Altered Realities

Altered Realities is an interactive installation that reimagines immersive media as a shared, contemplative experience beyond the isolating nature of head-mounted displays. Inspired by Neo-Psychedelia, it transforms participants’ reflections into surreal, generative dreamscapes, inviting both introspection and social connection within a physical space.

Blending depth sensing and real-time graphics, the project enables participants, observers, and co-creators to engage meaningfully and collectively. Showcased in galleries or experiential events, Altered Realities challenges conventional XR by proving that immersive design can be both personal and socially aware.

Project Deliverable: NYU Master’s Thesis Project

Industry: Real-Time Interactive Installation Design

Responsibilities: Creative Direction / TouchDesigner Programming / Hardware Configuration + Install

Awards & Recongitions; NYU Tandon Commencement and Achievement Award for Excellence in Technical Development / NYU Tandon Research Excellence Exhibit Selectee for Emerging Media

Project Research

Prior to developing the installation, research focused on trends and limitations in the XR and immersive experience industries, highlighting the stagnation of the VR headset market alongside the rapid growth of location-based and contemplative immersive exhibitions. This informed a design approach that emphasizes shared, socially aware, and introspective interactions without relying on isolating head-mounted devices.

Initial Workflow

The workflow begins with the Orbbec depth camera, which captures the participant’s body as depth data and visualizes it as a live point cloud in the Orbbec viewer. This point cloud data is then streamed into TouchDesigner, where it is processed in real time and transformed into a dynamic 3D scene. In TouchDesigner, each point of the cloud is converted into cube geometry, creating a surreal, shifting field of cubes that respond to the participant’s movements and presence within the installation.

Effects & Triggers

The visual effects in the installation transform the participant’s geometry through a variety of real-time manipulations, altering colors, patterns, and motion to create an ever-changing, immersive experience. These effects are controlled remotely via an iPad interface using OSC (Open Sound Control), allowing the developer to trigger, adjust, and blend different visual states live, guiding the experience dynamically as participants interact with the installation.

Delay Slices

Particle Emitter

Environment Color Shift

Orb Field

Face-Tracked Perspective Shift

Pixel Sorting

Freeze Body

Body Color Shift

Touch OSC IPad Control

Visualizing a Shared Physical XR Space

The idea behind creating a shared immersive space is to leverage XR technologies to blend the introspective qualities of immersive media with the social awareness of a collective environment. By moving beyond isolating head-mounted devices, this approach allows participants and observers to experience and engage together, fostering connection, conversation, and a sense of presence while still enabling personal, meaningful interaction with the work.

Observe

Observers can stand around the experience and watch the participant's interaction without visually intruding them

Participate

Observers can stand around the experience and watch the participant's interaction without visually intruding them

Guide

The developer leads as the primary VJ, with users joining as secondary performers whose inputs create unique, real-time variations shaped by the developer’s live direction

Potential Applications

Altered Realities has potential applications across a range of contexts that value immersive engagement and shared experience by encouraging introspection, presence, and self-awareness in communal settings. Its design invites participants to confront and explore their own image and movement in a dreamlike digital space, making it a powerful tool for experiential storytelling, emotional exploration, and sensory therapy.

Immersive Digital Galleries

Stand-alone installation that can be scaled to fit an immersive gallery’s needs, such as Mercer Labs or Inter, to engage with visitors

Brand Activated Experiences

Custom features and graphics tailored to a brand’s identity hosted in venues such as tradeshows or pop-up experiential events

Showcase

Altered Realities was showcased as part of the NYU IDM Spring 2025 Showcase, where I presented my immersive installation to the public alongside other innovative works in emerging media. The project was also selected for the NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s 2025 Research Excellence Exhibit as a featured piece in the Emerging Media category, highlighting its creative and technical contribution to the field.

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