An Immersive Auditory Installation

Sara Rajabzadeh - 2025

​Between Us, Invisible Walls:
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​​​​​​​Inner Echoes

Inner Echoes is an auditory installation that explores misunderstanding, alienation experienced by migrants facing language barriers. The work immerses the audience in a soundscape made of distorted translations, fragmented thoughts, and overlapping voices, simulating the mental chaos that occurs when migrants internally translate between languages. Drawing from my personal experience as an Iranian woman migrant, the installation reflects how meaning, emotion, and cultural nuance are often altered or lost in rapid translation, resulting in confusion and miscommunication. By using only the sense of hearing, Inner Echoes intensifies this disorientation and makes the invisible mental labor of translation audible.

The installation is activated through the physical presence of the viewer. Using a laptop webcam and face-detection technology, the system detects when a human face enters the space and triggers the audio. The work is built with a Python-based program that uses OpenCV for real-time face detection and Pygame for sound playback. Rather than passively playing sound, the installation requires the body to be present, emphasizing embodiment and interaction. The viewer’s face is scanned, recognized, and responded to by the system, reinforcing the idea that language, identity, and communication are deeply tied to the body and lived experience.​​​​​​​