V.E.I.L. - Virtually Entangled Intimate Locations

VEIL is an interactive visual and audio installation that demonstrates both the abstractions and complex connections that exist between people in this digital age. With the emergence of social media and a culture that often discourages intimate and meaningful interactions, our mission is to hold up a mirror to ourselves that illustrates this modern dilemma and that challenges each of us to connect. Each VEIL location interacts with and is affected by another. Through these abstracted interactions, individuals become virtually entangled in intimate ways.

VEIL was created by Alec Lloyd, Sam Proctor, Wil Bayne, and Taylor Shackelford at Arizona State University's Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts as a part of the school of Arts, Media, & Engineering's Fall 2019 Digital Culture Showcase.

The following was taken from VEIL’s Project Documentation created by Alec Lloyd, Sam Proctor, Wil Bayne, and Taylor Shackelford.

Inspiration, Motivations, & Goals

Our group aspired to create an immersive media installation which could explore concepts related to online intimacy and communication paradigms in the digital age.  We considered notions of “spaces,” both physical and digital— how the latter is conceptualized by terms of the former, with virtual locations such as chat “rooms,” “sites,” and “walls”.  Networks are not merely means of communication, but “places of existence that we inhabit and that inhabits us” (Serrano-Puche, 2016).   Our objective was to build a new modality of experience of networked spaces as a means of addressing these “walls” which veil us from one another us in the digital age, how we might instead communicate through the walls.

Technical Components

We sought to produce an immersive media installation comprised of two large, opposing walls which could track and compare participant interactions, and based on the similarity/dissimilarity of interactions, produce visual and sonic feedback to encourage communication.

To do this, we took advantage of the capabilities of XBOX 360 Kinect cameras for providing depth maps which could allow for blob tracking, thereby giving us participant position/velocity data.  One camera was mounted above each wall, and each stream of video underwent crossfading effects between depth map visuals and webcam footage, which acted as a “veil” that could hide or reveal the identities of participants.  Video streams were networked amongst three separate machines, along with their respective participant data.     When participants aligned at the same x-axis position, a function would trigger that faded from infrared visuals to webcam visuals, thereby revealing participants to one another per their ability to align with one another.

Our Team

Our team consisted of 4 members: Taylor Shackelford focused on the construction of the walls, as well as the hardware aspects of this project. Wil Bayne lead the team through the initial design ideations, as well as assisted in the construction of the walls. Alec Lloyd and Sam Proctor worked on the coding side of things. Alec focused primarily on the interactive audio design and Sam focused on visuals and networking.

Process & Final Outcome

Starting out, we began to hone in on what we wanted to create, using a methodology known as a design sprint. We also received feedback from a number of faculty and staff of the school on some aspects. We eventually decided on creating walls as a metaphor for the walls that we put up using digital devices and media. We all broke up into our respective jobs and focused on that aspect and the brought it all together. Along the way there were things that we wanted to implement and our design/idea went through several different versions before bringing it to the public showcase.

Challenges & Abandoned Iterations

This project regularly unveiled new challenges as it progressed in its development.  Some of the first challenges that presented themselves had to do with the medium through which we would invite users to interact with one another and have intimate experiences voluntarily.  Initially we considered a four-walled area that would allow users to occupy the same physical space, but we quickly determined that it would be more interesting to keep the locations remote and to allow users to connect in a virtual space.  We eventually landed on the concept of individual “walls” that would reflect the progress of connection one with another through visuals and sounds. 

As we considered how we might construct the walls we had to determine what kinds of materials would be best.  In order to make the installation interesting and presentable we determined that the walls should be at least the size of the stature of the users.  We also determined that we would need to use spandex as a screen stretched across the wall frames in order to rear-project onto the walls in order to provide the visual feedback to users.

Perhaps the most challenging of things to find solutions for was networking each of the computers that would be needed in order to connect and process the visuals for each of the walls and the sounds.  We considered wireless networking, but ultimately determined that for our purposes it would be better to network through direct hardwiring.  We found a software called NDI Syphon that allowed us to network the machines through an ethernet hub, solving the problem of connecting each component effectively.

