SOMA CHROMA

01

Premise · Skin as universe

The body is not a label.
It is a living archive.

SOMA CHROMA begins with one question: how do we perceive ourselves when the social gaze is replaced by an inward, curious one?

Every inch of skin holds a singular record of time: veins, scars, pigmentation, temperature and emotion. The installation reads a momentary chromatic trace and poetically translates it into mountains, vegetation, rivers and sound—turning cold data into an embodied encounter.

Blue and green generative particle landscape — A landscape generated from the body’s chromatic data Processing · TCS3200 · Java Sound

01 / DATA

Embodied data

The system does not treat RGB values as detached numbers. They remain connected to a body, a moment and a lived history.

02 / TRANSLATION

Poetic translation

The work does not reproduce skin scientifically. It releases its latent qualities through an audiovisual language.

03 / RITUAL

Ritualistic interaction

A quiet gesture of contact becomes a safe ritual for observing, listening and reconnecting with the self.

02

Visitor journey · Four movements

How to enter
the living landscape

01

Approach

Stand in front of the display and locate the illuminated sensor probe. The system waits in a ready state.

02

Choose a trace

Bring the probe close to a vein, freckle, scar or any area of skin that feels personally meaningful.

03

Witness

RGB data reshapes the landscape and sound in real time. Stay still, then move slowly to hear and see subtle transitions.

04

Release

Move away from the sensor. After a short reset, the installation is ready for the next participant.

What is—and is not—collected

The sensor reads temporary RGB values; it does not photograph or identify the participant. At first contact, the program saves only the generated landscape frame.

03

One skin · Three ecological voices

See the colour.
Listen to its terrain.

Select a biome to hear a short browser-generated study inspired by the installation’s sound engine. Sound plays only after you choose.

R / MOUNTAIN

Geological memory

Red values shape the ruggedness of the visual terrain and open a grounded sonic layer: low stone resonance, a slow pulse and subtle stereo displacement.

Visual: Rugged elevation / dense contours
Sound: 38–61 Hz resonance / geological pulse
Meaning: Skeleton, memory and accumulated time

04

Probe · Messenger · Engine

An ecosystem of
sensing and translation

01

TCS3200

The probe reads reflected red, green and blue light from the skin.

02

Arduino

The messenger calibrates and sends RGB values as serial data.

03

Processing

The engine maps one data stream into particles, terrain, colour and sound.

04

Audiovisual landscape

A unique image and soundscape emerge from the participant’s momentary chroma.

Concept generation · From skin to landscape

Concept generation

01 / SOMA

I. Premise: Skin as Universe

Bypassing social labels to arrive directly at the personal epic. Every inch of skin is a micro-universe, inscribed with a unique life story. For this, we create an interface for a profound encounter.

02 / TEXTURE

II. Metaphor: Texture as Landscape

To translate the unseen inner narrative with a universal, poetic language. “Texture is landscape.” Skin and earth share a common destiny, sculpted by time and external forces: scars are canyons, veins are rivers. This metaphor forms the core of our artistic translation.

03 / SYSTEM

III. Ecosystem: Probe, Messenger, Engine

To construct a fluid, digital life form. The sensor acts as the probe, collecting the geology; the Arduino as the messenger, encoding and transmitting; Processing as the engine, rendering it into a complex, fluid, organic world composed of countless particles.

04 / LIFE FORM

IV. Generation: Skeleton, Blood, Soul

Injecting aesthetics through code. Perlin Noise constructs the invisible skeleton; myriads of particles become the flowing blood; and the participant's unique skin color is injected as the soul of the entire landscape. Finally, from raw data to a flowing, visual poem.

Soma Chroma · Final concept

SOMA listens to CHROMA

Soma, derived from Greek, is the “archive of life” that harbors memory and emotion; it is the project's source. Chroma, in turn, is this archive's most honest, intrinsic language and “chromatic code” (RGB data), serving as the medium for translation.

The work as a whole is therefore a poetic translation: it listens to the Chroma of the Soma and renders it into a living landscape, ultimately revealing the core philosophy that the most profound aesthetics originate from the most authentic truth.

SOMA CHROMA static display with participant and generative landscape — Static display · the body facing its translated landscapeFINAL CONCEPT

05

Installation manual · Before opening

From eight wires
to a living field

01

Hardware checklist

Arduino Uno TCS3200 8 jumper wires USB data cable Display or projector Stereo speaker / headphones

02

TCS3200 → Arduino wiring

TCS3200Arduino UnoFunction

VCC5VPower

GNDGNDGround

S0D4Frequency scaling A

S1D5Frequency scaling B

S2D6Colour filter A

S3D7Colour filter B

OUTD8Pulse output

OE (if present)GNDKeep sensor output enabled

Disconnect USB power before changing any wire. Confirm VCC and GND first, then connect the signal pins.

