Roads in You by Yoon Chung Han

What if there are roads that match your veins?

Roads in You is an interactive biometric-data artwork that allows participants to scan their veins and find the roads that match their vein lines in the world. The vein data as one of the fascinating forms of biometric data contain uniquely complicated lines that resemble the roads and paths surrounding us. The roads resemble how our vein lines are interconnected and how the blood circulates in our bodies in various directions, at various speeds, and in different conditions. This data artwork explores the line segmentation and the structure of veins and compares them to roads in the real world. The participants can also export the data and keep them as a personalized souvenir (3d printed sculptures) as part of the artistic experience. Through this project, users can explore the correlation between individuals and environments using the hidden patterns under the skin and the vein recognition techniques, image processing and artificial intelligence. This project also has the potential to lead the way in the interpretation of complicated datasets while providing aesthetically beautiful and mesmerizing visualizations.

It is a surreal and interesting moment when the data
from the inside of your body is actually matched with
the data from outer bodies. The connection to the real
world can lead to new opportunities to reveal users’
hidden narratives and create their own “geological
signature.” Furthermore, this work could address environmental issues and question the difference between naturally generated data in human bodies and artificially created data in our world. Therefore, this artwork has potentials to trigger a new way of interacting in the fields of biometric data art and digital media art.

Please check this publication for more details about the research, case study and implementations behind this artwork: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3430524.3444638