> [!meta]
> | Created | [[2025]] |
> |---------|----------|
> | Location | [[Prague]] |
> | Collaborators | [Signal Festival](https://www.signalfestival.com/), [PrusaLab](https://prusalab.cz/), [Martin Štefánik](https://www.instagram.com/martin.majlo.stefanik/) |
> | Medium | [[Installation]] [[Interactive]] [[Object]] [[AI]] [[Projection]] [[Sound]] |
---
OKO is a *machine loaded with sensations,* continuously analyzing its immediate surroundings. Using computer vision and machine learning, it emulates a 'predictive' brain that incessantly processes, forecasts and simultaneously revises its internal model of the world. The work offers a space for *observing perceptual phenomena* while inviting reflection on the possibilities of *machines' sensory cognition.* The installation also touches on broader themes, such as the ubiquity of cameras, the transformation of privacy and the constant processing of data about us.
The object consists of a *rotary mechanical head equipped with a camera and a projector.* This enables the surroundings of the installation to be dynamically mapped through projection. The system receives light via the camera and returns it to the environment through the projector. This creates a *tight feedback loop* in which the object continuously observes its environment and responds to it in real time with images, sounds and movements. Viewers find themselves in a situation where *they observe the machine while the machine looks back at them.* OKO can therefore act as both a powerful receiver and transmitter of information, listening to its environment while also influencing it.
The system operates within four modes *(Observe, Name, Remember, Reveal)*, representing various phases of perception processing. From sensation through categorization and recombination of memories to the revealing of hidden spatial structures. Using real-time computer vision algorithms, it detects and recognizes objects in the field of view and classifies them according to known categories. It labels recognized subjects with appropriate tags and additional information. The system also runs a local language model that generates text descriptions of the surrounding scene based on the detected objects. At the same time, it uses generative graphics, which it projects into the environment, temporarily augmenting reality with its alternative visions. The whole is complemented by a sound component that is continuously created along with the work. It is a *generative musical composition* whose parameters constantly change depending on what the machine is currently doing or observing. OKO asks us to think about the possibilities of "sensory" cognition of machines and at the same time it reveals how these perceptual processes can reflect our own perception.
The installation was created as the winning project of the *Signal Calling 2025* in collaboration with prototyping workshop [PrusaLab](https://prusalab.cz/), which handled complete fabrication and provided technical support. [Martin Štefánik](https://www.instagram.com/martin.majlo.stefanik/) created the sound component as a four-channel composition linked to the object’s current behaviour. OKO was first presented in a public space at *Sady Svatopluka Čecha in Prague* during the [Signal Festival 2025](https://www.signalfestival.com/umelec/antonin-kindl-cz/).
*OKO is a kind of electronic organism that observes, predicts, makes mistakes, and creates. But are we the ones observing the machine, or is the machine observing us?*
*[[OKO (Annotation)]]*
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1133663360?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="OKO"></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
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OKO Predecessors: [[OKO I]] / [[OKO-EYE II Cosmos]]
Read more about machines like this in thesis: [[System; The Ascent of a New Kind]]
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#### Installation @ Signal
![[OKO__1.jpg]]
*[^1]*
![[OKO__2.jpg]]
*[^1]*
![[OKO__3.jpg]]
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![[OKO__4.jpg]]
![[OKO__5.jpg]]
![[OKO__6.jpg]]
![[OKO__8.jpg]]
*[^2]*
![[OKO__9.jpg]]
*[^2]*
![[OKO__10.jpg]]
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![[OKO__12.jpg]]
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![[OKO__14.jpg]]
![[OKO__15.jpg]]
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![[OKO__17.jpg]]
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![[OKO__18.jpg]]
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![[OKO__20.jpg]]
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---
#### Media
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1133663360?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="OKO"></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
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#### Visual
![[OKO_visual_0.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_1.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_2.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_3.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_4.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_5.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_8.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_9.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_10.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_11.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_12.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_14.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_15.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_16.jpg]]
![[OKO_visual_18.jpg]]
#### Machine Vision
![[OKO_CV.jpg]]
![[OKO__45.jpg]]
![[OKO__46.jpg]]
#### Process
> *Photos by Jiří Tyl / PrusaLab*
![[OKO__23.jpg]]
![[OKO__24.jpg]]
![[OKO__25.jpg]]
![[OKO__26.jpg]]
![[OKO__29.jpg]]
![[OKO__30.jpg]]
![[OKO__34.jpg]]
![[OKO__36.jpg]]
![[OKO__41.jpg]]
![[OKO__42.jpg]]
![[OKO__43.jpg]]
![[OKO__44.jpg]]
![[OKO__47.jpg]]
![[OKO__48.jpg]]
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#### Visualization
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1071571458?h=cb486ca2d3&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="OKO | EYE (Audio Visual Preview)"></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
![[Oko_03_01.jpg]]
![[Oko_03_02.jpg]]
![[Oko_03_04.jpg]]
![[Oko_03_05.jpg]]
![[cd-3.jpg]]
![[cd-4.jpg]]
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#### ![[Other Projects]]
[^1]: (Signal Festival 2025, Tomáš Slavík)
[^2]: (Signal Festival 2025, Viktor Schwing)
[^3]: (Signal Festival 2025, Dušan Vondra)