We Are All Numb3rs

“We Are All Num3ers” is a collaborative project that brings together storytelling, design, and technology to explore the intersection of human identity and data. This unique book combines an innovative approach to coding, design, and narrative, inviting readers to reflect on the meaning of numbers in our lives.

Generative visuals and visible source code were projected across multiple walls, turning the room into a digital environment rather than a screen you watch from a distance. Camera-based motion tracking, sensor input, and live sound fed directly into the system, so the people in the space became part of the data driving it.

I focused on the camera-based capture and processing system that translated participants' bodies and movement into numeric and character-based visual forms, and contributed to the generative visual language and the interactive installation itself.

Rather than building everything in one program, we assembled a mixed toolchain where each platform handled what it did best: p5.js and p5Live for browser-based creative coding, WebGL geometry, and live modification of the visual system; Hydra for real-time processing, feedback, and glitch effects; Processing for additional visual and image experimentation; and TouchDesigner as part of the real-time input workflow.

The work sat between generative and performative. Some behaviors evolved on their own according to rules written into the code, while others responded to movement, sound, and sensor data. During the performance we modified variables and sections of code live, changing scale, density, rotation, color, repetition, distortion, and spatial organization while the audience watched the consequences appear around them.

The project also exists as a visual book documenting the narrative through camera-captured, code-generated portraits of the three characters.

Role: Camera capture and processing system, generative visuals, live coding

Tools: p5.js, p5Live, Hydra, Processing, TouchDesigner, JavaScript, camera motion tracking, sensor input

Exhibited: UIC School of Design, Coding + Form exhibition, Fall 2024

The book is an interactive exploration, where readers can engage with its visual and narrative elements. Flip through the pages and discover how numbers shape the world around us.

The Collaborative Process

• Mehrnaz Amouei: Developed the coding for a custom camera that captures and processes visual data, translating it into the book’s unique graphical elements.

• Nahid Yahyaee: Designed the book’s layout, ensuring a cohesive and visually compelling presentation.

• Ziyu Wang: Wrote the story and managed the printing process, bringing the conceptual vision to life.