INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION
Brain data
A journey between science and experience design
After visiting the European research center “JRC,” the goal was to design an interactive space that combines the knowledge of science and a more immersive and engaging use of data. The JRC analyzes and develops an enormous amount of data, but how does this data reach our minds? What form do they take?
Neuroscience tells us that brain waves change according to what we do, feel or perceive. Thus, this installation enables several users to actively interact with different brain rhythms projected onto the wall. Sounds and lights are the media through which brain waves comes to life, shaping how the interaction takes place.
WHAT IS
The project has been envisioned in a 6-by-3-meter space, with 16 pressure sensors on the floor arranged 4-by-4 horizontally at a distance between rows of 1.2 meters, identifiable by a white circle painted on the floor.
At the end of the room, a person’s brain activity will be projected on the wall. People entering will interfere by positioning themselves above the sensors. Each row is assigned a wave according to the distance from the wall starting from the lowest to the highest.
The interference is given by the superposition of the frequencies of the wave, both visually (with the projection of it and the aid of ambient light) and acoustically.
In the case where people stand on the same line, an audio will be activated that mixes the brain frequency and the sounds of the scientific laboratory recorded during the visit of the anechoic chamber (a symbol of the union between man and scientific research).
TECHNICAL PROCESSES
The waves are generated directly from Processing through functions mathematics.
The scaled room was built with plywood.
I replaced the pressure sensors with buttons hidden under the base.
I drilled holes to pass cut wooden rods through.
The waves will be back projected over a black tulle frame, so the inside of the scale model the projection will not be interrupted by any shadows.
The model is illuminated by a neopixel strip controlled through Arduino. All graphic animations and sound effects are controlled by Arduino and Processing software.
