Created by Pod Bluman and Lewis Kyle White, An Exercise in Vulnerability was a fully immersive audiovisual experience, powered by generative content. The installation was a unique blend of motion graphics technology, conceptual art and psychology that explored our ability to connect wholeheartedly, within our increasingly online existence.
Influenced by the vulnerability studies of leading US researcher – Brene Browne. Behavioural change has followed technological innovation – we have moved from a class driven, to consumer, to a now ‘connected’ digital society. As technology has advanced, so has our desire for authenticity and meaning. While this desire has never been higher in our hierarchy of needs, it somehow seems far removed from the relative connectivity of our virtual lives.

Today, digital platforms and personal devices have created a paradox. Although they facilitate greater connectedness, the quality of those connections is arguably deteriorating. While we enjoy the immediacy of our social networks – from Facebook to online dating, it is all too easy to hide behind the edited façade of our curated profiles. Which begs the question – are our online avatars impacting our ability to be truthful and therefore vulnerable? Has this affected our ability to create organic connections and quality interpersonal relationships?

An Exercise in Vulnerability challenged participants to be open and vulnerable with a stranger. Paired in twos, participants were led into a darkened room, where they were connected to gestural leap motion sensors, traditionally used in VR, and asked a series of questions. Surrounded by a 3D volumetric projection environment, users controlled and influenced both the audio and visuals of the experience – manipulating the images to communicate their emotions to a stranger on the other side of the installation.

Art philosophy was at the core of the visual language. There are shapes that naturally spark an emotional response, for example a circle versus star – the star is a more aggressive shape due to the sharp edges, the circle is calmer, more neutral. Depending on how much you render, you can influence what people to read into it. Another consideration was color theory and the way that colors influence mood and emotion. Intense light and full immersion can overwhelm people.

Placing the individual in the centre of their own universe, the live generated visuals were completely unique for each user– with participants having a very tangible influence over what they could see and hear within the space. There was then the added interactivity that allowed users to reach out and communicate with each other.

The installation was created using Leap Motion technology – a platform developed for the gestural control of VR. By leveraging this, the team developed a process path to generative content software Notch. The data sent from the users movements was then translated to create the interactive visuals. This was then sent back to the screen via a d3 media server with very little latency. Generative sound was created using MAX MSP – which triggered electronic synths to create a soundtrack generated by the user data collected. It connected the audio and visuals and married the tangible field of interactivity.