“Be the psychedelic change you wish to see in the world”
California’s landscape is multifaceted and maybe even idiosyncratic - the ocean, forest, and mountains sharply contrast and blend into each other at the same location. Looking at a Californian vista feels like psychedelic change at times. To highlight the marvel and raise awareness of this unique landscape, the student team sought to immerse their fellow classmates in a replicated environment.
Psychedelic Change is an installation which displays two images of California’s landscape - a redwood forest and an ocean cliff - next to each other. The user is able to “paint” over the image juxtaposition using a range of colors, truly very psychedelic. In accompaniment, sounds of branches breaking and ocean waves crashing play while the person moves in front of the Californian landscape. The installation is meant to be entertaining yet the team also encourages participants to reflect on how they’re literally and/or metaphorically “painting away” their own local environment through this experience.
To generate the paint over effect, the team used the OpticalFlow library within Processing. The library was very apt in generating the psychedelic color palette and utilizing the laptop camera to recognize user movement. The audio effect was built based upon user positioning in front of a separate iPhone camera and using pre-existing sounds. Setting up the installation components was just as important, if not more so than the experience. The projector, screen, cameras, laptops, and speakers had to work in tandem for the installation to feel greater than a sum of its parts. The team hopes Psychedelic Change can extend beyond California and serve a positive force to maintain the awe of nature.
