The One: An Interactive Installation for Visualizing the Cognition of Mind State by Capturing Face Expression, Body Shape, Wearing Cloth and Talking Voice

Abstract

In the artwork, the topic of One has been discussed. Broadly speaking, it implies the whole beings in the universe, and it also narrows down to individuals. Human being was considered and it can be described in physical layer and mental layer. The appearance of people as the protective coloration in the society, and that creates the self-identity of themselves and the impressions of the others. The artwork tried to arouse people to aware the influences of cognition from their minds by visualizing the cognition. The physical properties of human being contain face expression, body shape, wearing cloth and talking voice are transformed into five elements of Chinese Taoist philosophy: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. After the transformation, the interactive installation is performed as an improvisational colorful Chinese brush painting with mimic echoing sounds. Multimedia input contains gray image analysis to form the black block on the painting, color image subtraction to compose the color block on the painting, and a buffer to capture and replay sounds continuously. In the indoor exhibition, the camera was set to capture the audiences coming from the door. In the interactive installation, the dynamic improvisational painting with echoing sounds as evidence remind audiences the way they exist, and that arouse them to rethink the cognition of themselves from the many clones who used known to be me. In a collaborative interaction, the clones from the crowd also arouse audiences to aware of their impressions on the others. An improvisational painting as colorful Chinese brush painting was exhibited, in which reveals countenance, contour, apparel and utterance in physical point, and the awareness of the cognition of selves and of the others in mental aspect.