MENGJIE LI
Tacit Resonance Connecting through Frequencies







Type
Designer
Completed
Video
Software
Tutor Interactive Immersive Installation
Mengjie Li
2025 Youtube
Arduino, Pulse Sensor, LED strip Light
Dr Olivier Cotsaftis, RMIT
Dr Juan Sanin, RMIT
Tacit Resonance is an interactive installation that visualises and amplifies the unspoken emotional connections between people through heart rate data. This project explores how interactive spatial design can evoke a renewed sense of embodied awareness in an age of digital disconnection. It reflects on how our reliance on digital tools may distance us from our bodily rhythms and the presence of others. By translating biometric signals into ambient visual experiences, the installation offers a space for quiet observation and reflection. It invites participants to re-attune to their own physical state and to sense the subtle presence of others, fostering moments of resonance.

In doing so, the project opens up a moment of quiet possibility:
“I am here. Would you like to join?”

We are living in an era defined by unprecedented digital advancement, technology has reshaped how people interact and socialise. In public spaces, people often retreat into their phones to avoid social discomfort, while paradoxically expressing vulnerability and generosity to strangers online.

As social media redefines how we value interaction, we find ourselves constantly “online” and hyper-visible, yet experiencing a deepening sense of loneliness. But it also makes many daily encounters shallow or even replaced.
What makes us avoid communicating with others in the real world and chat with strangers in the digital world?

Must technology inherently isolate us? As a spatial designer, I have always been exploring how to improve physical space experience, not only how we feel and behave, but also how we relate to others.  This research project, Tacit Resonance, takes third space theory as a conceptual starting point, reflecting on how informal public spaces still hold the potential for shared presence, connections that remain, yet often go unnoticed in our digitally saturated lives.

Using Pulse Sensors and Arduino, real-time heartbeat data was captured and translated into visual outputs. The signals controlled LED strip lights arranged in a matrix layout, with light patterns that expanded, pulsed, or blended based on the participants' BPM. The visual design focused on expressing the rhythm of breathing, using colour and motion to embody internal states.


Mengjie Li


Melbourne/ Shanghai


© Mengjie Li  2025