Memory Mosaic
Representing Connection Through Time in the Future of Digital Hotel Experiences
What might technology afford for the future of hotel experiences? This is the question posed by Cognizant, the sponsor of this project.
"Memory Mosaic: The Living Canvas" is an interactive art installation designed for a hotel lobby, drawing from the fact that hotels serve as temporary homes shared by travelers from around the world. The installation aims to create connections and foster a sense of community among the many guests who visit the hotel across time.
Memory Mosaic consists of a gallery of canvases suspended in space. When visitors approach the installation, a webcam captures their impression. Computer vision edge detection processes this input to create abstracted, anonymized recordings that protect visitor privacy and comfort. A central knob allows visitors to seamlessly transition between different processing algorithms, creating their own artwork within the interactive gallery. When visitors interact with the knob, their movements are recorded and replayed across the outer canvases over time.
Process
The program for recording, storing, and playing back video content—along with the video processing algorithms—was written in MaxMSP and Jitter, making use of multiple custom GLSL shaders. Ableton Live was used to produce interactive soundscapes and communicated with the Max program over OSC. The knobs and sensors were built using Arduino.
Screenshots from installation interactions