Faces in Motion: Embodiment, Emotion and Interaction

Abstract

As humans, we express what we think and feel by facial movements, often without even realizing it. In the (e)motion installation, the goal was to create awareness of even the subtlest movements of the face, and to facilitate interaction purely based on facial expressions. Facial movements were tracked by custom software and translated into motion vectors, which were in turn visualized and coupled with sounds. Participants could interact within the installation by responding to each other’s facial movements. (e)motion was inspired by embodied cognition and scientific studies on emotion and action. The installation was the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration between art, movement science and cognitive neuroscience.