The Research
Research shows that when people move together in synchrony, their physiology begins to align. For example, the heart rates of synchronous partners begin to beat in synchrony. Even the brain neurons of two people can fire in synchrony! (Deco, 2011) Synchronous movement is a big part of natural life. Birds flock together in synchrony (Young,2013), schools of fish swim in synchrony, and even fireflies light up in synchrony (Buck, 1965).
Why do we all move in synchrony? It helps us work together in groups (Good, 2017), and feel a sense of belonging with one another (Páez, 2014). Children who swing together feel more connected. In religious and spiritual rituals, groups of people sometimes do synchronous movements to connect. (Durkheim, 1912)
The Design
We built a structure that fuses together an experience of the natural world with a “cyber-feel”. We use wood materials that house software that allows people to see their heart rates in real time. Individuals can affect their live heart rates based on the movements they decide to do with their partners.
The structure is surrounded by plants, and a built waterfall, and lives in arguably one of the most technological spaces in Madison (the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery).
Partners wear heart rate monitors called Polar bands that capture their heart rates in real time and project them to a device using a livestream software called Pulsoid. Heart rates are measured via light sensors in the Polar bands that detect changes in blood flow. Partners can engage with the installation by tossing balls, walking across wooden stepping stones, breathing in synchrony, or standing across from their partner and mirroring each other’s movements. In this way, participants become a part of the art, moving and swirling in synchrony, feeling connected, and changing the visualization of the installation.
The Creators
Michelle Marji and Kate Davidson collaborated to create an art-science experiential piece that brings the ubiquitous nature of synchrony in the natural world, together with technology.
Many thanks to our art science collaborators who provided feedback on the project in its development, participated in demos and practice runs, supported design, flyers and more! Special thanks to Mazen Razzaq, Karina Miller, Bailey Wilde, William Wang, Weijia Liang, Elijah Lin, Aurelia Rutkowski, Yulin Tong, Shuheng Jiang, Urmi Mehta, Zain Ashraf.
A big thanks to the Kohler Fellowship for bringing us together and providing financial support for this project as well as Pulsoid for their sponsorship and technical support.
References
Buck J, Buck E. Mechanism of rhythmic synchronous flashing of fireflies. Fireflies of Southeast Asia may use anticipatory time-measuring in synchronizing their flashing. Science. 1968 Mar 22;159(3821):1319-27. doi: 10.1126/science.159.3821.1319
Deco, G., Buehlmann, A., Masquelier, T., & Hugues, E. (2011). The role of rhythmic neural synchronization in rest and task conditions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, FEBRUARY, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00004
Durkheim, É., Shelling, C., & Mellor, P. (1912). Morality and Modernity: Collective Effervescence, Homo Duplex and the Sources of Moral Action. The British Journal of Sociology. 1998;49(2). https://doi.org/10.2307/591309
Good, Arla; Choma, Becky;& Frank A. Russo (2017) Movement Synchrony Influences Intergroup Relations in a Minimal Groups Paradigm, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 39:4, 231-238, DOI: 10.1080/01973533.2017.1337015
Páez, D., & Rimé, B. (2014). Collective emotional gatherings: their impact upon identity fusion, shared beliefs, and social integration. In C. von Scheve & M. Salmela (Eds.), Collective emotions: Perspectives from psychology, philosophy, and sociology (1st ed., pp. 204–216). Oxford University Press.
Young, G. F., Scardovi, L., Cavagna, A., Giardina, I., & Leonard, N. E. (2013). Starling Flock Networks Manage Uncertainty in Consensus at Low Cost. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002894