In pursuing my MFA in Computer Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York, I am currently working on my thesis project, Transit.

Transit is an interactive audio-visual installation that explores the multiple realities that we continuously move between. Abstract personal visual essays created in Houdini are projected onto a transparent and reflective surface. Sitting on either side of the surface, each viewer can simultaneously see themselves, the digital world created through projection, and the person on the other side.

The installation comprises two 48×96 in sheets of dark-tinted acrylic arranged at a 90-degree angle on the floor, surrounded by three chairs. The video projection reflects off the surface and onto the floor, intercepting the viewer in the chair along the way. The acrylic sheets are secured to the floor and the ceiling with custom-designed and 3D-printed hardware.

The order of the vignettes of the four 3D animation visual essays is determined by the viewer. Each video shuffles randomly until someone sits in one of the chairs, which triggers a pressure sensor (via Arduino and TouchDesigner) that stops the shuffling, and the video continues from that frame, also triggering the sound, which comes from field recordings and relevant music, from the speaker above that specific chair. If someone is already sitting and another person sits in another chair or stands up, the video will re-shuffle and start again from a new place, connecting the viewers within the work. Also, the more people sitting, the louder the sound becomes. The unique order of the playback encourages each viewer to form their own interpretations.

Current documentation of the work in progress below: