Wave UFO, by Mariko Mori, fuses real-time computer graphics, brainwave technology, sound, and architectural engineering to create a dynamic interactive experience.

Inside Wave UFO, viewers, three at a time, watch a projection on the ceiling. Each viewer is outfitted with electrodes, which gather brainwave data. This information is transformed into visual imagery and projected onto the screen: six undulating bio-amorphous cells represent the left and right lobes of each of the participants’ brains, and a waving line moves in correspondence with blinks and other facial movements. The forms change shape and color in response to three types of brainwaves. Alpha (blue) waves indicate wakeful relaxation, Beta (pink) waves indicate alertness or agitation, and Theta (yellow) waves indicate a dreamlike state. Two cells coming together demonstrate “coherence” between the two lobes of the brain. Mental functions such as thinking in other languages or doing math problems immediately transform the characteristics of the graphics.

A second part of the projection links the individual experience to the universal through an animation sequence. Abstract forms expand and evolve into single cells and molecular structures, creating a dream world that is at once primordial and ethereal. With this sequence, Mori brings the viewer into “a deeper consciousness in which the self and the universe become interconnected.”

At the Venice Art Biennale till November 6.
Thanks Giovanni!