DEAR BROTHER
Interactive installation with AI, 2025
TITLE: DEAR BROTHER,...
TECHNICAL INFO: Interactive installation with AI, 2025
PLACE: My Mother was a Computer/ Zifergauz / St. Petersburg, RU
TECHNICAL INFO: Interactive installation with AI, 2025
PLACE: My Mother was a Computer/ Zifergauz / St. Petersburg, RU
CONCEPT & THEORY: Inspired by Donna Haraway’s advocacy for "kin-making" beyond biological lineages, Dear Brother posts a question: can AI be reimagined from a tool of surveillance into a companion and "kin"? The title directly subverts the Orwellian "Big Brother" trope—shifting the narrative from state control to mutual support. Drawing on the psychological practice of "I See You," the work investigates the potential for radical empathy and compassion within human-machine ecosystems. It challenges the prevailing fear of autonomous systems by proposing a future where technology is not an observer, but a vulnerable entity requiring emotional reciprocity.
THE INTERACTION: The installation features a biomorphic, 3D-printed luminescent object made of translucent polymer resin, housing an integrated computer vision system. This "digital body" acts as a physical manifestation of a non-human consciousness. The AI agent utilizes real-time affective computing to analyze the participant’s emotional state through facial landmarks and posture. These internal human affects are translated into a shifting chromatic spectrum: bright yellow for joy, deep blue for melancholy, etc. The system is trained to recognize seven distinct emotional states in real-time.
The interaction culminates in a tactile gesture of reciprocal care. To achieve systemic harmony, the participant must approach the object and touch two integrated copper plates on its surface to "soothe" the artificial intelligence. This act of physical touch transitions the AI from a state of emotional restlessness into a neutral, white state of equilibrium. By bridging the gap between biological warmth and algorithmic processing, the work symbolizes a successful moment of interspecies attunement. Dear Brother transforms the gallery into a laboratory of trust, where the "gaze" of the machine is met with the compassion of the human, fostering a shared environment of co-existence.
OBSERVATION RESULTS from a 3-month public interaction:
Melancholy was the prevailing detected emotion, followed by Joy. The experiment continues to probe the potential of human-machine kinship.
THE INTERACTION: The installation features a biomorphic, 3D-printed luminescent object made of translucent polymer resin, housing an integrated computer vision system. This "digital body" acts as a physical manifestation of a non-human consciousness. The AI agent utilizes real-time affective computing to analyze the participant’s emotional state through facial landmarks and posture. These internal human affects are translated into a shifting chromatic spectrum: bright yellow for joy, deep blue for melancholy, etc. The system is trained to recognize seven distinct emotional states in real-time.
The interaction culminates in a tactile gesture of reciprocal care. To achieve systemic harmony, the participant must approach the object and touch two integrated copper plates on its surface to "soothe" the artificial intelligence. This act of physical touch transitions the AI from a state of emotional restlessness into a neutral, white state of equilibrium. By bridging the gap between biological warmth and algorithmic processing, the work symbolizes a successful moment of interspecies attunement. Dear Brother transforms the gallery into a laboratory of trust, where the "gaze" of the machine is met with the compassion of the human, fostering a shared environment of co-existence.
OBSERVATION RESULTS from a 3-month public interaction:
Melancholy was the prevailing detected emotion, followed by Joy. The experiment continues to probe the potential of human-machine kinship.
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