Deep Breath
Deep Breaths is an interactive projection-mapping installation, part of overlays exhibition, created for a mental health-focused organization. It turns calm, shared breathing into a physical experience by combining subtle mechanical motion with responsive, real-time visuals. The core idea is simple: when people slow down together, the feeling of calm becomes stronger and more tangible.
2026
3 Months
Exhibition
Team
Seymur Mammadov
Leila Orynbayeva
Veronika Poštrak
Florian Prassé
Valerie Schwarz
Challenge
The biggest challenges were not only building the installation, but making it stable, readable, and repeatable in an exhibition setting:
Hardware stability (servo dropouts). Motors stopped responding after short runtimes and only recovered after restarting. We iterated on the code repeatedly and ultimately stabilized the system using a servo timer library solved late at night right before exhibition.
Toolchain coordination and startup reliability. The system depended on a specific startup order (Arduino → serial check in Pure Data → TouchDesigner). In some cases, resets were needed, so we optimized the process to reduce friction during setup.
TouchDesigner pipeline complexity: We had to construct a full real-time system: scene setup (geometry, camera/light, environment), particle behaviors and spatial positioning, and then the control layer that ingests Arduino data and turns it into smooth, reliable transitions. That meant long math chains for scaling, clamping, blending, and state switching so each user zone fades in/out cleanly, stays controllable, and never lags, flickers, or gets stuck during continuous interaction.
Results
The final installation exceeded expectations in both usability and audience response. Visitors approached without instruction, quickly understood how interaction worked, and stayed long enough to explore multiple states. Many described the experience as calming and grounding. The strongest validation came from the social mechanic: full activation required multiple people, which naturally triggered conversations between strangers and created shared moments in the exhibition space.
Final Project
First Sketches
Development Process
Custom Parts
Touch Designer
Stack
Conclusion
Deep Breaths demonstrates how physical computing and interactive media can support mental well-being through collective experience. By designing for progressive activation, clear feedback, and shared control, the installation turns a simple gesture, approaching and breathing into something relational. For me, the project was a deep exercise in systems thinking: combining mechanics, sensing, software, and projection into one coherent experience that remains stable under real exhibition conditions.