> [!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 and Reveal),* which represent the different phases of processing perception, from the initial sensation through to the categorisation and recombination of memories, and finally the uncovering of hidden spatial structures. Using real-time computer vision algorithms, OKO detects and recognises objects within its field of view, classifying them according to learned categories. Subjects that have been recognised are annotated with the relevant labels and additional metadata. The system also uses a local language model to generate textual descriptions of the scene based on the detected objects. In parallel, it produces animated generated imagery that is projected into the environment, temporarily augmenting reality with alternative visions. The work is complemented by a continuously evolving sound layer: a *generative musical composition* whose parameters constantly change in response to the machine's actions or observations.
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)]]*
---
OKO Predecessors: [[OKO I]] / [[OKO-EYE II Cosmos]]
Read more about machines like this in thesis: [[System; The Ascent of a New Kind]]
- --
#### Installation at Signal Festival
![[OKO__1.jpg]]
*[^1]*
![[OKO__2.jpg]]
*[^1]*
![[OKO__3.jpg]]
*[^1]*
![[OKO__4.jpg]]
![[OKO__5.jpg]]
![[OKO__6.jpg]]
![[OKO__8.jpg]]
*[^2]*
![[OKO__9.jpg]]
*[^2]*
![[OKO__10.jpg]]
[^2]
![[OKO__12.jpg]]
[^1]
![[OKO__14.jpg]]
![[OKO__15.jpg]]
[^3]
![[OKO__17.jpg]]
[^3]
![[OKO__18.jpg]]
[^1]
![[OKO__20.jpg]]
[^2]
#### Building the Machine
> *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]]
---
#### Media
*soon*
---
#### Machine Vision
![[OKO_CV.jpg]]
![[OKO__45.jpg]]
![[OKO__46.jpg]]
---
#### Original 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]]
---
#### ![[Other Projects]]
[^1]: (Signal Festival 2025, Tomáš Slavík)
[^2]: (Signal Festival 2025, Viktor Schwing)
[^3]: (Signal Festival 2025, Dušan Vondra)