Alchimia: A Non-Touch Interactive Artwork

This article provides insights on an experimental artwork using a non-touch interaction interface. It details the use of a generative figurative approach and describes the audio-visual psychological and relational impact on the target-audience, through direct trial, observation and adaptation, in a first-person account, since authorship is shared between article and artwork. Alchimia is an interactive installation in which a single viewer/interactor (i.e.: the one who interacts with the artefact) stands in front of a screen and a webcam, and by facial detection and simultaneous processing of pre-prepared images and sounds, a virtual mirror space of constant audio-visual stimuli is created. The artwork aims at questioning personal representation, focusing on the face, altering the expression and gender, assigning masks, making the facial traits diffuse, mixed, unexpected, in search of another self, while allowing for self-discovery and playfulness – or intimidation – by means of a simple, familiar and almost invisible interface: the webcam.