Through an interview with JPL research scientist Anthony Bloom, who focuses on the carbon data model framework (CARDAMOM), I learned that his team wanted to present carbon cycles in a way that felt fresh and accessible to the public. Conducting research based on data and effectively communicating it to a general audience require entirely different skill sets. Recognizing this gap, I explored various visualization methods that could transform complex carbon cycle data into something visually compelling and intuitive. While my approach was not part of the final tool developed in the D2D project, it was included in the final presentation, where it was introduced alongside other outcomes. The enthusiastic reactions from both the general audience and researchers from other fields reassured me of its impact, affirming the role of visualization in bridging scientific research and public engagement.
Latent Datacapes
In digital spaces, applying material to a 3D mockup is instantaneous, altering the object’s identity with a single click. In contrast, applying material in the physical world requires active effort and does not fundamentally change the object’s essence. This project explores how the act of digitally applying material can be reimagined as an embodied interaction, bridging the gap between digital and physical materiality.
Metal Applicator
Emanation and Extinction is an interactive AI installation that investigates how people recognize their own presence within digital imagery. The project experiments with the threshold at which an individual becomes aware of their existence in a digital space by using body movement as an input for AI-generated visuals. Based on our findings—where both movement and digital content influenced recognition sensitivity—we plan to install the project in outdoor and entirely different environments to further explore how context shapes this perception.
Crisis of Human Existence is a VR project that questions whether technical immersion alone is enough to establish a meaningful sense of presence in a non-physical space. The project argues that existential immersion—the internalization of space through sensory engagement, particularly touch—is crucial for truly inhabiting digital environments. As the first step in this exploration, it presents a thought-experiment prototype that blurs the boundary between reality and VR, prompting users to question where they truly exist. The work suggests that the absence of the physical body in digital space leads to an existential crisis, as users struggle to confirm their own presence without sensory grounding. By emphasizing touch as an intentional act of embodying the world, this project challenges conventional notions of immersion and redefines the role of haptic experience in virtual spaces.
Crisis of Human Existence
Spolia Lounge is a physical installation that explores the cyclical relationship between digital and physical materials. By capturing reality through photography and re-materializing it onto textiles, the project questions the nature of digital materiality. This process reveals how digital and physical matter continuously interact rather than exist as separate entities. Since its initial setup in Summer 2024, Spolia Lounge has remained on display, inviting viewers to engage with the fluid boundaries of material and space.