Briefly describe the interactive technology you experienced. Provide context about what it is, how it works, and its intended purpose.
An interactive technology that I’ve experienced is the MediaPipe framework, which is open-sourced by Google. It provides pre-trained models and customizable libraries for tasks like face and pose detection, hand tracking, and object detection, which can then be integrated into a variety of applications. Beyond its technical capabilities, MediaPipe represents a shift toward making machine learning tools more accessible for artists, designers, and developers who want to experiment with interaction in new ways. Many in the creative coding and interactive design community have adopted it to prototype projects that bring computer vision into everyday contexts, from AR filters to interactive installations.
I first encountered MediaPipe in a Creative Coding class during undergrad, where I experimented with using hand tracking to trigger different sounds based on specific gestures. At the time, it felt magical to see a simple movement of my hand translate into sound in real time. What began as a classroom experiment eventually grew into my Senior Thesis exhibition, City Glitch, where I integrated MediaPipe with TouchDesigner. For that project, I invited participants to create their own soundscapes based on what I called “sound glitches” from my own life: small, repetitive urban occurrences I’ve always noticed and thought of as slightly abnormal. Watching an audience interact with the installation for the first time was transformative. People not only engaged playfully with the system but also started to interpret the glitches in their own way, which opened up conversations I hadn’t expected.
This was my first time building something for an audience at that scale, and the overwhelmingly positive reception gave me confidence that my perspective as an artist had value when shared through technology. The process was not without challenges—there were moments of technical frustration, debugging sessions that stretched late into the night, and the learning curve of merging MediaPipe’s models with TouchDesigner’s visual programming environment. Yet those challenges ultimately deepened my understanding of interaction design: that usability, responsiveness, and feedback are just as critical as artistic concept.
All in all, the outcome of learning and utilizing MediaPipe has played a significant role in shaping my career so far. It didn’t just give me a toolset, it gave me a sense of possibility. It’s the reason why I now confidently call myself an artist and why I feel driven to continue creating interactive work that blends technology with personal perspective. That early experience with MediaPipe made clear to me how powerful it can be to transform fleeting, everyday glitches into immersive encounters. It’s also one of the main reasons I’m here now at ITP: to keep exploring these tools, refine my voice as a creator, and continue making work that turns curiosity into shared experience.