Emotion Integrated Art

2023

From Heartbeat to Brushstroke: Translating Artist Chu Hing Wah’s Emotions into Immersive Digital Art

​Nature of Event:	Public Art Installation / Multi-month Exhibition
Products Used:	Upmood Band, Upmood Insight
Metrics Collected:	HRV, Valence level, Mood, Stress level

Airside is a prominent flagship mixed-use development and shopping destination in Kai Tak, Hong Kong, known for its commitment to "Wholeness" and for integrating arts and culture into the urban experience. To celebrate the intersection of local heritage and modern innovation, Airside commissioned a unique collaborative project titled "The City and I."

The project sought to capture the intangible essence of the creative process by monitoring the emotional journey of renowned contemporary artist Chu Hing Wah. By partnering with Upmood, the project aimed to turn the artist’s internal physiological responses into a data source that would breathe life into a large-scale digital art installation, making the invisible connection between the artist and his city visible to the public. More details on the exhibition can be found here: https://www.airside.com.hk/experience/arts/the-city-and-i

Capturing the Creative Pulse

The process began with Chu Hing Wah, a celebrated artist known for his soulful depictions of Hong Kong life. As Chu worked on his paintings, he wore Upmood sensors to monitor his Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and emotional states. Upmood’s technology captured the subtle shifts in his mood—ranging from deep focus to creative excitement—as he translated his memories of the city onto the canvas.

This emotional data was then handed over to new media artist Keith Lam. Using the biometric datasets captured by Upmood, Lam recreated an animated, digital version of Chu’s art piece. The resulting digital installation was not just a moving picture; it was a data-driven recreation where the movements and transitions of the digital art were dictated by the actual emotions Chu felt during the original creation process.

Image courtesy of Airside (the City and I)

Why Upmood?

Upmood provided the essential bridge between human sentiment and digital medium, offering a unique way to quantify the artistic experience.

To translate a painter's feelings into a digital installation without interfering with the creative flow, the project utilized Upmood’s ability to measure the physiological drivers of the creative process discreetly. Upmood Insight provided the high-fidelity data logs necessary for Keith Lam to map specific emotional peaks to visual animations. This capability turned a subjective artistic moment into a tangible "emotional script" that could be used for advanced digital rendering, ensuring the final installation at Airside was a true reflection of the artist’s inner world.

Key Outcomes and Results 

The collaboration resulted in a landmark exhibition at Airside that successfully translated complex biological data into a multi-sensory experience, allowing the public to "feel" the artist's journey in a tangible way. By monitoring Chu Hing Wah's internal state, the project provided a validated creative impact, confirming the artist's deep emotional immersion and adding a scientific layer to the appreciation of his work. Furthermore, the installation established a new medium for storytelling in the creative arts, proving that emotion monitoring can serve as a robust tool for new media artists to create responsive, high-tech installations that enhance public engagement with traditional art.

Conclusion

The "The City and I" project at Airside showcased the profound potential of Upmood in the creative arts. By capturing the heartbeat of a local master and transforming it into an immersive digital experience, Upmood helped bridge the gap between generations, mediums, and the city itself. This partnership demonstrates how developers and artists can use emotion monitoring to create meaningful, data-driven experiences that redefine the boundaries of public art.

Thank you!

We extend our sincere thanks to Airside (Nan Fung Group) for their visionary commission, and to Chu Hing Wah and Keith Lam for their incredible collaboration and participation in this groundbreaking project.

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