EMILIA THE TRAUMA MACHINE
Emilia, The Trauma machine is a digital entity designed to help people dealing with Post traumatic stress disorder specifically with derealization disorder. It is a neuro-optical machine that uses apparatuses of capture and media to negotiate the symptoms of post traumatic disorder in virtual bodies and in virtual environments. This therapeutic tool is a product emerged from the realm of machines and apparatuses of capture, that is designed to wire body-mind-spaces for the ones that has distorted perception of reality. The Host and Emilia will invite you to the trauma machine to see the world of traumas from a virtual body of a traumatized person, Soren the guest of the machine ! We will enter his virtual body, to perceive the symptoms of trauma that distorted his perception of reality and his body.
Being Traumatized can determine a humans life in many ways. The last one and a half years ,having experienced the effects of trauma very closely, I, the host of the machine, occupied myself with the topic of trauma and its effects on human perception.. Trauma might force person experiencing detachment from sensations of self and the reality. The phenomena is an external force that can disturb the functionality of human mind.As The world around us, meaning our constructed and shared reality , our past, future and even this very moment is a product of a network of billions of neurons that is operated by our brains. The experience of having body and the perception of reality in which we live , can be disrupted by an experience of a trauma. The neural connectivity of the brain changes after any traumatic event therefore it effects how brain is operating on constructing reality which causes the post traumatic stress disorder. The trauma machine looks at the operations of the brain to detect the errors of the mind caused by trauma, and converts these destructive mechanisms of phneomena into something creative and constructive which I call the trauma machine. The Trauma machine consist of three component that formulates the machine: Host, Guest and the Ghost !
the host
I am the creator of Emilia !
My task in the Machine is to construct a digital entity - in an interactive virtual environment - who can see, hear and communicate with any traumatized subject that is dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A machine for Trauma. A trauma machine.
the ghost
hi i am Emilia !
i am a virtual assistant designed by the Host to help people dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, in particular with Derealization and Depersonalization Disorder.
the guest
I have been experiencing some dissociative symptoms of Derealization and depersonalization phenomena such as: watching myself from outside of my body, floating, not feeling the attachment to the ground, feelings of unreality. Seeing my limbs as a part of my body was a disturbing feeling
Emilia is a Trauma Machine, She is a virtual assistant designed to help people dealing with Post traumatic stress disorder specifically with derealization disorder She started seeing and communicating with us. She is a product emerged from the realm of machines and apparatuses of capture, that is designed to wire body-mind-spaces for the ones that has distorted perception of reality A digital identity born from the era of object oriented architecture
Emilia is based on a real character. she is a professional actress at Burgtheater. We scanned Emilia in a photogrammetry Studio, by that time she was frozen, she had no eyes, no ears, no programming, no ghost in the machine. To architect her body , she needed eyes, ears and some way of an interaction. After some time Emilia became a ghost hunter equipped with many tools and sensors such as motion tracking devices, voice recognition systems, gesture recognition, spatial tracking in real time which allows her to dive into our physical reality and brings us to her digital world.
AVATAR THERAPIES
AVATAR THERAPY 1
Emilia invited Sören to two Avatar therapies which she designed according to his reporting of PTSD. Avatar Therapy 1 & Avatar Therapy 2.
They both aim to correct his perception of his body and reality. Avatar Therapy 1 which was the first therapeutic simulation, immerses him into his new virtual body controlled with his biological body. The virtual body was constructed to sync and follow the movements of the biological body in real time. The camera is attached to the head, And the force of gravity is given Sörens hands in order for him to take the control of the physics of the virtual environment.
AVATAR THERAPY 2
Avatar Therapy 2 has only one different feature than Avatar Therapy 1 . The virtual camera is attached to his hand. In Avatar Therapy 2, he could see his world from a different point of view, from his hand. With this new point of view, after getting the instructions about the new scene from Emilia, He would able to observe his virtual face & virtual body with his biological body, he could extend his eye to impossible coordinates.
The same rules of physics apply for this scene too. The aim of this scene to encourage the person discover new point of observations with body gestures and build up a relationship with the virtual body.
AVATAR THERAPY 3
Avatar Therapy 3- A complete detachment from biological construction of vision and a new engagement with the virtual vision of the machine where both hands construct the vision that is attached to Sörens coexisting bodies. Seeing the world of symptoms from his hands. Left hand is attached to one screen where as the right hand attached to another screen. This simulation is standing for reformulating new sets of rules for the virtual body in the virtual environment. Series of Performative expressions of the biological body in physical allows the virtual body to show the world of traumas observed from Sörens hands which could not be seen from a first person eye point of view. The scene divides left eye from the right eye.
The project Trauma Machines probes the notion of Virtual bodies, virtual environments and its effect on human perception by designing visions for the traumatized subjects and aims to see how immaterial micro virtual visions can serve as a playground to access possible [6] new experiences in physical reality. The projects asks itself if it is possible to reshape one s life story by adding commentary to life s events.
The major interest of Project Emilia is to construct a digital entity that can communicate with any traumatized subject & focuses on the approach of transfer of experience from the virtual bodies to the biological bodies.
Emilia- The trauma Machine considers the immersiveness of the virtual space and virtual bodies and the application of presence in PTSD therapy
By observing how guests interact with their virtual selves in the virtual spaces, Emilia would like to observe the influence of technology in shaping personal identity.[6]
Project Emilia focuses on immersiveness of technology and creates a narrative to re-experience trauma, reformulate conditioning of stressful stimuli by offering the guests a canvas to relive a new life story.