THE D.M.T. PAVILION: Emotions translated into spaceProfile
by In-Dialog: Tiffany Attali (AADipl 2018), Calin Segal, Joaquin Villalba, Tara Habis and Codin Segal
26 July 2018
Parc de la Villette, Paris
In-Dialog is a young collective oriented towards architectural and artistic research and experimentation. Co-founded by Calin Segal, Tiffany Attali and Joaquin Villalba in 2014, their main focus is to develop devices and installations that explore human machine interaction. Most of the work is the result of a participative process that encourages collective artistic expression in a broad range of contexts.
The D.M.T. pavilion [Digital Mental Transposition] is an interactive and immersive installation that allows the public to alter the ambience of the space based on their emotions. Using an EEG (Electroencephalogram) headset, the brain activity of the participants animates the kinetics of the structure, as well as the projection mapping and the sound environment, which results in an empathic dialog with your surroundings.
As wanderers approach the pavilion, they first discern its glow through the vegetation of the park. Their dérive is disrupted by this compulsive need to walk toward the light, driven by the ancestral memory of campfire gatherings. The bewitching sound gets stronger as you approach, and you start to feel the mental energy emanating from within the space.
Like a shamanic ritual, you understand that each individual has a role to play in this collective performance as you enter the space. You are invited to become an active component of this rhizomatic network : the sensor on your forehead drives you to become self-aware of your emotional fluctuation and in turn you get rewarded by sensorial stimulation.
You are invited to freely explore the space and influence it by playing with your neuronal activity. The structure and the patterns of the projection mapping evolve continuously thus creating a unique ambience that mimics your inner state. To enhance the sensorial experience, innovative tasting sessions will pop up creating edible products based on the user’s brain activity.
In-Dialog has been researching brain activity and its link with human emotions for over a year now. For that purpose, our main tools have been the electroencephalogram headsets as electro-physiological devices that record the electrical activity of the brain.
We distinguish between five brainwave types, that are indicators of the five unique states of consciousness:
Beta, a common state of alertness, logic and reasoning.
Alpha, deep states of relaxation, similar to day dreaming and high levels of concentration.
Theta, light meditation and sleeping, exceptional insight, inspiration and creativity.
Delta, deep sleep waves, the realm of unconscious mind.
Gamma, are involved in high processing tasks and cognitive functions.
Studying this information has allowed In-Dialog to create dedicated art installations, initiating new channels of communication and exchange between humans and machines.
One such installation is the D.M.T. Pavilion. The structure is a cocoon where the participants can lose themselves in the projections. The interactivity of the structure creates an environment that stimulates the observers as much as it lets itself get influenced by them; growing or shrinking depending on the emotional state of the wearers.
The main frame serves as a spine to this body, it supports the mechanics of the ribs. The ribs, attached to the spine, move organically following the emotional patterns of the users, giving life and motion to the space while expanding and contracting like a breathing creature.
Finally, a translucent fabric covers the whole body with a skin that follow the movements of the structure. The projection mapping is an interactive visual experience that mirrors the emotions of the observer, creating a continuously unique ambience in the space.
This experience is further enhanced through the addition of taste. We all like food! Don’t we? But what if our orders were based on our brain activity? With the ambition to construct a wholly sensorial experience, we use innovative techniques to create edible products, basing its flavours on the consumer’s emotional state. By mixing different flavours together, we are able to create custom-made tastes related to the user’s mental activity. A transparent gelatine cube will act as vase for these hybridised flavours as a machine injects a drop of flavouring inside the cube.
The D.M.T project was triggered by In-Dialog being awarded a two-year residency at the Folie Numérique, or the “Digital Folly”, located within one of the red pavilions by Bernard Tschumi at the heart of Parc de la Villette in Paris. As part of this Parisian cultural network, they proposed to build the D.M.T Pavilion for the Nuit Blanche 2018, a major artistic event on October 6th that will exist as a constellation across the city.
To retain our independence, In-Dialog just launched a crowdfunding campaign. If you wish to see this project come to life, you can donate by following the link below, and get a wide range of rewards : postcards and totebags, a limited edition copy of the research publication, wood engravings of brain patterns or a kinetic model of the pavilion with its brainwave scanner.
For more information:
Support our crowdfunding campaign for the D.M.T. Pavilion
The D.M.T. Pavilion is by In-Dialog in partnership with Atelier One and Muse.
In-Dialog website
D.M.T. website
D.M.T. research publication
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The D.M.T. pavilion [Digital Mental Transposition] is an interactive and immersive installation that allows the public to alter the ambience of the space based on their emotions. Using an EEG (Electroencephalogram) headset, the brain activity of the participants animates the kinetics of the structure, as well as the projection mapping and the sound environment, which results in an empathic dialog with your surroundings.
As wanderers approach the pavilion, they first discern its glow through the vegetation of the park. Their dérive is disrupted by this compulsive need to walk toward the light, driven by the ancestral memory of campfire gatherings. The bewitching sound gets stronger as you approach, and you start to feel the mental energy emanating from within the space.
Like a shamanic ritual, you understand that each individual has a role to play in this collective performance as you enter the space. You are invited to become an active component of this rhizomatic network : the sensor on your forehead drives you to become self-aware of your emotional fluctuation and in turn you get rewarded by sensorial stimulation.
You are invited to freely explore the space and influence it by playing with your neuronal activity. The structure and the patterns of the projection mapping evolve continuously thus creating a unique ambience that mimics your inner state. To enhance the sensorial experience, innovative tasting sessions will pop up creating edible products based on the user’s brain activity.
