responds to their gestures and body.

I envisioned the digital bleeding out into the physical, where the limiting 2D screen breaks apart pixel by pixel and materializes into our reality in a tangible form. I imagine each pixel communicating through physical forms, a body, that would respond to our bodies. That is why the idea of creating a version of nature was appealing, to juxtapose the organic lifeforms around us mimicking the digital, the calculated, the manmade creations.

Breathing Life to A Cyborg Nature

The first step in creating the flowers was to provide a mechanical structure for animating the flower. I built a wire base to mimic opening and closing the flower. The base was then attached to servo motors programmed to rotate 0 to 180 degrees for every button press.

I needed to construct the petals in a way that was lightweight, held its own structure, and had light effects. The petals were made of dark organza since it is lightweight, easy to weave fiber optics into, and highlights the colors within the fiber optics.

The flowers were mounted to servos and positioned on boards that would later be installed on the walls.

I used 5V vacuum air pumps for fish tanks to simulate a breathing mechanism. I recycled the inflated plastic pouches that come in as fillers inside delivery boxes to create the “lungs” since they come in shapes that bend and flex noticeably when inflated.