2006-2007OP_ERA: Haptics for the 5th Dimension

The work is built as two adjacent spaces. The first is a darkened room with black walls and floor. Loudspeakers, coupled to an infrared tracking matrix, place sound sources synthetically in the space around the visitor's body. As the visitor moves, custom software runs equations describing the interaction of one-dimensional objects — particles, vibrating strings — at scales below the visible. The loudspeakers signal the forces and flows of a virtual particle field.

The interaction is reciprocal. The system reads the visitor's position as a gravitational force, deforming the shape of space-time around them. The visitor, in turn, navigates by ear: the sound field describes a geometry the eye cannot reach, and the body learns to move inside it. Each participant leaves impressions on the field; the field, in turn, tells the body how to move.

The second space is outside the room. A monitor displays the particle field in real time; the image the visitors inside cannot see, made visible to the spectators outside. The work is sensory for the participant and spectacular for the witness; each side completes the other.

The work investigates the geometry of higher dimensions, and asks whether a dimension that is invisible by definition can still be inhabited.

Up to five visitors interact simultaneously.
Material / Technique Immersive interactive sound installation. Infrared tracking matrix, 3D audio system (loudspeakers), custom software, external monitor.