We work from home. We are surveilled at work. The line between the two has collapsed.
SAFE SPACE makes that relationship visible. It's a handmade fabric canopy, suspended in the home office, large enough for one person and a chair. Inside, a projector casts AI-generated images onto the walls. A microphone listens on your answers from the interview.
The piece grows from two research questions. Armin asks: What are we willing to give up to enjoy the benefits of AI at work?
Madlen asks: How does the meaning of home change in times of impermanence? Together they point at the same problem: the home office is both refuge and workplace, both private and monitored.
The canopy exaggerates this contradiction. It offers a temporary shelter. It also records everything you say.
Regarding the challenge of Cognitive Orgies II this project defines intelligences and communication as the following:
- Human Spatial Intelligence (embodied knowledge of dwelling) communicates with computational intelligence (LLM processing) through voice to generate spatial visuals and images.
- Voice descriptions of a workspace at home are processed by an LLM that generates real-time 3D visualizations in TouchDesigner.
This setup communicates the hypothesis "We shape space and space shapes us."
When a participant enters the canopy, they find an Phone on a small table or chair. The screen greets them:
"You're in a private space. Speak freely. Your voice will be heard, but your image is shielded. Answer each question aloud."
They speak their answers. As they talk, two things happen simultaneously.
Their words are transcribed by AI and used as a prompt to generate a room image, projected live onto the canopy fabric around them. Describe a forest cabin: a forest cabin appears. Describe your actual desk: that appears too.
At the same time, the volume and pace of their voice controls the pixelation of a live camera feed. The more they speak, the more their image breaks apart.
Six questions guide the experience. They start warm with What does your ideal workspace look like? and move toward colder, more transactional territory. The final question is the ethical one:
"If your employer would pay for your apartment, would you trade your privacy for financial security?"
Then: "You may exit. The canopy provided temporary refuge. Thank you."
The participant leaves. The monitored workspace is still there.
This intervention serves to make visible the tension and discrepancies between lived realities and the physical built environment. This goes back to the core question how "How does our behaviour adapt to space, and how does space adapt to our behaviour?".
The system has three components working together:
1 The Experience — an Smartphone running a Typeform that guides the participant through the experience and triggers the audio recording and visual projection.
2 The Canopy — physical fabric structure, the projection surface and shelter.
3 The Projection — a live composite of AI-generated room images and a pixelated webcam feed, driven by the participant's voice.
Step 1 Capture Audio and Video
The smartphone connects to the laptop via the Camo app, which presents it as both a webcam and an audio input device wireless.
Inside TouchDesigner, an Audio Device In CHOP captures the live audio stream. An Audio Record DAT saves the stream in chunks, when the subject stopped talking, into a local recordings/ folder. The audio footages are sent to OpenAI Whisper 1.0 with direct integration, that sends back the transcript in a Text DAT. That Text DAT serves as an input for a DreamDiffusion node that generates images real-time.
Step 2 Audio Reactivity (Pixelation)
While the audio is being recorded, it is also analyzed in real time.
An Audio Analyze CHOP (set to RMS) measures the volume level and outputs a normalized 0–1 value. This value is exported directly as a parameter into a Pixelate TOP applied to the live video feed.
The result: silence shows a clear image of the participant. Speech breaks it apart. The visual metaphor matches the conceptual one, the more you reveal, the more you disappear.
References and Examples Explored:https://github.com/modem-works/dream-recorder?tab=readme-ov-file
https://github.com/cumulo-autumn/StreamDiffusion
https://labs.google/projectgenie
https://github.com/openai/shap-e
https://www.instagram.com/aview.fromabridge/
Build the CanopyThis canopy is designed to be made by anyone. No matching fabrics required. Imperfection is the point.
Step 1: Gather Your Fabrics
Collect mismatched fabrics, old curtains, bedsheets, upholstery offcuts, whatever you have. Patchwork is not just acceptable here, it's intentional. The canopy should look handmade and lived-in.
Step 2: Cut the Panels
Cut 4 panels at 1.5m × 3m each. Cut 1 top square at 1m × 1m.
✂️ Add 1cm seam allowance on all edges before cutting.
Step 4: Attach the Top Square
Pin the 1m × 1m square centred to the top edge of the joined panels. Sew with right sides together.
Step 5: Sew the Ties
Make 8 fabric ties from strips of leftover fabric. Attach them on the inside:
- 4 ties at each corner
- 4 ties at each midpoint of each side
These lash the canopy to the internal frame.
