This project uses technology to challenge how an individual perceives and interacts with others within their proximal space. Traditionally, we experience a space and our surroundings on a personal level. In contrast, this proposal allows users to experience space from another person’s point of view. In doing so, patrons will step into the third person to examine themselves, their immediate surroundings, and their community as a collection of experiences activated by the general populace.
The resulting installation allows citizens of Palo Alto to form a greater connection with one another through an understanding that we all participate in making a space, neighborhood, and community. Analogous to Gilbert Ryle’s use of the phrase in critiquing mind-body dualism, this physical demonstration of the “Ghost in the Machine” highlights our connection to one another in an interactive and tangible way.