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ART & TECHNOLOGY

DIGITAL IDENTITY Interview by Charlotte Specht Photos courtesy of Nobumichi Asai

We are on the horizon of a new age in virtual reality. Japanese media artist Nobumichi Asai and his team have visualized real-time face tracking and 3D projection installations they imagine as the future of ‘face-hacking’. Being able to transform faces entirely, Nobumichi paves the way for a completely new reinterpretation of the human form and our understanding of what the face traditionally used to be. Face-mapping technology already exists, often used in marketing initiatives. But Nobumichi wanted to focus on the expression of beauty instead of technological gimmicks. Traditional Japanese aesthetics play a particularly significant role in his work since Western influences have almost completely replaced “kesho”, the Japanese expression for make-up, Japan’s unique set of aesthetic ideals that have been passed on through generations. Nobumichi Asai explains what face-tracking is and how it works.