Case study – The Yawn Chorus, Alex Rothera, 2021

“There is something so beautiful about the yawn,” says designer Alex Rothera. “Research shows that yawns are related to empathy, so you yawn when you’re comfortable with someone and it’s almost as if you are connecting with them and showing them that you’re in the same head space.” 

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/alex-rothera-the-yawn-chorus-digital-190821

I really like the point that this artist has captured – yawning, which is a very contagious behaviour. And it’s also an interactive installation that captures and records the sound of visitors yawning. When you choose to sit down and yawn involuntarily, it causes a human-computer-human contagious loop, an “infinite yawning loop” between people and AI.

 “But with social media companies – as pointed out in documentaries like The Social Dilemma – they can use AI and infinitely more complex knobs to control how you’re feeling, consuming, and shopping – it’s no longer a silly yawn in a gallery.”——Alex Rothera

This quote gave me some inspiration when I was conceiving my own sound installation.