03

Software startup sequence

01
Upload Arduino code
Open the TCS3200 sketch, select Arduino Uno and the correct USB port, then upload.
02
Verify serial data
Open Serial Monitor at 9600 baud. Confirm that each line follows the format R,G,B.
03
Close Serial Monitor
Only one program can use the port. Close Arduino’s monitor before launching Processing.
04
Run the main sketch
Open SOMA_CHROMA_Final_With_Sound.pde. Keep SomaSoundEngine.pde in the same sketch folder, then press Run.
05
Check output
The image should fill the display and the audio device should open automatically. Test one skin contact.

04

Sensor calibration

A

Read the room

Avoid direct sunlight and highly reflective surfaces. Keep the sensor lighting consistent.

B

Fix the distance

Hold skin close to—but not pressed against—the LEDs. Use the same distance for all tests.

C

Tune the ranges

If values stay near 0 or 255, adjust the pulseIn mapping ranges in the Arduino readColor() function.

05

Troubleshooting

Processing cannot connect to the serial port

Close Arduino Serial Monitor and any other program using the port. Reconnect USB, then restart Processing. If several ports are listed, select the Arduino port explicitly.

Skin contact is not detected

Check brightness and RGB values on screen. Keep the sensor close to the skin, reduce stray light and recalibrate the Arduino mapping ranges for the exhibition space.

The visuals work but there is no sound

Check the computer’s output device and volume. Press M once to clear accidental mute. Restart the sketch after changing audio hardware.

The state changes too quickly or flickers

Stabilize the sensor distance and room lighting. Increase REARM_THRESHOLD if the installation needs a longer reset interval.

The frame rate becomes slow

Close background applications, use the discrete GPU if available and reduce MAX_PARTICLES for lower-powered computers.

06

Code architecture · One data stream

Visual and sound
share the same skin data.

01ARDUINO / C++

Sense & transmit

// TCS3200 → serial RGB
readColor();
Serial.print(redValue);
Serial.print(",");
Serial.print(greenValue);
Serial.print(",");
Serial.println(blueValue);

Reads three filtered frequencies and sends a clean comma-separated data packet every 50 ms.

02PROCESSING / JAVA

Translate & coordinate

// One touch, two outputs
somaSound.triggerContact(
  sensorR, sensorG, sensorB
);

somaSound.update(
  stableSkinForSound,
  sensorR, sensorG, sensorB
);

The main sketch stabilizes sensor contact, constructs the particle landscape and sends the same RGB values to sound.

03JAVA SOUND

Resonate & crossfade

// Continuous biome blend
mountainMix +=
  (targetMountain - mountainMix)
  * mixCoefficient;

renderMountain();
renderVegetation();
renderRiver();

Three independent sound worlds crossfade smoothly; first contact inherits the current RGB landscape.

SOMA CHROMA colour texture and sound optimisation code iterations — Colour texture and sound optimisation — selected code iterationsKEY EXCERPTS / FINAL VERSION

07

Exhibition field notes

The work becomes complete
when another body enters.

01 / SETUP

Arrange the site & set up the installation

The display, computer, probe and sound system are assembled as one continuous circuit. Lighting, sensor distance, cable routes and full-screen output are checked before participants enter.

SOMA CHROMA installation setup process — Preparing the probe, wiring, Processing sketch and display

Illuminated TCS3200 sensor probe and Arduino details

02 / CONTACT

A close, illuminated reading

The participant chooses a personally meaningful area—a vein, freckle or scar—and brings the illuminated probe close to the skin. The gesture is intimate, but the sensor records only momentary RGB values.

03 / TRANSLATION

Participant testing

As the probe moves, the screen changes in real time. Subtle differences in the body become mountains, vegetation and rivers, allowing each participant to witness a landscape that belongs to that specific moment.

Different generative landscapes during participant testing

Participants discussing SOMA CHROMA around the display

04 / REFLECTION

Discussion and deliberation

Participants compare their changing landscapes and discuss how scars, colour and bodily data can hold memory rather than deficiency. The work shifts from individual encounter to collective reflection.

05 / DIALOGUE

Live interviews & guided tours

Guided conversations connect the visible transformation with the project’s ideas of identity, perception and embodied data. Listening to participants becomes part of the installation’s final form.

Guided conversation with SOMA CHROMA participants — A shared reading of the landscape after interaction

“The screen did not show a fixed identity. It showed a landscape that kept becoming—something that felt like me, and yet larger than me.”
Synthesis of participant reflections

08

Project film · Full encounter

Watch the landscape
listen back to the body.

FORMATInteractive installation

TOOLSProcessing · Arduino · TCS3200

DATEMay—Jul 2024

Open on YouTube ↗

The body is not a label.It is a living archive.