Invariant Environment: Encountering the Unremembered Other is an XR-based artistic research project that explores bodily perception, spatial invariance, and encounters with others through haptic interaction. Grounded in neurodiversity-informed first-person research, the work draws on sensory and cognitive characteristics associated with autism spectrum conditions, including a preference for environmental stability and the difficulty of forming stable memories of unfamiliar faces.
The system integrates a head-mounted display (HMD) with a wearable haptic vest to create an immersive environment based on scans of a real physical space. The scanned room is reconstructed as an invariant XR environment in which spatial relationships are preserved while temporal change is excluded. Sculptural objects are spatially aligned with their physical counterparts, and contact with virtual objects generates localized haptic feedback via vibration actuators.
By maintaining a stable and predictable environment, the work foregrounds subtle bodily sensations and perceptual shifts. Within this setting, participants encounter others whose faces remain ambiguous and unfixed, revealing alternative modes of interaction between memorized space, bodily sensation, and the presence of others. The project proposes environmental invariance as an aesthetic framework for rethinking sensory diversity and embodied encounters.
Information on Taisuke MURAKAMI's works