DIGITAL SHADOWS
“What happens when your digital shadow takes shape: tangible, interrogative, observant?”
– Cosmin & JeanClaude Grieco –
For Digital Shadows, Madchamo was responsible for creating and preparing a digital avatar that was later transposed into a MetaHuman inside Unreal Engine. The goal was to enable a real-time interaction between a participant and a digital presence, as part of a carefully structured and choreographed experience.
The setup went beyond simple mirroring. While the participant’s facial expressions were captured live via camera-based face tracking and transferred to the MetaHuman, the avatar itself was simultaneously controlled by another person. This created a layered interaction, where the participant was not only seeing a digital reflection of themselves, but also actively engaging with an avatar driven by an external performer.
More information about the festival and about the Digital Shadows can be found by following the links below:
This dual control system allowed the installation to stage a guided, performative exchange rather than a purely reactive one. The interaction became a directed scene, like an orchestrated activity designed to explore presence and perception within a digital space.
From Madchamo’s side, the work involved adapting the avatar to meet both technical and artistic requirements, ensuring stable real-time performance, believable facial motion, and a convincing sense of responsiveness during live interaction. The result was a digital character that functioned as both mirror and actor, reinforcing the concept of a “digital shadow” as something shaped not only by the self, but also by others.
