An Experience of Navigating the Latent Space
This project is an interactive installation that invites visitors to navigate the "latent space" using a seemingly analog navigation device based on an MCDU (Multipurpose Control Display Unit) from an aircraft.
The installation uses a dummy MCDU to display and navigate through a collection of images created by a generative adversarial network (GAN). Each image represents a generative transposition of a photograph taken by the author in various places (Orléans, France or abroad), blending the original elements of the photo with the transformations proposed by the AI.
The idea for this project sprouted from experimenting with a generative image AI (a GAN, or generative adversarial network) to create transformed versions of a photograph of the courtyard of the "108" in Orléans. By providing it with an original photo, the AI proposed different transpositions in text and images. These transpositions were mixed with the original photo to create an image that is both very close and very different from the original. This experimentation was continued by the author, on a large number of photographs and various subjects.
The Other 108, real and synthetic image of the 108/Labomedia
The result is a collection of images in pairs: the original and the synthetic version. Each synthetic image represents a possible alternative reality, making manifest the idea of the latent space, an abstract multidimensional space that is the incubator of all possible realities that a generative AI can create.
The main idea of the project is thus to give a concrete form to this idea of a journey through the latent space. The installation invites visitors to navigate through this different reality, in the manner of a traveler navigating through a geographical space.
For this, the installation uses a dummy navigation device, based on an MCDU (Multipurpose Control Display Unit) from an aircraft. This device is a navigation tool commonly used in aviation to enter and display flight information. By diverting it from its original use, the installation echoes the process of transforming images by AI, and reinforces the metaphorical link between geographical navigation and navigation in the latent space.
The installation consists of the following elements:
- A dummy MCDU, comprising:
- a case (possibly made of painted wood),
- a 3D printed front panel, inspired by a Honeywell MCDU,
- a recovered screen and keyboard.
- A mini-computer (such as a Raspberry Pi) inside the MCDU, running Linux.
- A video projector connected to the computer to display the images on a wall.
Visitors interact with the installation by entering coordinates on the MCDU keyboard. Each set of coordinates corresponds to a specific image from the collection. The image is then displayed on the wall using the video projector.
An "autopilot mode" is also available, which automatically scrolls through the images when no interaction takes place.
The experience is accompanied by analog sound effects, including mechanical noises when interacting with the keyboard. Other sounds may include navigation noises, space ambiance sounds, generative music, or specific sound reactions for each displayed image.
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