This work was a part of Ars Electronica Festival 2018 - ERROR : the Art of Imperfection

It is currently on display at Understanding AI, a permanent exhibition at Ars Electronica Center(2019~)

Developed with funds generously given through ZER01NE creative platform by Hyundai Motor Company.

Exhibition funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union

Volumetric Data Collector(2018) is a collaborative work of three Seoul-based artists to focus on the non-intended use of industrial technology through various artistic approaches and experiments to explore uncharted possibilities. As a part of this attempt, Volumetric Data Collector is built on the simple idea of mobilizing a LiDAR sensor – a 3D laser sensor that is commonly implemented on autonomous vehicles – as an extended sensory organ of a human body.

It is an experiment for translating between a LiDAR sensor and a human sensor, and from three-dimensional point cloud to visual data. A LiDAR sensor and a visual output (a display monitor) as well as peripheral devices in a portable unit, is worn and carried to places in and around Seoul by walk where otherwise inaccessible. Taken out of its intended purpose, this (in)efficient device is combined with human mobility, performing a simple task of collecting three-dimensional point cloud of the surroundings of the person wearing it. For the course of three days, we had been able to collect volumetric data within Seoul’s historic places including a high security inner-city mountain, alleys of an old electronics market and a now-defunct prison with a tragic past. This seemingly parasitic device immediately visualizes three-dimensional spatial information onto the display monitor on the carrier’s back.

This experiment shifts LiDAR’s senses into a completely different perspective by de/re-purposing the technology’s intended function and integrating human mobility with. We choose to approach this experiment with as a performative manner, to perceive the world through how potent the spatial sensing technology could be as a counterpart of human senses. We wanted to examine the transformation of when machine-expanded senses coincide with other human senses and how those non-human senses define the physical space within a city, thus influencing human perception.