Gaze to the Stars

The project began with the design of an immersive pod, powered by large language models, computer vision, and voice synthesis. Inside this environment, we invited 200 volunteers to share both the subtle movements of their eyes and their personal stories—the dreams, aspirations, and struggles that shape their lives. The pod experience was carefully designed to be both mindful and therapeutic, creating a space where participants could slow down, reflect, and open up. More than a technical instrument, the sensory pod functioned as an intimate chamber for storytelling, where each encounter blended human vulnerability with computational presence.

Inside the pod, participants encountered the Dome itself, embodied as a wise, 109-year-old voice who has witnessed generations of the MIT community. Through a conversation guided by the AI system, participants were gently prompted with questions such as: “What are you longing for?” or “What do you dream of becoming?” The Dome shared anonymized stories from others to build trust, offered real-time feedback, and encouraged participants to go deeper into their personal narratives. Sessions lasted only a few minutes, yet each exchange generated both a high-resolution eye recording and a short summary of their words.

Each story was then translated into Braille and woven into the participant’s iris as a dynamic particle system. These particles, rendered around the pupil in shifting constellations, responded to the subtle movements of the eye—turning personal reflections into living visual codes. The result was both intimate and abstract: a secret held within each gaze, yet visible at architectural scale when projected.

Then, on 12-13-14 March 2025, these eyes and their stories, projected onto the MIT Great Dome, transformed it into a space of empathy and shared experience—one that inspires the public to reflect and reconsider their own place within a larger, evolving universe.  

Beyond the projection, the project extended into an interactive digital archive that remains accessible to the public. On the project website, visitors can explore a constellation of 200 stories mapped onto a virtual Dome. Using AI clustering, the narratives are organized into thematic groups—community and connection, family and legacy, ambitions for impact, emotional resistance, inner peace, exploration and creation, academic stress, and uncertainty. Hovering over an eye reveals its encoded story, while connections between stories are visualized as glowing arcs, transforming the archive into an atlas of shared human experience.

By weaving together personal reflections at both architectural and digital scales, Gaze to the Stars invites a reconsideration of how we inhabit public space. It suggests that buildings can not only shelter but also listen; that monuments can become canvases for vulnerability and care. At the same time, the project raises questions about the ethics of making intimate stories public, the boundaries of anonymity, and the role of AI in shaping new forms of collective empathy. Ultimately, the work gestures toward a civic practice where what we feel alone might be recognized—and shared—together.

Credit
Behnaz Farahi (Director of Critical Matter group) Julian Ceipek (Software: Visulas) Suwan Kim (Software: Iris Tracking) Chenyue 'XDD' Dai (Pod Design & Software) Sergio Mutis (Pod Design & Installation) Frank Cong (Software: Pod Interaction) Haolei Zhang (Software: AI & Pod Interaction) Yaluo Wang (Pod Design & Website) Nebus Kitessa (Pod Design & Installation) Krystal Jiang (Pod Design & Installation) Linda Xue (Website & Software & Music) Yaqi Li (Website & Software) Jd Hagood (Pod Design & Installation) Milin Tunsiricharoengul (Pod Design & Installation) Pria Sawhney (Pod Design) Jiaji Li (Pod Design)