PARSONS SCHOOL OF
DESIGN PRESENTS:

Juliana Serna

Product & Industrial Designer
Juliana is a Colombian designer; her work ranges from physical objects to digital experiences over user interfaces. She graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Design, along with a Product Design degree, from NABA in Milano.

Her interests focus on the realms of tech, user experience, haptics, and speculative design; With a particular emphasis on promoting well-being, providing care, leveraging product affordances, harnessing ambient computing technologies, and fostering human interaction.
Juliana is a Colombian designer; her work ranges from physical objects to digital experiences over user interfaces. She graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Design, along with a Product Design degree, from NABA in Milano.

Her interests focus on the realms of tech, user experience, haptics, and speculative design; With a particular emphasis on promoting well-being, providing care, leveraging product affordances, harnessing ambient computing technologies, and fostering human interaction.
Thesis Faculty
David Carroll, Jessica Marshall, Justin Bakse

Neural Expressions

Neural Expressions
An interactive art installation that captures the unique EEG brain waves of participants and transforms them into a personalized 3D digital sculpture.

Science seeks to uncover universal laws, rules, and fundamental principles that consistently govern the interactions among various elements in natural phenomena. While some of these are scientifically understood, when it comes to the brain, neuroscience has not yet discovered a comprehensive understanding that establishes a clear link between the brain’s structure, it’s functioning, and life’s subjective experiences.

The impetus for this project lies in the desire to capture the main characteristics of brain signals that are live-fed into TouchDesigner to create visuals uniquely encoding the brain waves of an individual.

Bio-data has always captivated me, as it offers a distinctive and personalized means of identifying and understanding individuals. Unlike conventional forms of identification like names or birthdates, bio-data is intrinsic to each person and can not be replicated or altered. Consequently, Neural Expressions serve as interactive media to visually represent the beautiful intersection between brain stimulus, human data, and the relationship between the body and art.
Neural Expressions encodes electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from a Muse headband (Portable monitoring system) that is commercially available for meditation. Along with Mind Monitor, EEG raw data is streamed to TouchDesigner in real-time (via native OSC). Alternatively, pre-recorded data can be fed into the pipeline using a Phyton script. From raw data Alpha, Beta, and Gamma waves are quantified into their characteristics – period, amplitude, and harmonics – which are encoded into the 3D digital sculpture and dynamically following the user’s brain waves. Hence, the experience entangles the signals of a brain while delivering an abstract representation of itself.

My deep appreciation to esteemed Faculty members David Carroll, Jessica Marshall and Justin Bakse who provided invaluable support throughout my thesis process. Paola Olea Chilean Digital Artist for her exceptional mentorship and guidance; as well as the invaluable contributions of Ph.D. Candidate Malte Casper at the Zuckerman Institute for Mind Brain Behavior, Ph.D. Candidate Hongkun Zhu at New York Neurological Institute. Furthermore, I want to express my gratitude to the students and staff involved in user testing at Columbia Brain Center.