Lucid Dream 

2022
Youyang Hu, Chiaochi Chou

Support by:
Li Chia-Wei Laboratory, National Tsing Hua University
Yasuaki Kakehi Laboratory, The University of Tokyo

electronic computer, electronic part, ambient control system, conduit, mist maker, water tank

publication:
28th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Lucid dram immerses viewers in a dream-like world within the perspective of plants,
wherethey experience the drenching of rain and the brush of wind.


Throughout the long history of evolution, plants have evolved complex biological systems to drive physiological processes in response to changing environmental conditions. We imagine their "umwelts", which refers to the self-centered world of the organism, rather than the described subjectively by humans. We attempt to use intelligent computing technology to create an interactive model with the "umwelts" of plants in the natural world, which will be transformed into an artistic expression when moved to the exhibition space. This will guide the audience to experience the nature perceived by plants through engagements with plants' life from a non-human perspective.


Lucid Dream consists of several working phases including ecological investigation, displacement, and substitution of the perception model. We first developed a bio-amplifier to collect biosignals from multiple plants in a forest. We realized the study of modern social phenomena in plant communities by cross-analysis of local climate information to analyze and model the plants-nature interactions. Next, this model is extracted from its original context of space and time and moved to an environmental control space, where it is artistically represented. After being recontextualized, environmental data previously constrained by scientific methods is dissolved and transformed, allowing it to be extended with new meaning in the realm of art.

As viewers enter this environment-controlled space, their perceptions are replaced by those of plants in the natural environment. The "rain" falling on them is not just a physical downpour, but a message that has transcended human awareness, crossing the barriers of time, space, and species to be perceived and interpreted by another non-human organism.


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