[ISEA2000] Poster: CATHERINE IKAM – Interactivity and emotional computing

Poster Statement 

Catherine Ikam is working in interactive installation, digital photography and virtual reality exploring the concept of identity and artificiality, the notion of self and otherness in terms on relationship between real space and the virtual world. She creates, with Louis Fleri, three dimensional characters with realistic human faces. Those characters interact in real time with visitors into virtual reality installations according to the analogic and random behavioural patterns they gave to them. The purpose of their work is to build the illusion of an emotional encounter with a human-like artifact. In spite of the fact they know it is an artifact, they feel an emotional response to it. How do people react to each other through a hybrid mechanical and human interface? What kind of behavioural patterns do they have to give these characters to increase the illusion that people have autonomy and agency?

  • Catherine Ikam was a research fellow at MIT, and worked for French TV (Antenne 2)    ubikam.org/bio-c19om