NEURO-
TRACEs
an interactive BCI + VR INSTALLATION
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BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACE
An EEG is used to record electrical activity in the cortical areas of the brain, focusing on measurements based on the Valence-Arousal model of emotion
VIRTUAL REALITY
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INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION
By using the medium VR, the installation goes beyond static and restricted occurrences of the physical space, showing an abstract landscape in a reciprocal state of adaptation
Both the visitor and the virtual formation engage in a continuous process of reciprocation, influencing and being influenced by one another. All processes take place in real time
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Installation supported by:
Upcoming Performance Video supported by:
neuro-traces
An artistic-technological research project
Neuro-Traces is an artistic-technological research project and installation, focusing on a customized virtual spatial design based on individuals’ sensations of well-being.
The project arises from an architectural background, where we question the social and physical boundaries upon which our world is constructed. As a society, we are inhabiting spaces constituted by economical, political and social parameters that result in efficiency and profitability instead of the physical and psychological aspects of the human being. As a response to this, we offer a reactive process which aims to design an individual and abstract landscape where the visitor feels well inside. By understanding the virtual environment as a void which is liberated from any rules, we replace static elements such as walls, ceilings, or buildings, with dynamic sensations of volume, density, and movement.
A place for entangled configurations
By questioning the criteria of the built environment, we replace static elements such as walls, ceilings, or buildings with dynamic sensations of volume, density, and movement. This enable us to experiment with an abstract design process, which relies only on the personal sensation of well-being. In Neuro-Traces, space is therefore no longer seen as an object of man’s needs, a static container, but rather becomes an active element in constant dialogue and exchange with its visitors; continuously reproposing itself in search of an equilibrium, a balance between itself and the well-being of its temporal inhabitants. Here, the split between subject and object dissolves, leaving a place for entangled configurations where both the visitor and the virtual space become active protagonists of a reciprocal state of becoming.
ARTISTIC CONCEPT
technology
Influencing and being influenced by our surroundings
With Neuro-Traces, we are questioning how we as individuals are psychologically relying on our inhabit spaces and how we as society are influencing and being influenced by our surroundings. As the architectural historian and critic Anthony Vidler writes; due to its capitalist development, the contemporary urban landscape can be seen as a place where phenomena such as fear, anxiety and estrangement increasingly developed, showing how these factors are linked to the design and aesthetics of space (Vidler, 2001). As a response to the current development of the built environment — based on capitalist strategies and man-made binary divisions — we understand the virtual space as a realm where we can experiment with fluid configurations that exist beyond physical and social boundaries; and where we can explore a balance between the human’s well-being and spatial formations.
An interactive BCI + VR Installation
Neuro-Traces is realized in the form of an interactive installation combining both: BCI and VR. For the VR Interface we use the Valve Index VR headset, which allows the visitor to immersively explore the environment. A 8 channel EEG Unicorn Hybrid Black from g.tec is used to record the electrical activity in cortical areas of the brain in microvolt. By selecting suitable EEG channels that correspond to certain regions of the brain, and by focusing on the Valence-Arousal model of emotion, we aim to classify brain states that correlate to moods of relaxation and tranquility. The recorded data is sent to an analysis application to classify the affective sensation with the help of an Artificial Neural Network. These are then sent to a generative design algorithm, which aims to create a constellation based on predictive parameters, corresponding to the individual’s well-being. The algorithm creates abstract configurations based on its “understanding” of the affective sensation of the viewer, proposing a constellation that is pleasant to her.
06.05.2020 | Funding
Funding for Visual Arts and New Media Projects
Stadt Wien Kultur. Vienna, AT
24.02.2021 | Talk
Neuro-Traces presented at:
"The Value of (XR) Communities. A Virtual Networking Event."
Event organized by XRVienna and WiiT (Women in Immersive Tech) as part of the official Program of the CIVA Festival 2021 (Contemporary Immersive Virtual Art). Speaker: Flavia Mazzanti
AltspaceVR, Vienna, AT
03.12.2020 | Award
Content Vienna 2020
Award from the Vienna Business Agency (Witschaftsagentur Wien) for digital creative projects. Vienna, AT
NEWS
02.04.2021 | Feature
Neuro-Traces featured by:
Unicorn Hybrid Black, gtec.bci
Instagram Feature
07-24.09.2021 | Exhibition
Ars Electronica Festival
Salzamt Linz, AT
26.04.2021 | Funding
Funding for the upcoming Performance Video
Stadt Graz. Graz, AT
FINDING YOUR PERSONAL LANDSCAPE
IN A BALANCE BETWEEN YOUR WELLBEING AND THE WORLD YOU ARE IMMERSED IN
bci + VR INSTALLATION
Projection: live VR stream
Documentation Performance Video
EEG Headset
+ VR Headset
TECHNOLOGY
Neuro-Traces is realized in the form of an interactive installation combining both: BCI (Brain-Computer-Interface) and VR. By selecting suitable EEG channels that correspond to certain regions of the brain, and by focusing on the Valence-Arousal model of emotion, we aim to classify brain states that correlate to moods of relaxation and tranquility.
The recorded data is sent via Bluetooth to an analysis application to classify the affective sensation with the help of an Artificial Neural Network (ConvNN). These are then sent to a generative design algorithm, which aims to create a constellation based on predictive parameters, corresponding to the individual’s well-being.
Here, the algorithm creates abstract configurations based on its “understanding” of the affective sensation of the viewer, proposing a constellation that is pleasant to her in real time.
TEAM
Flavia Mazzanti
Concept & research
A young team merging the areas of Art, Science and Technology.
Manuel Bonell
Design, concept & research
Imani Rameses
Neuroscientific research
Michael Bonell
Lead engineer
Our common motivation is to address new possibilities and perspectives on artistic-architectural and spatial perception so as to propose alternative views on the way the world is shown to us.
ABOUT US
© Neuro-Traces Team 2021
Neuro-Traces is currently being developed by a small core team based in Vienna and Graz, merging the areas of Art, Design, Neuroscience and Programming.