Project Description

This project is about “Sense Interference”, aiming to distort human “equilibrioception” via sight. Speaking of this project specifically, when the user concentrates on a spinning spiral while they are walking, they cannot help themselves leaning to one direction(left || right) even if they are trying to walk straight, and left or right depends on the direction of the spinning spiral (clockwise or anti-clockwise).

This idea is inspired by a public art installation in a park “Xenses” I went to last summer in Cancun, Mexico. It was a dark cube with some spiral light spinning, and people would lean towards one side when walking through it.

 

Perspective & Context

In the video “Merleau-Ponty, The Phenomenology of Perception”, Merleau-Ponty suggests that instead of jumping out of our personal perception about the world, we should start perceiving the world based on our own feeling. Considering about the relation between “body” and “space”, he suggests that we should adopt “oriented space” rather than “objective space”.

When people walk with my spinning spiral, they lean towards one side. If placing ourselves in the “oriented space”, the spinning spiral is actually changing the motion of the world instead of our own, since the world is based on our own “oriented” perception. The piral itself is part of the surrounding environment. Part of the surrounding environment changes the motion state of the whole surrounding environment… My thinking stops here because it is getting a bit complex for me.

 

Development & Technical Implementation

I tried to search for the related information of the installation online and how spinning circle affects balance online, but I couldn’t find anything. Then I decided just to create a similar visual effects for my players.

Version 1.0

 

 

This was the first version of my project, with a discarded poster and a filtering paper.

 

 

 

 

And instead of making a tube, I tried to make a cone, so it matches the perspective of the long pipe in the video

 

 

 

 

 

Then I attached the cone to a scroller with some 3d printed/laser cut scaffold, so that it could spin in a steady speed.

But when I tried with it, I realized there are 2 problems:

1. The cone is too small to cover the user’s face.

2. Through the translucent filter paper, the user can see the outside view, and this may affect the effect. 

Then with some calculation, sketches and measuring tools, I made a cone that is in a more perfect circle shape, and I covered it with a white paper, so it can prevent the users from seeing the outside.

Presentation

During presentation, people tried with my spinning spiral, and it worked sometimes but sometimes not. For people who successfully experienced the losing balance, they found it surprising. But for people who didn’t make it work, I guess different individuals have different sensing abilities. Besides, how deep they bury their head into this spiral, how fast they spin it, could have an impact on the results.

(I didn’t expected the hot glue connection can be broken though haha, I should ‘ve make it more steady.)

 

(Below is the video I recorded on my best user Luna, she perfectly matched with my expectations!!)

When spins clockwise, lean toward left:

When spins anti-clockwise, lean toward right:

 

Conclusion

 

This project is a trial for me to play with people’s senses. And it’s the first time I tried with something that may not work the same way for everyone. I felt pretty upset at first when it didn’t work for someone, but then Professor Marcela told me people have different senses, so it wouldn’t be a problem.

If I have time, I would dig into the science behind this, instead of just trying to reappear the scene I saw in Mexico. 

Manipulating human senses is not only fun but also thought-provoking — How is our perception of the world constructed? Can we trust our senses, or can they be easily distorted by external factors, just simple as a spiral shape made by paper?