Originally developed and presented at the @avi2026conference in Venice, Always Controlled by What We Control is an interactive installation exploring how digital systems shape our perception, behavior, and beliefs.

This expanded iteration, placing viewers in a hybrid physical/virtual space, shapes interactions in both expected and unexpected ways, positions viewers as both operators of the system and subjects within it, and asks how technologies such as algorithmic prediction systems are reshaping our experiences and understanding of our subjective realities.

The installation consists of several interactive elements, a padded wall with touch sensors that trigger animated "hallucinations" which are mirrored in the projected virtual environment, a brain interface that rewires the parameters of the installation, and a depth camera that tracks the viewer's movements and location, to which the installation reacts dynamically in real-time. Through a combination of embodied interaction and algorithmic observation, the installation questions whether we are in control of systems or whether they, in fact, control us.