Multiple Bodies, Super Egos and Virtual Identities
Corps multiples, super egos et identités virtuelles
by Daniel Bisig, Olaf Blanke, Bruno Herbelin, Oliver A. Kannape, Jan Schacher, Simon Schaerlaeken (in alphabetical order)
A swipe of the arm. A faint touch. Who was that? Is that? By enabling visitors to experience the unusual sensations provoked by bodily illusions, this artistic work explores the delicate boundary between our seemingly stable percept of an embodied self, and a self that is disrupted by technology. The installation is equally inspired by clinical observations of disembodiment, presence hallucinations, and other altered states of consciousness – and experimental neuroscientific investigations using virtual reality and robotics bringing to surface the fundamental brain mechanisms underlying bodily self-consciousness.
Self-identification
Do I recognize myself in the mirror, or does the mirror tells me what I look like? Will I still identify to this body if it changes shape?
Sense of agency
If it moves like me, it must be me, I am the agent controlling this body! But what if this body is lazy and lags behind me, is it still me?
Multisensory integration
I touch the screen; I feel the touch. The sensation comes from my hand, or from the screen? Or maybe it is you that I feel through.
Autobiographical memory
I know what I do, I know what I did. But for how long? Are you copying me, or is this what I did before? I can’t remember…
First person perspective
I see the world from the perspective of my body. Can’t escape it. Should I?
Interview with Olaf Blanke, where he talks about the piece’s ideas, concepts and makings (in English) – (recorded in September 2019).
Interview with Bruno Herbelin, where he talks about the piece’s ideas, concepts and makings (in English) – (recorded in September 2019).
Interaction scenario
Participants can enter the Immersive Lab at any-time, but following a sequence of stages gives a complete story.
NB: the system loops back to stage 1 in absence of any activity for a long time.
Stage 1 – Self-identification
Mirror image of my body is distorted in space: on one side it is a 1:1 reflection, on the other side the geometrical distortion (focal enlargement) makes my body unrecognizable
- Lateral progressive spatial distortion
- Video inversion (black reflection on white background)
- Invitation to touch the screen
End condition: time after someone has reached the maximum distortion area
Transition: flickering black & white
Stage 2 – Sense of Agency
Mirror image of my body is delayed in time: on one side, reflection is minimally delayed, on the other side, the delay of 3 seconds makes me wonder if this is still my reflection. The visitors in front of me in the installation are visible on my side: I can see them.
- Lateral progressive visual delay (+0 to 3s)
- Raw video
End condition: time after someone has reached the maximum delay area
Transition: all vibrators are maximum for 1 second, powerful subwoofer audio.
Stage 3 – Multisensory integration
Vibration is given as a feedback when I touch my reflection: on one side the visuo-tactile feedback is synchronous, on the other side it is delayed by 3 seconds (not the visual). The visitors in front of me in the installation are visible on my side: I can touch them.
- Lateral progressive vibration delay (+0 to 3s)
- Vibration 150Hz for 0.5 second = moment of touch of the mirror image (200ms at minimum after touch, to be validated)
- Vibration 60Hz continuously; after the moment of touch, until release touch
- Raw video image
- glowing effect around the hand (matching the vibration intensity): superadditive effect when I touch someone else
End condition: time after someone has reached the maximum delay area
Transition:
Stage 4 – Autobiographical self
All feedback from my body is delayed by 5 seconds, but touching the screen immediately triggers the display of the reflection of someone else (recordings played at the location of the touch). When I step back, I can see the trace of when I touched (autobiographical memory), mixed with others: which one is really me?
- Constant 5s delay on visual feedback
- Detection of touch to trigger videos displaying the ghost reflection of somebody at this location
End condition: time or maximum amount of videos played simultaneously (6 or more videos?)
Transition:
Stage 5 – Self consciousness
Finally, I exit the mirror box, and see the world in first person perspective.
- Video 180 degrees taken in 1PP a EPFL campus (see the hand opening doors, feet when walking, etc.)
End condition: time (30 seconds)
Transition: display visual effect of TV static (1 second)
