The Ephemeral Shadow: Hyperreal Beings in Stimulative Performance

TL;DR

The Ephemeral Shadow investigates how simulacra and hyperreality reshape subjectivity at the boundary of real and virtual. It couples robotic performance and digital projection through a shadow-window mechanism to render Sophia’s presence as evolving two-dimensional shadow imagery, creating a hyperreal perceptual field. The project introduces a technical pipeline that combines denoising-based motion-to-action mapping, diffusion-based image synthesis, and reinforcement-learning–driven adaptation informed by audience feedback, all framed by posthuman ethics. The work's significance lies in prompting critical discourse on technological subjectivity, transparency, and governance as digital mediations increasingly mediate human identity.

Abstract

The Ephemeral Shadow is an interactive art installation centered on the concept of "simulacrum," focusing on the reconstruction of subjectivity at the intersection of reality and virtuality. Drawing inspiration from the aesthetic imagery of traditional shadow puppetry, the installation combines robotic performance and digital projection to create a multi-layered visual space, presenting a progressively dematerialized hyperreal experience. By blurring the audience's perception of the boundaries between entity and image, the work employs the replacement of physical presence with imagery as its core technique, critically reflecting on issues of technological subjectivity, affective computing, and ethics. Situated within the context of posthumanism and digital media, the installation prompts viewers to contemplate: as digital technologies increasingly approach and simulate "humanity," how can we reshape identity and perception while safeguarding the core values and ethical principles of human subjectivity?

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: Audience interacting with the projected shadow of The Ephemeral Shadow.
• Figure 2: 3D rendered schematic of the The Ephemeral Shadow installation.
• Figure 3: Technical pipeline of The Ephemeral Shadow. Left: The denoising network maps human motions and expressions to the robot's motors, enabling action replication and laying the foundation for learning. Right: Diffusion models are trained with reinforcement learning, leveraging audience feedback to enhance interaction and enrich the pose gallery.
• Figure 4: The left side shows the projected shadow image, while the right side depicts the physical entity of Sophia.
• Figure 5: Audience interacting with the projected shadow of The Ephemeral Shadow.