“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with nature.”------Joseph Cambell
Heartbeat Universe is an interactive and social art installation that visualizes participants’ heartbeat beyond a conventional ECG diagram. It invites people to share and sync their real-time heartbeats within a digital universe, represented by pumping galaxies of various colors and patterns. To create a digital environment with an immersive experience, we would utilize Arduino sensors, the software Processing, and digital projection to display the evolving galaxy to a large wall. Once the participant’s heartbeat is recorded using the Arduino sensor, it will generate its own galaxy according to changing BPM values. The individual galaxies will also combine with others to compose a multiplayer universe. Each participant, while standing in front of the projected wall, will have their own pumping star represented at a specific location. Sometimes, the stars collide in the middle or separate into their own paths. During the process, the viewers are encouraged to actively trace the paths of these patterns and feel each others’ heartbeat.The project works as a visual reminder for young people like us to pay more attention to our own health and well being. As architecture students, we are also subjects of heavy workload and high anxiety level; however, oftentimes, we don’t give ourselves enough time to reflect upon our own state of mind. Our team is proposing to generate more fun and interactive representation of the traditional ECG as a way to raise awareness for cardiotonic health among a busy daily schedule. From now on, slow down, take a deep breath, and feel your own heartbeat.
GSD Fall 2019 SCI 6338 | Introduction to Computational Design Instructor: Jose Luis García del Castillo y López
