The Hegemony of Vision’ refers to the preference of vision over the other senses in contemporary culture. This mixed-reality installation questions the relationships between our senses, particularly touch, which is frequently excluded from fine art and interactive contexts. Guided in virtual reality, you will journey through the wonderful and equally unnerving intersection between digital, physical and everyday interactions.

The real, the unreal, and the in-between spaces.

Starting out the project we experimented with small scale handheld objects which would inform and guide your vision in the virtual space. This first design evolved from a two dimensional maze into a complex tactile 3D object. Combining different sensory stimuli with embedded sensors to capture the participants interaction with the object and translate it to the virtual space.

From here we moved from an object held by the participant, onto different objects spread out across space. This way we created a performative context in which we wanted our audience to explore and interact with the mixed reality environment.

This environment consisted out of a composition of pointclouds recorded in the overground and around Hackney Wick. Some objects in these scans were overlayed with digital assets which we then build as physical models. These were fitted with an arduino and velostat to track if and how the audience touched them.

These physical objects diverge from their virtual counterparts, integrating different materials and abstracted shapes. Through this divergence a narrative is constructed. We wanted our audience to start seeing through their skin, exploring spaces beyond their visual nature.