XXXY: The Ascent (2011-Present) What you’re looking at is mind-controlled levitation in the form of a performance/installation art piece. I came across this project before contacting EMPAC’s director, Johannes Goebel, for a Q&A. The Ascent is both art and science, combining a myriad of technology. It was featured on The Creators Project’s blog where Kevin Holmes explained: Artist XXXY’s, or Yehuda Duenyas, project Ascent is a flight simulator or “part speculative simulator, part internal spiritual experience, part renaissance spectacle, part interactive ride” that allows an individual to levitate off the ground using the power of their mind. In what the artist says is a “mash-up of theatre, ride-attraction, installation, game, and iconic spiritual simulation” the experience invites users to launch themselves 30 feet into the air using electroencephalography (EEG), which is a process that records electrical activity from neurons in the brain. This information is then processed through Duenyas’ custom software, called the Infinity System, which communicates using Open Sound Control (OSC) with the StageTech rigging console, lifting the user high into the air. It even let’s you unlock “dynamic content,” like the eruption of a confetti canon or hearing James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” depending on how skilled your ascension is. More than anything, The Ascent is a participatory experience (beyond the technology) as much as it is an exercise in controlling your thoughts through meditation. It’s a dream come true for comic book and science fiction fans! Check out the project website for more. Credit: Image courtesy of Yehuda Duenyas. High-res

XXXY: The Ascent (2011-Present)

What you’re looking at is mind-controlled levitation in the form of a performance/installation art piece. I came across this project before contacting EMPAC’s director, Johannes Goebel, for a Q&A. The Ascent is both art and science, combining a myriad of technology. It was featured on The Creators Project’s blog where Kevin Holmes explained:

Artist XXXY’s, or Yehuda Duenyas, project Ascent is a flight simulator or “part speculative simulator, part internal spiritual experience, part renaissance spectacle, part interactive ride” that allows an individual to levitate off the ground using the power of their mind. In what the artist says is a “mash-up of theatre, ride-attraction, installation, game, and iconic spiritual simulation” the experience invites users to launch themselves 30 feet into the air using electroencephalography (EEG), which is a process that records electrical activity from neurons in the brain. This information is then processed through Duenyas’ custom software, called the Infinity System, which communicates using Open Sound Control (OSC) with the StageTech rigging console, lifting the user high into the air. It even let’s you unlock “dynamic content,” like the eruption of a confetti canon or hearing James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” depending on how skilled your ascension is.

More than anything, The Ascent is a participatory experience (beyond the technology) as much as it is an exercise in controlling your thoughts through meditation. It’s a dream come true for comic book and science fiction fans! Check out the project website for more.

Credit: Image courtesy of Yehuda Duenyas.