Octocom

Photo description: Installation side view

Octocom is an interactive installation that explores alternative methods of digital communication by requiring participants to synchronize their biofeedback in order to transmit and receive messages. The project challenges the pervasive reliance on screens and displays in modern communication, instead proposing a more physical, embodied interface that responds to human physiology rather than demanding our attention through glowing rectangles. Digital communication typically strips away the nuanced emotional cues of physical interactions such as facial expressions, body language, and vocal intonations that help us connect with others' emotional states. Rather than adding another screen to solve this problem, Octocom explores invisible technology that adapts to users, creating a more natural and humane method of connection.

Inspired by Octavia Butler's explorations of symbiotic communication and biological connection, I designed a biometric feedback system that modulates audio clarity based on pulse synchronization featuring a series of organic tentacle-like forms that function as both microphones and speakers, serving as metaphors for biological connection. To send a message, a participant inserts their finger into a speaker-tentacle, which detects their pulse and begins recording an audio message. The receiver must then synchronize their own pulse with the sender's by inserting their finger into another tentacle. When the pulses align, the message plays clearly; when they don't match, the audio becomes increasingly distorted.

The project represents a conscious move away from screen-based thinking toward more tangible interfaces that can sense, respond, and adapt. Drawing inspiration from sci-fi visions in films like eXistenZ and Brazil, where communication happens through physical, evolved interfaces rather than ubiquitous displays, Octocom imagines technology that serves human connection rather than obstructing it.

Photo description: detail of the tentacle-speaker form.

Octocom Concept Drawing

Octocom was exhibited at the Transpositions group show, featuring works of 15 emergent multimedia designers. The project represents an early exploration into non-traditional communication methods, investigating how technology can facilitate deeper human connection by requiring physical and emotional synchronization rather than simply transmitting information.