Freelance
Art Direction
Installations
Experiential Design
2023
The installation guides visitors on a meditative journey through the stages of sleep using visuals, sound, light, and movement. Inspired by the Sandman from European folklore, CYCLES visualizes sleep as flowing sand particles that respond to brainwave frequencies measured during each stage of sleep, transforming scientific data into an abstract, infinite generative art piece.
Created in collaboration with researchers from ETH Zurich and Tohoku University, it centers around the Somnomat—a robotic bed designed to study sleep patterns and brain activity.
The challenge was to design a booth that would attract and captivate the large audience at the ICRA Expo, the world’s leading robotics science event. While the technological advancements of the SOMNOMAT bed are remarkable, visually it doesn’t stand out like the AI powered humanoid robots from teams like Boston Dynamics, etc.
My goal was to find a unique way to draw attention and compete with these companies by creating a compelling experience that showcased the bed’s advanced features in an engaging manner.
To achieve these objectives, I designed an immersive sensory experience incorporating animation, light design, an original score, and the bed’s movements. From the outside, visitors encountered a black box that evoked mystery and exclusivity, sparking their curiosity and drawing considerable attention. Crowds lined up for the experience, and multiple magazines, including the industry-leading IEEE Spectrum, covered it, contributing to its success.
The real highlight, however, was when several visitors actually fell asleep during the experience—some for as long as 60 to 90 minutes. Due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback, there are now discussions about expanding CYCLES to CES in Las Vegas in 2026.
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