Smarter City 2
2018
Interactive color digital video installation with sound,
infrared sensor, light box, augmented reality application.

Smarter City 2 is an interactive video installation that encourages participants to interact with the fictitious characters and symbols situated in a subway and explore the absurd data/information related to them.
 
One side of the installation consists of a large projection screen that is similar to a life-size subway train. Audiences will be invited to stand inside the four-designed spot in front of the ‘subway’, where the infrared light sensors will be triggered by their movements. The fictitious characters will then be alienated and transformed into a new form and their personal data will be leaked. On the other side of the installation, the interaction will be realized through the augmented reality application installed in IPads and IPhones that are prepared in the gallery. The camera on IPad/IPhone will sense the images in the subway station such as the exhibition posters and the sign of 洛杉京 Los Jing (a virtual city in combination of Los Angeles and Beijing) subway stop to trigger new characters, objects and textual information.
 
There are countless data circling around us every day. We are living in moments under the definition of global data. In every such moment, there are enjoyment, curiosity and danger. We rely on data, but also suffer from data crash and surveillance, or become stuck in the virtual reality/real virtuality situation. What will happen when the virtual subway becomes an ordinary part of the real world? What are the possibilities of the passengers? Which subway station are we heading next?

Installation View, Power Long Museum, Shanghai, China


Installation View, Rochester Art Center, MN, USA




Augmented Reality (AR) interaction, Rochester Art Center, MN, USA