Breath I/O

description

Breath I/O Team

Maria Lantin  (Emily Carr University)
Leila Sujir (Concordia University)
Joy James (Emily Carr University)
Ron Burnett (Emily Carr University)

Project blog

Summary of Project

Breath I/O is a SSHRC funded investigation of breath (virtual and bodily) as it mixes with video and sound in immersive virtual environments. It is also an investigation of the individual and collective breath as they relates to our desire to resonate with others and yet remain distinct. In Breath I/O we are creating a virtual video sculpture where video and virtual models of lungs intersect and interact. The lung model is based on idealized anatomical drawings and is rendered in a virtual stereographic space, at a size larger than human scale. The lungs appear to be floating in a shared space with the viewer. There are two or more modes to the sculpture, some with a single pair of lungs and some with a multitude of lungs. The video interacts with the lungs by at once being mapped onto them and being part of the environment that the lungs ‘breathe’ in. In one imagined scenario, the lungs breathe in video particles from the environment that coalesce on the lung surface into a coherent image stream that stays active for as long as the breath is held. The lungs then breathe out the transformed images back into the environment. The environment retains a memory of the collective breaths by remixing the residual particles of video. The rhythm and style of the breath is either unconscious or influenced by the conscious actions of viewers in physical space. Gestures and sounds that affect the lungs and their environment will be drawn from the study of breath practices in voice training, spiritual traditions, and therapeutic applications. We will not use sensors on the body to detect breath for the purpose of interaction because the intent is to bring attention to the bodily breath as a consequence of the synchronization between viewer and sculpture.

We have chosen to work with lungs as a visceral representation of personal interior space that is in a direct relationship of exchange with the environment. Even more directly than the heart, the lungs are a link to life and health. They offer the first clue to the quality of the surrounding environment, and breathing patterns are in a reciprocal relationship with emotional states. With these traits in mind, sounds and image streams are added to the environment of the lungs to mimic our modern situation of being surrounded and sometimes overwhelmed with images and sounds. Our relationship with media sources competing for our attention is often one of unconscious ingesting in a constant search for meaning, connection, diversion. This can be compared to shallow breathing where the body is forgotten and left to react in a starving mental state. Conversely, images and sounds may bring attention to the body by matching its rhythm or otherwise bringing the mind out of its usual patterns, triggering curiosity or calm attention. This can be compared to deep mindful breathing. Breath I/O intends to investigate the individual and collective act of apprehending media spaces as it relates to personal history and the physical body.