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The Breath of Life explores the intersection of food technology, human biology, and digital organisms in the technosphere. The installation speculates on a new food chain that brings together humans, mycelium, and digital organisms, creating a unique ecosystem that nourishes all participants.

The Breath of Life is an interactive installation that explores the intersection of food technology, human biology, and digital organisms. The context situates in the technosphere, in which technology becomes the center of nature’s evolution. The installation speculates on a new food chain that brings together humans, mycelium, and digital organisms, creating a unique ecosystem that nourishes all participants.

As a food technology R&D team, The Breath of Life has created a system that analyzes data from human breathing in real time. The communication between each component occurs through wireless communication, another application of the omnipresent technosphere. The humidity from the breath nourishes the other participants in the new food chain. Mycelium, as a prosperous organism on Earth, a developing sustainable material, and a source of human food, becomes the most iconic product of the research team. The digital organism at the center of the installation represents the central position of technology and speculates the inseparable role of technology as a part of the new food chain. The audience can listen to the uplifting advertisement of the new food technology. The Breath of Life represents a new way of thinking about food and sustainability, where humans are no longer at the top of the food chain but are instead part of a mutually beneficial ecosystem.

Through the installation, the artist hopes to spark a dialogue about the future of food and the role that technology can play in shaping it. The Breath of Life invites participants to engage with the system, and to observe and reflect on the interplay between biology and technology. The Breath of Life stimulates contemplation on technology’s impact on the natural world.

The Breath of Life is a thought-provoking and immersive experience that challenges our assumptions about food, sustainability, and the relationship between humans and the environment. The exploration of the potential of technology creates new forms of sustenance and fosters a deeper connection with the natural world.

Logbook / Documentation

Tags:#Bioart#PhysicalComputing

InterLīmen is a liminal space interconnecting the virtual and physical dimension for people to relax in the dystopian reality of data flood and digital tracking. By providing a liminal sanctuary with juxtaposed elements, InterLīmen further seeks to empower people to confront the challenges of our data-driven world.
 

Datafication dystopia refers to a world in which human experiences and activities are increasingly transformed into digital data that is subject to overwhelming surveillance, exploitation, and manipulation. InterLīmen is thus a project that seeks to explore the implications of this dystopian reality by creating a liminal space that interconnects virtual and physical dimensions and provides a sanctuary for relaxation and reflection.
“Līmen”, latin for liminality, is a state of being at the threshold. “Inter”, in latin, means between. The project name InterLīmen thus represents the threshold state in-between virtual and physical, fiction and reality, relaxation and reflection. According to Michel Foucault, a liminal space is an unreal, contradictory space that opposes and compensates the real space.

InterLīmen takes Michel Foucault’s idea to perfectly synchronize the virtual and physical dimensions. Users are projected into the virtual dimension as flat shadows and are further reflected in the physical dimension on monitor screens, extending users’ sensation across dimensions. Moreover, reflective but blurry mirrors are incorporated into the installation to further immerse the users into the state of being in-between the fiction and reality. In both cases, the identities of the users are obscured, boosting the immersion experience but also emphasizing on the exposure of privacy and digital trace in the dystopian datafication world.

A forced and prolonged stagnation in such a surreal state, as analyzed by Michel Foucault, boosts reflection to the reality. In InterLīmen, elements of aesthetical liminal space that relaxes (such as ambient lighting, smooth surfaces and plants) and elements hinting at the datafication dystopia (such as monitors, surveillance cameras, data cables) are used together. Through juxtaposing contrasting elements in the space, InterLīmen produces a passive and not self-explanatory space. However, through extending the users into its virtual and physical dimension, it readily awaits users’ proactive interaction where they interconnect all the elements together, configuring their unique understanding towards the creeping datafication in a supposed relaxed space.

Through its innovative design, InterLīmen aims to empower individuals to confront the challenges of our data-driven world and develop a deeper understanding of the ways in which datafication shapes our lives.

Travel with Eden to hone his daydreaming abilities as he battles monsters, completes quests, and unravels the secrets of a mysterious alternate universe. Can you help Eden find the confidence to shape his own future in real life?
 

‘Eden’ is a pixel RPG game about maladaptive daydreaming — check out the link below to download!

Eden is a timid student who often daydreams in class. Despite his curiosity for adventure, he feels trapped in his everyday life and anxious about life beyond graduation. One day, while lost in a particularly vivid daydream, Eden finds himself inexplicably transported to an alternate universe. He wakes up in the middle of Lilypad Island, a quaint village populated by frog-like creatures. As he begins to explore his new surroundings, he meets Scout, the mayor of Lilypad Island, who reveals to Eden that the universe is in danger from an evil entity named Evie. Scout believes that Eden has special daydreaming abilities that could help save the universe, and he sets out to recruit him to join their cause. Together, Eden and Scout journey to the Swamp, a once-vibrant ecosystem now tainted by Evie’s corruption.

