Heather Wylie & Maxim Safioulline

Major: Design and Technology

“Space of Mind”Hybrid Worlds: Nano-biotech

4/30/2011

DESMA 9 - Art Science & Technology - Prof. Victoria Vesna

Our brains are the master circuit that manages our physical, emotional and logical selves. It is mysterious, powerful and complex; the key to our consciousness. We are utilizing a brainwave sensor to create an instillation based on brain activity to see the relationship between a human and their constructed environment. We have constructed an interactive instillation that gives users a chance to look into the activity of their mind.

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ABSTRACT

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Design Question: How can the mental activity of humans be presented in a way that creates a meaningful and engaging experience?We have created an interactive environment that uses brain waves, color and sound to emphasis the feedback loop between a human and the constructed environment.. The human influences his or her environment while the environment also influences the human.

CONCEPT / TOPIC

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Participants are to enter the space one at a time. The space is small and isolated, without windows along with very low to no light. The EEG is placed on the participant before running the program sketch so they can have moment to get used to the device. Once the participant is comfortably situated in the provided seating, we run the program. The brain wave activity is read with the EEG, and then translated into quantitative data with Adobe Flash. The data is then interpreted into light and sound frequency. The light is projected onto the facing wall while the audio is played over surround sound speakers. The colors projected are circular orbs arranged in a circle with six orbs around and one in the center. Each orb starts as the same size, 1 cm x 1 cm. As the users brain waves fluctuate, the color orbs and sound shift as well. As the brain waves amplify and condense, so do the individual orbs and sound.

CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

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Participants were engaged and satisfied with the overall experience. We provided an intriguing and unique experience that gave the users a chance to visualize their mind’s activity. From here, we would like to take a scientific approach to truly understand and test the effects of these light and sound frequencies on human mental health.

1. Collaborate with science and medical professionals

2. Gear towards mental health and healing

3. Create our own version of the MindWave

4. Explore left brain-right brain dominance and control

5. String Theory

6. Science and Spirituality

CONCLUSION

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