Earth Controls
This interactive virtual reality artwork investigates how ecological instability can be communicated through embodied experience and collaborative interaction. The piece is designed for two participants who engage with the system from different roles: one occupies the immersive VR environment, while the other manipulates an external interface that directly influences the state of a simulated ecosystem.
The external interface consists of two physical dials, each controlling a parameter of a discrete logistic equation. This equation was chosen because of its well-documented ability to model a wide range of ecological states—from stable equilibrium to periodic oscillations and chaotic regimes—using only minimal inputs. By exposing these parameters directly to the second participant, the artwork highlights how delicate the boundary is between order and instability in natural systems.
Small adjustments to either dial can alter the system’s trajectory, demonstrating the sensitive dependence on initial conditions characteristic of nonlinear dynamical systems. The division of labor between two participants highlights the distributed nature of environmental decision-making, in which actions taken by one agent can produce consequences experienced by others.
Inside the virtual world, the ecosystem’s behavior is represented through a sequence of environmental scenes that respond directly to the logistic simulation. When parameters remain near stable values, the VR environment presents relatively calm and balanced conditions. As parameters shift toward values that induce oscillatory or chaotic behavior, the environment begins to display the types of extreme events that are increasingly common in real-world climate scenarios. These include intense rainfall, flooding, high-velocity winds, and progressive desertification. Each event is visually and sonically represented, and the haptic vest amplifies these transformations through changes in vibration intensity and frequency, linking environmental instability to physical perception.
Small adjustments to either dial can alter the system’s trajectory, demonstrating the sensitive dependence on initial conditions characteristic of nonlinear dynamical systems. The division of labor between two participants highlights the distributed nature of environmental decision-making, in which actions taken by one agent can produce consequences experienced by others.
Inside the virtual world, the ecosystem’s behavior is represented through a sequence of environmental scenes that respond directly to the logistic simulation. When parameters remain near stable values, the VR environment presents relatively calm and balanced conditions. As parameters shift toward values that induce oscillatory or chaotic behavior, the environment begins to display the types of extreme events that are increasingly common in real-world climate scenarios. These include intense rainfall, flooding, high-velocity winds, and progressive desertification. Each event is visually and sonically represented, and the haptic vest amplifies these transformations through changes in vibration intensity and frequency, linking environmental instability to physical perception.