Each iteration of VEIL was modified under considerations of what we were ultimately trying to accomplish: creating an inviting experience for users that would allow them to create connections with others through an entirely virtual space.

Possible Future Iterations

We have carefully considered what might be possible for VEIL moving forward as it would be carried out through future iterations of the project.  Potential future versions of the installation could include long-distance connective networking that would allow users in entirely different locations around the world to connect with others through the walls.  A wireless system would allow for the purpose that we determined for the project, to connect people through the walls and to allow them to have positive experiences together while occupying the same virtual space, to more completely be realized.

Other iterations of the project could include increasing the number of walls through which users are able to interact with each other through.  At one point in our ideating processes we had considered building 4 walls that would all communicate, allowing not just a few, but many people to occupy the same virtual space.  In this version of the VEIL installation the shape of the walls might be considered in new ways (for example, a much wider wall that allowed for multiple users to interact with the installation at once) in order to allow users to occupy a larger physical space in front of the walls.

There is a lot of potential to continue to build upon the vision that we have for VEIL and to further execute on its purpose and message of connecting people through, not despite, the digital technologies that consume our world.

Achievements

We feel very good about what we were able to accomplish with VEIL.  Outcomes that we were looking for included building something that had substance, meaning that users would interact with what we built with the message that we intended them to receive in mind.  We felt strongly from the reactions and feedback given by users at the Digital Culture showcase that we accomplished this.  Users spent varying amounts of time in front of the installations, usually fairly substantial, trying to decode the mystery of the walls.  Upon synchronicity with users on the other end of the network, they would begin to realize the functionality of the walls and the purpose that they serve to connect people through virtual space.  

We also wanted to create something that would be fun to interact with, enticing to those who spotted it, and that would leave users with smiles on their faces when they walked away.  It was one of the most rewarding parts of building VEIL to see this vision realized as almost everyone who engaged with the installation seemed to enjoy their experience, as indicated by both their direct feedback and the expressions on their faces.  

Feedback

We got a lot of feedback over the course of creating our project. We appreciated all of the input and had to make careful decisions about what implementations we were going to make based on what our ultimate goal was. In some initial designs that we had created we were considering building a “room” made up of four walls. Feedback concerning the realistic-ness of that idea was that we should look towards other solutions, which was helpful and which we eventually did. With the time that we made up after implementing a more realistic design we were able to build out the technical side of things even more carefully.

At the private showcase there were several people that did not understand what our project was about and we got a fair amount of mixed feedback over the project. Part of this was the fact that at that time we only had one half of the project ready, so it makes sense that the full scope would not be easily seen. However, we felt some of the feedback following the private showcase was perhaps pulling us in other directions that strayed from the original message of the project. We got some feedback suggesting that we make it into a game, other feedback about how we should incorporate more tech, and other feedback that suggested less tech.  Initially, it was a bit overwhelming. We had to really sit down with just the four of us and hash out what we wanted to do for the public showcase, and in that regard the feedback we received helped us to come together and really polish up what we wanted to create.

At the public showcase so many people gave positive feedback and were blown away at what we were able to create. Others seemed to really appreciate how much more polished the experience of interacting with the installation was when compared to what we had presented at the private showcase. In the end we were happy with what we had accomplished and we were even more ecstatic when we were told that the school wanted to keep our project for a possible installation within AME.

Conclusion

Working on VEIL was a privilege for each member of our team.  We learned much about very interesting new technologies, we received invaluable help from a number of fantastic faculty and other resources, and we were able to combine each of our own skills and aptitudes as individual members of a team in order to create something that we are very proud of.

It is not every day that you get to be a part of something that you believe in and that has the power to express a message in a deeper and more unique way, while also working alongside others who share that same passion.  Through VEIL we were able to share with all those who participated in its creation and use our vision for digital communications, virtual spaces, and unbinding barriers.  It is our hope that it has had and will continue to have such a powerful and lasting impact on its users as it has for us.