Pulse Now
2025
Planetary Sensing · Embodied Interfaces · Planetary Rhythms
What does it feel like to belong to a planetary-scale system? How can a single bodily gesture bridge the gap between human time and planetary rhythms?
Pulse Now doesn't ask users to monitor their bodies. Instead, it invites them to place one hand on a circular interface and sustain pressure, anchoring themselves to live solar data and Schumann-based sound frequencies. The result is a feedback loop where the user does not control the system, but attunes to it.
Drawing on Aristotle's Wheel Paradox
, the work asks how the finite human body (the smaller circle) can align with, and move alongside, vast planetary cycles (the larger circle) by anchoring to a shared axis. Instead of extracting data from the body, the installation asks how the body can sense its alignment with larger oscillatory fields.
The Experience
The space is filled with a low-frequency ambient drone derived from live solar wind data and the Schumann resonance (7.83Hz). A side monitor displays these raw data streams in real-time, providing context, while the central interface invites visceral engagement.
Activation: Placing a hand at the center introduces a new rhythmic pulse into the room—an experiential "heartbeat" that counters the ambient drone.
Immersion: As the user sustains physical pressure, the environment responds: lighting shifts temperature and sonic textures deepen, creating a feedback loop of presence.
Synchronization: The interface acts as a frequency clock. It measures the temporal alignment between the user's sustained gesture and the external planetary rhythm. At the conclusion, the system displays a "Synchronization Score" (percentage), quantifying the resonance achieved during the session.
Video
Images
Technical Architecture
• Sensing: Depth-based gesture recognition (not biometric)
• Data Sources: Live solar flare classification (NOAA/NASA), X-ray flux, Schumann Resonance (7.83Hz harmonics)
• Visual System: TouchDesigner (Generative field rendering)
• Audio: Procedural soundscape based on solar wind + Schumann frequencies
• Hardware: Custom circular interface, motion sensor
Trajectory & Future Research
Pulse Now will be exhibited at the Design Museum Holon in summer 2026, serving as a site for longitudinal observation of audience engagement.
Crucially, this project establishes the foundation for my proposed research at the MIT Media Lab. Having validated that intentional gesture creates stronger embodiment than passive sensing, I aim to expand this inquiry from individual interfaces to collective, multi-user environments (see Single Body, Many) that facilitate group synchronization.
Visual Archive
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Credits
Concept, research, and installation: Olga Stadnuk
Developed during: Rothschild Residency, 2025
Sound: Nir Jacob Yonessi
Photography & Video: Daniel Hanoch