Step 6: Build the Frame
Cut 4 pieces to 1m each from wood dowels, plastic pipes, or broom handles. Join them into a square using screws, cable ties, or duct tape.
(maybe insert picture of frame assembled)
Step 7: Attach Frame to Canopy
Thread the ties through the frame and knot them firmly. The frame sits inside the top of the canopy, creating the open shape.
Step 8: Reinforce the Top Hole
Cut a small hole in the centre of the top square. Your hanging rope will pass through here.
✂️ Reinforce the edge with a buttonhole stitch by hand, or use iron-on interfacing and a metal grommet for extra strength.
Step 9: Find a High Point
Find a ceiling hook, overhead beam, cable bridge, or strong tree branch. Thread your rope through the top hole and tie a secure knot. A bowline works well.
Step 10: Raise It
Pull the rope. Adjust until it hangs evenly and the fabric falls open around a person-sized space inside.
Step 11 — Get In. Be Safe.
Crawl inside. Sit down. You're home. ♥
The process evolved across three interconnected design pillars: entering a physical space, interacting with the space and its devices, and using projection to transform the spatial experience.
Day 1: Establishing the Foundation
Projection Layer
Initial exploration focused on audio dynamics as the input. From this we brainstormed what the audio could alter in terms of visual. Also we thought about what other attributes of the audio, like volume, rhythm, frequency, we could use besides the literal words spoken. So the initial idea was to turn speech-into-text-into- 3D world modelling. Camera and microphone input were introduced as the primary sensing modalities, capturing presence, movement, and sound as the raw inputs to drive the system.
Entering the Space - The Physical Artefact
We explored the idea of using textile as a projection surface and to create an enclosed space to focus on the visual alterations.
At this point we did not think of the project to become more an installation style. But we were clear that using the artefact for research and data collection purposes would be great.
Day 2: First Prototype & First Testing
Projection Layer
First testing with textile projection, projecting onto fabric surfaces rather than flat walls, opened up new possibilities for how light, texture, and space could be combined.
Entering the Space
The first physical prototype revealed an immediate spatial constraint: we needed a larger space to project. So the circle hardware frame needed to become a square.
Interaction Layer
We started thinking on the experience the user would have in the canopy. A complete interaction experience was designed around a tablet interface, mapping user input from the device to projected outputs. This represented the first full end-to-end feedback loop.
⚠️ Note: The arrow in the process diagram indicates that the tablet-based interaction fed directly back into the spatial entry experience — a key design insight.
Day 3: Pivoting Based on User Testing
Entering the Space
Testing revealed that users needed an enclosed experience: the interaction needed to happen inside a defined space. The decision was made to introduce furniture to define and bound the space and to start the experience inside instead of outside and then stepping in.
Interaction Layer
First external user testing exposed a critical UX problem: participants were distracted by the tablet interface itself which also blocked the view to the projection on the textile wall. We decided to change out the tablet with a phone to control the focus and give more visual space to the projection.
Projection Layer
In response to the tablet distraction finding, we decided to:
- Incorporate spoken words as a primary interaction modality
- Simplify the visual output to reduce cognitive load and refocus attention on the spatial experience
Day 4: Pivoting Based on User Testing
Entering the Space
We put a chair to support for the projection level. For the design dialogues it would be nice to build a little night stand to fit the theme and make the space feel more cozy and whole.
Interaction Layer
The hardware of the computer is not big enough to operate AI and the video and audio through Camo App. So we decided to use the laptop inside for presentation purposes.
Projection Layer
The projection works well now with the AI integrated. The only thing is that when there is no continious
This project is not a solution. It doesn't protect anyone from actual surveillance. It can't scale. It is least accessible to those who are most surveilled. What it is: a temporary intervention. A space for recognition. A question, not an answer. The canopy offers refuge for a few minutes. Then you exit. The surveillance continues. That tension is the work.
Future DevelopmentThis project opens several directions for further exploration:
- Portability: Can the canopy become truly portable, replicable and adaptable to different contexts? How would the methodology shift if tested in different cultural conexts?
- Participant Agency: What happens if participants design their own questions, shape the archive, co-create the methodology? Can research become genuine collaboration?
- The Scaling Paradox: Intimacy requires smallness, slowness, care. Can or should this intervention scale? Or is its power precisely in its unreplicability?





Comments