Building Sensus: how an EEG device became a generative art instrument

An in-depth look at the technical and conceptual process behind Sensus — the immersive experience shown at Palacio Libertad. From the biometric pipeline to the real-time TouchDesigner environment, this is how brainwave data became a living data sculpture.

The question

In 2024 I started asking myself: what would it feel like to make a piece that responds not to a controller, but to the nervous system itself? The idea of using brainwave data as a generative input had been floating around in my practice for years — but it was the commission for Rituales Tecnologicos II that finally gave it a specific context and deadline.

The biometric pipeline

The system uses a consumer-grade EEG device to capture electrical activity across five frequency bands: delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. A custom Python pipeline running on a local server processes the incoming signal in real time, using a Random Forest classifier trained on session data to identify five emotional states: focus, calm, excitement, frustration, and neutral.

From data to image

The classified state is sent via OSC to a TouchDesigner environment built specifically for the piece. Each emotional state triggers a different visual mode — the generative system responds by shifting color palette, particle density, flow fields, and deformation patterns. No two sessions produce the same output.

The installation

The piece ran in the immersive room on the second floor of Palacio Libertad in Buenos Aires, as part of Rituales Tecnologicos II, curated by Marianella Baladan and Natalia Uccello. Visitors sat in front of the projection, wore the EEG device, and watched the piece transform in response to their own inner state. The result was a living data sculpture — consciousness made visible as form.