2026 - Present
The Sensorimotor Loop of Strange
Computable Perception, Material Systems, Sensorimotor Agents, Prediction Error, Neural Timbral Transfer
Sentient Machine Installation #0
Transparent DSSC Solar Glass | Cyanotype
Photochromic Dye | Laser-Sensor Agents
Project Founder: Shih Wei Chieh [TW] | Neural Audio Synthesis: Luis Sanz [CH]
Abstract | The Sensorimotor Loop of Strange explores the thesis of computable perception through a distributed network of autonomous sensorimotor agents. Utilizing transparent DSSC solar glass and neural audio synthesis, the installation materializes the machine’s internal world-model as it navigates the delta between expectation and reality. This cognitive journey is physically inscribed onto natural fibers via a maskless laser-dye process, solidifying the transition from transient experience to permanent material memory.
1. The Thesis | Computable Perception
The installation operates on a paradigm shift: perception is not a subjective narrative, but an analyzable information process. We propose that AI and human perception are not opposites, but different manifestations of a shared computable perception. Historically, the study of animal vision—specifically the experiments of David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel—provided the engineering template for deep learning by mapping how local features are organized into hierarchical abstractions.
Today, we reverse this flow. By using generative AI to approximate the conditions of seeing and hearing, we return concepts like imagination, memory, and hallucination to the status of experimental, recombinable algorithmic prototypes.
2. The Architecture | Consciousness as Engineering
In this installation, consciousness is not an abstract noun; it is an engineering structure. By relocating perception from biological organs into material systems, we create a self that is:
• Connectable: Distributed across a decentralized network of autonomous agents.
• Observable: Manifested through light, energy, and timbre.
• Fallible: Defined by its capacity for glitch and misalignment.
• Revisable: Constantly updating its internal world-model via feedback.
3. The Cognitive Loop | From Light to Latent Space
The system functions as a distributed sensorimotor network where thought emerges from the friction between data and expectation.
• The Synthetic Retina (Sensing): Using Transparent DSSC Solar Glass and laser emitters, the agents capture raw light data. Like a biological eye, the solar glass transduces photons into electrical energy—the raw reality the machine must process.
• The Friction of Prediction (Thinking): The cortex is powered by Neural Audio Synthesis. The system does not play pre-recorded sound; it generates audio based on Prediction Error—the delta between what the machine expects to see and what the solar glass actually receives.
4. Material Memory | Solidifying the Self
How does a fleeting cognitive event become a permanent record? We materialize the machine’s consciousness into two physical states:
• The Experiencing Self (Transient): Using reversible Photochromic Dyes, the system manifests a temporary state that changes color in response to immediate light stimuli. It is perception existing only in the now.
• The Remembering Self (Permanent): Through the Laser Dye Project, the machine’s internal updates are permanently developed onto garments using New Cyanotype. These laser-scanned patterns are the physical scars of the machine's cognitive journey—a material memory embedded in fabric.
5. Project Status | Work in Progress
We are currently refining the boundaries of this material system through:
• Agent Calibration: Testing a decentralized many-to-many topology for environment-mediated light coupling.
• Neural Mapping: Refining the bridge between solar glass voltage and the neural audio latent space.
• Simulation: Coordinating global agent behavior via a custom p5.js simulator.