The title of this work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Cows?, sprang from a dream I had in the summer of 2016, in which I dreamt of a neon cyan sign that read above.
Through a 3 minunte googling, surprisingly I found out it is very similar to the book-title of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Philip K. Dick, 1968), which is also the basis of the film Blade Runner (1982). The VR content in this work is based on the details in the book that the film was not visually elaborated. I read Dick’s novel in Chinese, when I was little. The book’s title was translated following the film, Blade Runner. In this way, I didn’t know the novel’s original title until then.
This work explores the delicate umbilical cord connecting art and technology, and the ontology of Virtual Reality. It contains two parts, the labyrinth constructed from one-sided mirror and the digitally made VR spaces. The audience walks inside the labyrinth wearing VR headsets, which prevents them from seeing what’s in front of them in the labyrinth. The VR world does not overlap with the physical labyrinth. The physical labyrinth imposes restrictions on the audience moving freely in the VR world. It sheds light on the gap between the virtual space and the real space. The visitors who wears VR glasses and fumbles their ways in the maze, together with the maze itself, constitute a spectacle. The metaphor of class and power structure hidden in the VR technology is revealed through watching and being watched.
Through a 3 minunte googling, surprisingly I found out it is very similar to the book-title of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Philip K. Dick, 1968), which is also the basis of the film Blade Runner (1982). The VR content in this work is based on the details in the book that the film was not visually elaborated. I read Dick’s novel in Chinese, when I was little. The book’s title was translated following the film, Blade Runner. In this way, I didn’t know the novel’s original title until then.
This work explores the delicate umbilical cord connecting art and technology, and the ontology of Virtual Reality. It contains two parts, the labyrinth constructed from one-sided mirror and the digitally made VR spaces. The audience walks inside the labyrinth wearing VR headsets, which prevents them from seeing what’s in front of them in the labyrinth. The VR world does not overlap with the physical labyrinth. The physical labyrinth imposes restrictions on the audience moving freely in the VR world. It sheds light on the gap between the virtual space and the real space. The visitors who wears VR glasses and fumbles their ways in the maze, together with the maze itself, constitute a spectacle. The metaphor of class and power structure hidden in the VR technology is revealed through watching and being watched.
展览题目《仿生人会梦见电子奶牛吗》源于一年前我的梦境。在梦境中，我看到一个蓝色的霓虹灯标牌写着“Do Androids Dream of Electric Cows?”。
经过一番Google之后，我发现与电影《银翼杀手》的原著《仿生人会梦见电子羊吗？》只有几字之差。作品VR内的虚拟环境，是基于对原著中一笔带过细节的畅想。在孩提时代，我读过原著的中文版。当时，小说题目的翻译沿用了电影《银翼杀手》的翻译。由此，在我此番Google之前，我并不知道Dick小说的标题。
本次展览试图探索艺术与科技之间微妙的脐带，探索VR技术的本体论。通过将玻璃单面镜构成的迷宫与VR虚拟空间错置，观众将佩戴VR眼镜在物理空间中的单面镜迷宫中行走。VR空间内的设置是开放的，是与物理迷宫不同的。观众将会被物理迷宫限制移动的可能性，从而放大并研究虚拟空间与现实空间之间的裂痕。佩戴VR眼镜在迷宫中摸索前进的观众与迷宫本身构成一种景观。通过观看与被观察中，揭示数字技术VR技术中暗喻的阶级与权力。
经过一番Google之后，我发现与电影《银翼杀手》的原著《仿生人会梦见电子羊吗？》只有几字之差。作品VR内的虚拟环境，是基于对原著中一笔带过细节的畅想。在孩提时代，我读过原著的中文版。当时，小说题目的翻译沿用了电影《银翼杀手》的翻译。由此，在我此番Google之前，我并不知道Dick小说的标题。
本次展览试图探索艺术与科技之间微妙的脐带，探索VR技术的本体论。通过将玻璃单面镜构成的迷宫与VR虚拟空间错置，观众将佩戴VR眼镜在物理空间中的单面镜迷宫中行走。VR空间内的设置是开放的，是与物理迷宫不同的。观众将会被物理迷宫限制移动的可能性，从而放大并研究虚拟空间与现实空间之间的裂痕。佩戴VR眼镜在迷宫中摸索前进的观众与迷宫本身构成一种景观。通过观看与被观察中，揭示数字技术VR技术中暗喻的阶级与权力。
Updated Version 2025
1. Core Concept
This interactive installation challenges the promise of "transparent immediacy" in Virtual Reality (VR)—the idea that technology should disappear to allow infinite exploration. Instead, the artwork forces a physical confrontation between the boundless visual horizon of VR and the hard, material reality of a physical space. It places a user wearing a fully occlusive VR headset inside a transparent, physical glass maze.The central drama lies in the tension between visual freedom (the open digital world) and bodily arrest (colliding with invisible glass walls).
2. The Physical Installation (Spectator View)
From the outside, the installation appears as a "stage" for behavioral negotiation, allowing spectators to watch the struggle between human and machine.- The Maze: A 10m × 10m matrix constructed of 42 crystal-clear glass panes set in stainless steel rails. Under raking light, these panes offer transparency but enforce absolute physical boundaries.
- The LED Floor: The floor acts as a large-scale display.
- Reflecting Pool: It mirrors the top-down view of the virtual world, creating a continuous landscape.
- Interaction: When a user collides with a glass pane, the floor triggers concentric ripple effects, visualizing the user's physical frustration as a digital pulse.
- Pane Projections: Select interior glass panes feature video projections that act as "windows," intermittently revealing the view from the AI agent's perspective.
- The LED Rail: An anodized aluminum rail runs along the top of the maze structure. It visualizes the AI's "intent" via running light pulses (indicating direction) and brightness (indicating confidence), making the algorithmic guidance legible to the audience.
3. The Virtual Experience (Wearer View)
Inside the headset, the user experiences a vastly different reality designed to "lure" them through the physical maze without explicit commands.- The Environment: The user sees an endless digital plain with an open horizon.
- The Tannhäuser Gate: At the center of the virtual world is a glowing, receding vector known as the Tannhäuser Gate. It acts as a point of desire that the user can never truly reach, motivating forward movement.
- The Lure Agent: Rather than using arrows or UI markers, the system uses an Reinforcement Learning (RL) Lure Agent. This agent appears as a crystalline figure that "performs" for the user.
- Behavior: It uses invitations rather than instructions—slow glides, pauses, bows, and micro-gestures—to persuade the user to change direction and avoid walls.
- Audio: A faint, spatialized whisper (modulated by the AI's policy) subtly reinforces the agent's movements, guiding the user at the edge of perception.
4. System Design & Interaction
The artwork functions as a "choreography of agency" between the human, the machine, and the architect.- Reinforcement Learning (RL): The system uses a Unity-based RL policy trained to maximize user exploration while minimizing collisions. It adapts to the user's gait and hesitation in real-time.
- The Feedback Loop:
- Sensing: Lighthouse base stations track the user's head pose and speed.
- Policy: The AI calculates the best "lure" trajectory to steer the user away from glass walls.
- Response: The user reacts to the lure. If they ignore it, they collide with the glass.
- The "Legibility Paradox": Spectators outside feel they understand the system because they can see the floor, rail, and projections. However, the wearer inside is often unaware of the specific algorithmic logic, leading to "collisions that read as shared mischief" rather than failure.