e⁻lektron and TLU HCI lab have been co-hosting a STARTS.EE art-science residency is a form of collaboration where a designer and a researcher work together on some phenomena, led by curiosity and inspired by the exchanges that transcend the two domains’ boundaries. In 2021, during my STARTS.EE art-science residency, with Mati Mõttus, I created an experiment to explore how emotions are produced and perceived in virtual settings. Their experiment is embodied in the form of an online interactive system that consists of two parties: a performer and six spectators. The performer stimulates the spectators’ mental mood through music. Spectators listen to the music being played while watching the same interface from different locations. The interface of the interactive system gives the feeling of a video conferencing setup but with a twist. Instead of seeing yourself and others on the screen, you see visualizations that change colour according to your tracked facial expressions, without knowing which visualization represents you.
Gazing for meaning
Nesli Hazal Oktay 