Surrealism Me: Interactive Virtual Embodying Experiences in Mixed Reality

TL;DR

"Surrealism Me" is an interactive mixed reality experience that explores media's influence on perception and freedom through virtual embodiment and AI integration, prompting reflection on reality and media's role.

Contribution

It introduces a novel MR artistic inquiry combining virtual embodiment, AI-generated movements, and UAV extension to critically examine media's mediating effects on perception.

Findings

Participants experience altered perception through virtual embodiment.

The system challenges media's mediating role by breaking down virtual reality boundaries.

The work fosters critical reflection on media influence and human agency.

Abstract

This paper introduces an interactive Mixed Reality (MR) experience and artistic inquiry entitled ``Surrealism Me'' which delves into Vil\'em Flusser's critique of media as mediators that often distort human perception of reality and diminish freedom, particularly within the context of MR technology. It engages with Flusser's theories by allowing participants to experience a two-phase virtual embodying (i.e., another body) in MR, highlighting the complex interplay between human agency, body ownership, and self-location. Initially, the participant manipulates their virtual body through various inputs or chooses AI-generated movements. Then, the interactive MR experience leads to an immersive phase where an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) extends their sensory perceptions, embodying the virtual body's perspective. ``Surrealism Me'' confronts the concept of ``playing against the apparatus'' by offering an interactive milieu where human and AI collaboratively explore the program's capacity limitation, thereby challenging and exhausting the potential of technology. This process further critically examines the obfuscating nature of media; as the MR medium breaks down, the work reveals the constructed nature of media-projected realities, prompting a reevaluation of media's role and influence on our perception. By navigating the boundary between real and virtual, ``Surrealism Me'' fosters a critical discourse on media's dominance and advocates for a nuanced understanding of Flusserian freedom, encouraging participants to question and reflect on the authentic and mediated experiences of reality.