Bombay tapped Volvox Labs to create the software and infrastructure which powered the Sensory Auction; the first auction where the winning bidder is the person whose senses most deeply connect with the piece, instead of the person with the most money. The more joy the artwork gives the senses of the viewer, the higher their bid. On October 19th, 2021, participants came to experience the Sensory Auction and place their bid, but only one person went home with an original art piece created by artist Dan Lam.

Our custom software gave people a shot at owning a piece of artwork they’d never consider owning due to price range or availability. Via brain activity data and direct response to the presented work anyone could own Dan Lan’s work, regardless of the dollars in their account. As art lovers and collectors, the concept and execution resonated with the VVOX dev team.

The Sensory Auction was powered by an interconnected network of biometric sensor data, EEG brain scans, and live scoring algorithms. Our software suite was built with Touchdesigner and acted as the central hub of the installation. One integrated system to collect, analyze and synthesize the live reactions of participants. The VVOX team developed a custom integration of the Tobii Eye tracker for Touchdesigner which enabled us to collect real time readings of where a participant was looking on the sculpture. We used a GSR sensor to measure the electrical conductance of skin of our users, allowing us to measure if a participant is having a strong emotional response.

Finally we built a custom integration of the Emotiv Epoc X, which output live readings of EEG Brain data. With this data we could analyze metrics such as stress, excitement, & happiness and visualize which parts of the brain where having the most activity. By synthesizing all of these different streams of data within Touchdesigner, we were able to create an intricate scoring and analysis platform which let us understand a users reaction to an art piece.

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