The Love Letter
Interactive Installation | Speculative Design | Storytelling
Individual Project (Dec. 2024 - Mar. 2025)
A set of interactive exhibitory designs that speculate and reflect on a future where all human communication is replaced by algorithms that deliver meanings in a perfect and accurate way.
There are two parts of the exhibition:
One follows the Resistance—a movement that values imperfection, ambiguity, and the raw, fleeting expressions of human connection.
The other follows the path of the Government, where communication is optimised, misunderstandings are erased, and emotions are distilled into perfect clarity.
Both offer a form of love.
Both leave behind traces of meaning.
“Computers are becoming invisible. They shrink and hide. They lurk under the skin and dissolve in the cloud. We observe the process like an eclipse of the sun, partly scared, partly overwhelmed. We divide into camps and fight about the advantages and dangers of the ubiquitous. But whatever side we take—we do acknowledge the significance of the moment.”
(Sound Available)
Rationale
Love Letter Collection
Insights
Through research and brainstorming, I recognized that bubbles can be an expressive way to communicate ambiguity and imperfection, due to their changeability and fragility. The input may include touches, subtle pressure changes, and small movements—highlighting the trivial yet meaningful gestures. Whereas the digital side would be clean, automated and accurate. The design and narrative need to create a contrast between the digital and physical realms.
Audience Journey Flow
Development and Fabrication
The
Government
VR Video (made in Blender)
Each of the glass balls contains an object that represents a shared memory between a couple, for example, a pot of flowers they plant together. In this VR video, the user would see a report generated that measures and rates the experiences and feelings, and the report will be sent to the receiver.
The scene is designed to represent logical, clear and perfection.
The Resistance
Experimenting Materials
User Testing
Example of sound feedback when ‘writing’ the love letter:
Computation
Circuit
PCB
Code
Construction
Visitor Instruction Booklet
Final Exhibition
Background Audio:
Example of Letters
Which one would you choose?
Citation
https://github.com/dpt/MarbleRunKit