A|B Smith

‘ICU’ is an immersive interactive sound installation made from a networked collection of interactive devices and custom software, which renders data from the faces of the audience and their movements.

Five speakers and two projectors surround the visitor with sound, light and images. A giant projection of abstract data towers over the visitor. An interactive scenario is projected on two screens, which flank a camera that reads the visitor’s facial expressions. The left screen encourages the visitor to move, while sharing their emotion. The right screen projects the data extracted from the visitor and reveals associated images and classifications.

At the same time, the data harvested by the AI facial recognition system are sonified to reveal the hidden processes at work. These sounds are diffused around the visitor: five speakers at ear-level create the data sonifications and emit an array of digital crackles and arpeggiated granular melodies.

The system exposes the classifications that allow this machine to understand what it sees. Sound is used to reveal these secretive processes and to create an experiential reflection of the workings of this technology.