Move A Bit

Move a Bit is a live motion capture project showcasing quantum entanglement and the messiness of quantum noise. Quantum entanglement suggests that there is a special correlation between qubits and quantum systems. Just as there is a special correlation between qubits, the particles in Move-a-Bit have a special correlation with the subject in motion. Movement produces the quantum state with all the quantum possibilities represented in different colors. Stillness represents the observed collapsed, classical state. Essentially a system which is entangled with you and exists only when you move.

This was the first time I was learning about quantum computing and the concept felt intimidating at first so making it more approachable was a key goal of this project. As a group we wanted to create something that helped one understand and explore the quantum concept of entanglement in a simple, fun and engaging manner. Taking this project to gallery spaces in New York and seeing how people interacted with it was also really exciting.

As for the working of the project, it uses a live camera feed going into touch designer, and data generated using IBM’s Qiskit platform to create a live motion capture project that brings quantum entanglement to life. To generate the quantum data to guide the properties of our motion reactive particles, we used the quantum concept of W-state to entangle three qubits. The three qubit value shots were then used to control the RGB color values of the particles. These particles are generated using particle systems in touchdesigner which is a node based programming language used for creating such interactive visuals. The particles that aren’t of the original R G B colors (red: (1,0,0), green:(0,1,0), blue: (0,0,1)) are a demonstration of noise, or quantum computation errors.

Further, after setting up the live camera feed we also set up a projector to display “move a bit” on a large wall to capture all body movements which eventually generated the particles.