As Eden becomes more comfortable inside the daydream, he begins to reflect on his life back home. He worries about his future after graduation and feels disconnected from his friends. Through his journey, Eden learns the power of imagination, the importance of friendship, and the value of facing his fears, feeling more confident and optimistic about his future.

Maladaptive daydreaming is described as excessive daydreaming that impedes with daily functioning or quality of life. This behavior is commonly linked with a deteriorating sense of self-worth and lack of motivation to think realistically and positively about oneself and the future, leading many to feel more comfortable living in a dream world, yet anxious and unhappy when unable to do so forever. The game’s focus on a young protagonist’s journey towards self-discovery and personal growth can provide a different and meaningful experience for players, particularly those who may be struggling with similar issues in their own lives. It may also offer a form of validation and understanding for those who have experience with excessive daydreaming or maladaptive daydreaming. Additionally, the game’s themes of self-discovery, overcoming fears and insecurities, and strengthening friendships may inspire and motivate daydreamers to take steps towards improving their own lives and relationships, while continuing to explore and enjoy what makes them unique.

“Love Languages” is a web-based interactive animation that contrasts actions with misunderstood expressions of love between me and my Chinese immigrant mother. By using mouse interactions to switch between hearing my mother’s and my own voice overs while watching the animation, users can uncover contrasting Chinese and American emotional perspectives on the same experiences.
 

Differences in Chinese and American cultural conventions can cause conflicts in how Chinese immigrant parents and their American born children communicate emotions. With lower levels of acculturation, immigrant parents adhere closer to Chinese cultural norms of controlling emotions to maintain stability and harmony in the family unit. This leads to a pattern of expressing emotions through actions instead of words, such as providing and sacrificing for the family. However, their children are socialized in American culture, where they learn that emotions should be openly vocalized and heard to promote their individual well being. The contrast between parents’ action-based emotional expressions and children’s verbal-based emotional expressions can cause misunderstandings of each others’ intentions, thus diminishing mutual empathy and exacerbating intergenerational conflict.As an American born child of two Chinese immigrants, my evolving relationship with my parents has shown the importance of open emotional communication in forging closer and healthier bonds. “Love Languages” was made to illuminate the common struggle that parents’ and children’s face to connect as they rely on two different modes of expressing their emotions. It aims to create intergenerational mutual understanding by validating both parents’ and children’s emotional and cultural experiences. The use of animation and two concurrent voice overs can represent my family’s emotional relationship through the contrast of visual actions and hidden feelings my mother and I exchange. Visually, the animation shows the common act of slicing and eating fruit as a simple everyday act of service. However, buried feelings behind this action are revealed through two narrations that the audience can switch between by panning their mouse to either side of the screen. These concurrent points of view between me and my mother convey that the root of intergenerational conflict lies in the miscommunication of love. For Chinese American viewers with similar experiences, seeing and hearing emotions vocalized will hopefully serve as a first step towards building mutual empathy and mending intergenerational relationships.

The 天天有余 (tiān tiān yǒuyú) WeChat Mini-Program helps organizations take action against food waste by providing a mobile platform for people to save delicious surplus food through a give and take system.
 

I investigate how interactive media can raise awareness on the issue of food waste and also bring about long term change to reduce the amount of food waste generated. I designed Tiān Tiān Yǒu Yú, a WeChat Mini Program that aims to address the issue of food waste in China. The name of the mini program is inspired by the Chinese expression 年年有余 (nián nián yǒuyú）that is used to wish people of ample surplus by the end of every year. Thus, tiān tiān yǒuyú is a play on this saying – as this mini program will give people a solution to deal with food surplus that accumulates daily. We know that more than 35 million tons of food is wasted in China annually. The issue is so extreme that landfills are reaching maximum capacity and are unable to meet pollution-control standards, which can lead to major environmental, hygiene, and safety problems. In the past two years, China has launched campaigns, passed anti-food waste laws, and issued an action plan; all in effort to safeguard the country’s food security and reduce food waste. Researchers have explained how in this digital age, mobile applications play a key role in reaching and engaging consumers. This transformation has led to the development of mobile solutions in support of lessening food waste and increasing the stability of food supplies. This project gives organizations a mobile platform to contribute to the fight against food waste with just a few clicks. I designed a system and mini program for users to donate perfectly delicious leftovers that would then notify other people nearby in their organization to be taken away. Tiān Tiān Yǒu Yú empowers people to take action right from the convenience of their phone. The clickable Figma prototype demonstrates the different functionalities built into the system and the demo website promotes how organizations can get involved with the mini program.

Figma Prototype
Website for 天天有余
Github: Code for Website