Can a kiss be translated into bio-feedback data? How does your kiss feel in E.E.G. data?
Artists’ duo and researchers Lancel/Maat critically investigate social-sensory connections, privacy, empathy, vulnerability and trust when mediated by Multi Brain Computer Interfaces (Multi BCI). During the performance-installations shown internationally, people are invited to experience a shared kiss as an intimately co-created, reflexive data-scape. Acts of kissing are re-orchestrated for a poetic, digital synesthetic ritual. Visitors are invited to the live kissing experiments with Multi BCI E.E.G. headsets as kissers or observers. Their brain waves are measured during the kissing. In real-time, their streaming E.E.G. data encircle them in a floor projection. The observers’ brain waves are simultaneously measured, their neurons mirroring the intimate kissing movements, resonating in their imagination. Both kissers’ and observers’ data intimately co-create an immersive visual, reflexive data-scape, translated into an algorithm for a soundscape – a ‘Kissing Data Symphony’.
Kissing Data encourages shared agency to explore, co-create and co-interpret intimate BCI data, to share dialogue and reflection on ethical design concepts. In this poetic, Multi BCI mediated social synthesis, each unique E.E.G. data soundscape is saved to be downloaded and appropriated by all visitors.

Credits:
Sound artist: Tijs Ham (NL/NO)
Developed and supported with partners: Mondriaan Foundation, Baltan Laboratories Eindhoven, STEIM Amsterdam, Waag Society Amsterdam ‘Hack the Brain’ Horizon 2020 research programme of the European Union; Public Art Lab / Connecting Cities Network Berlin; TASML Tsinghua University Beijing. The Work was realized within the framework of the EMAP/ EMARE programme at the RIXC Center for New Media Culture in Riga with support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Research partners: TU Twente & ‘Dutch Touch Group’; University of Amsterdam ‘NeuroCultures Group’; University of applied science Vienna ‘Digital Synaesthesia Group’; Tsinghua University Beijing, Neuro-engineering department; TNO Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research; NWO The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.
This interdisciplinary research is part of Lancel’s PhD trajectory at the TU Delft ‘Participatory Systems Initiative’.
Sponsoring: Fourtress, Holst Center and Phillips Eindhoven; Eagle Science Amsterdam.

Exhibited at:

E.E.G. Kiss as a live performance @ Kuenstlerforum Bonn, 8/3–9/3 2019

Shared Senses, Intimate Data Symphony' @ ISEA 2019 Gwangju, South Korea, 21/6–28/6 2019

Awards:

TASIE 2019, Wu Guanzhong Art & Science Innovation Prize, by Tsinghua University Beijing, National Museum of China.
Golden Calf Nomination, Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) Interactive 2019
GAAC Global Art & A.I. Competition 2019 Award China