My real time video installation, “ hidden self ” explores the concept of identity. I plan to set up a two-way mirror. When viewers stand in front of mirror, they can see their own reflection, and unexpected questions operated by a pressure sensor under the carpet comes through the speaker. The questions will be asked by various voice recordings: women, men and children.  A hidden monitor will be placed behind the mirror.  As soon as a person step on the carpet, the questions are played through the speaker and the person’s facial expression and voice will be recorded.  The viewer will answer simply “Yes, no, sometimes, etc.” According to viewers’ responses, a re-formed video images modified by the viewers’ pitches of voices which was recorded just before will be played back. They can almost simultaneously encounter their diverse facial expressions from just a moment ago. Thus viewers will experience an overlapped image of their own reflections and recorded video images. That means that the viewers can examine their own present and past at the same time.

While looking at two overlapped images, participants can reflect on their reaction; asking themselves questions such as “Why did I answer ‘No’ to that question?”  The project will encourage people to reflect on their hidden selves through the process of looking for answers about questions.

The final form of this project will be an installation.

I will use a teleo sensor and max/jitter program for real-time video processing. 

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