Yeohyun Ahn

BELONGING/TRUST: Multi-sensory and Immersive Floral Experience with an AI for Belonging and Trust, Experiential Typography, a Mixed Reality, 2025
Belonging is a fundamental human need. We all have an innate desire to connect with others, feel accepted, and find our place within a group. This deep-seated need for belonging is closely linked to trust; when others trust us, we can build meaningful relationships and genuinely feel that we belong. In environments where confidence is nurtured, relationships become stronger, acceptance flourishes, and overall well-being improves, benefiting both mental and social health. Flowers have historically served as powerful symbols of human emotions. They represent feelings such as love, joy, and beauty, fostering deep emotional connections between individuals.

Flowers offer comfort and contribute to the formation of significant interpersonal bonds. Additionally, they play a crucial role in promoting mental well-being and strengthening relationships, bridging the gap between humanity and the natural world. This project employs a technique from artificial intelligence known as computer vision. Computer vision enables computers to analyze and interpret images and videos using a webcam. It is a type of machine learning that aims to replicate human vision, allowing for the detection of events, recognition of activities, and tracking of objects in videos. Once a computer identifies an object, it can respond to what it sees. The Face Detection Algorithm is a specific type of computer vision algorithm designed to detect faces by identifying facial features in a photo or video through machine learning techniques. It starts by searching for an eye, which helps in recognizing other facial features. The algorithm then compares these features to training data to confirm that a face hasbeen detected.

This project includes a masking effect that creates generative flowers which dynamically respond to the audience’s real-time movements on the letterforms of "TRUST." In computer graphics, masking is a technique used to hide or alter parts of an image. It can remove unwanted elements, change the shape of an image, or serve aesthetic purposes. The generative flowers were initially inspired by the Korean CCM, "Flowers" (꽃들도), composed by MEBIG. It is originally created for children's workshop in Japan. This project presents an experiential, innovative, and multisensory artform that combines sound with human interaction, virtual floral elements with computer vision, and a mixed-reality experience centered around belonging and trust.

The goal is to introduce a novel art form and interaction that merges virtual floral elements, computer vision, and ambient sound, resulting in a mixed-reality experience focused on belonging. This approach is inclusive, catering to the diverse needs of the audience, particularly those with varying visual and auditory access requirements. This project utilizes Processing, the OpenCV library, the Sound Library, and the Deep Vision Library of Processing, incorporating real-time sound input and an external webcam. The installation requires a laptop, a highdefinition projector, a webcam, a microphone input, power extensions, and controlled lighting (less than40% brightness).

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