Silent mutations: physical-digital interactions in spaces

Many installations research efforts today explore how to engage participants with embedded digital content and applications in interactive environments. Yet the interactive design is largely determined by the constraints and requirements of the underlying sensing technologies. Such constrains result in a limited dialog between the user and the interactive installations. Silent Mutations is an interactive installation that is controlled by participants/users moving throughout the space. The installation has been conceived as a material and immaterial reflection of our relationship with physical environments and embedded technologies. The goal of developing the installation was to offer a valid questioning of the current responsiveness of interactive installations and advance a designed interactive environment towards engaging narrative conversations of people with physical spaces. Between analog and digital, using simple hardware systems coupled with sensing technologies, a cognitive space was created with conversational emerging behaviors for human communication.