Public Face II

Besides his work as a digital artist, beluga co-founder Richard Wilhelmer is driven by his curiosity about future technologies and their social impact. „Public Face II“ is one of his highly acknowledged art works. 

This eight-meter-high smiley face is a sculpture made of steel and neon tubes. It has been exhibited many times on tall, prominent rooftops like Berlin, Vienna, Jönköping, Stuttgart, …

Due to its immense scale, the sculpture becomes part of the skyline, and its varying expressions can be seen from far away. For example, it may seem angry, happy, sad, or surprised. 

The emotions conveyed by the sculpture are based on the facial expressions of local passersby, who are filmed by surveillance cameras. Their facial expressions are then analyzed by software created by the artists that uses algorithms developed by the Fraunhofer Institute.

Julius von Bismarck, Benhamin Maus, Richard Wilhelmer

http://richardwilhelmer.com/projects/public-face-vienna
http://juliusvonbismarck.com/bank/index.php?/projects/public-face-ii/

Videos:
Lindau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBstJ6_HMac
Stuttgart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2YJ4z5yuv8