Bow Mind 弓心弓心

Bow Mind is an interactive installation, and also a reflection on how much of today’s technology pulls attention outward. In social life and in consumption, people drift from their own instincts and their own power to choose, and let the outside world define who they are. Heidegger called this Das Man, the They: we live by the habits of the crowd and stop asking what we ourselves think. This work tries to run that in the other direction, using technology to lead a participant inward.Bow Mind 是一件互動裝置，也是我對當代科技經常將注意力拉向外部世界的反思。人在社群互動與消費主義中，容易逐漸疏遠自己的本能感受與選擇權，任由外界定義自己的主體性。海德格用 Das Man（常人）來描述這種現象，指出人們往往依循群體的慣性生活，卻不再追問自己真實的想法。這件作品試圖反轉這個方向，讓科技成為引導參與者向內探索的媒介。

Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception drew my attention to the body: we are already engaging with the world before language and conscious thought intervene. Small changes in breathing or muscle tension became possible cues for interaction. Bow Mind turns sensed physiological signals into visual feedback, inviting participants to notice their own state as they shoot.梅洛龐蒂的知覺現象學讓我把注意力放在身體：在語言與認知介入之前，身體已經與世界互動。呼吸節奏、肌肉緊繃等平時不易察覺的變化，因此成為我選擇的互動線索。Bow Mind 將感測到的生理訊號轉為視覺回饋，讓參與者在射箭時留意自己的狀態。

I chose archery because drawing, aiming, and releasing demand attention. The lingering posture after a shot, or zanshin, also leaves time to notice the body. The Stoic archer offers another perspective: an archer can do everything within their power to aim well, but cannot fully control whether the arrow hits. That distinction resonates with this work. The target gives each shot direction, while every draw and release belongs to the experience; hitting the center is only one part of it.我選擇射箭，因為拉弓、瞄準與放箭都需要專注，每一箭結束後的餘姿（殘心）也留下了覺察身體的時間。斯多葛學派以射手為喻：射手能盡力瞄準，卻無法完全掌握箭矢是否命中。這個分別也呼應了作品想呈現的經驗。靶心為每一箭指明方向，而每次拉弓與放箭也都是體驗的一部分，射中靶心只是其中一部分。

I began with three storyboards: a bow that vibrated when attention wandered, a breathing light that lit up only when the user was calm, and a projection that turned emotions into bubbles to shoot away. I took these concepts to a student-club coach, a former national-team archer, and a kyudo teacher to hear how they understood the interactions.設計初期，我提出三個故事板：注意力分散時震動提醒的互動弓、情緒安定才會點亮的呼吸燈，以及把情緒化為泡泡、讓人射掉的投影儀。我帶著這三個方案訪談學生社團教練、前射箭國手與弓道老師，了解他們如何看待這些互動。

The club coach described how archers can dwell on a missed shot or suddenly become nervous. His approach was to step away, accept the feeling, and eventually make peace with it. That made me reconsider the emotion bubbles: asking someone to eliminate a feeling ran against the acceptance I wanted to explore. The kyudo teacher raised a different concern. People take up archery for different reasons, and someone seeking only inner calm could meditate or copy sutras instead. Together, these comments changed the direction. I stopped treating emotions as something to overcome and left room for voluntary reflection, while keeping the interaction open to people who simply wanted to try it.社團教練談到射手常反覆回想失誤的一箭，或突然感到緊張。他的應對方式是「先遠離，再接受，最後與之和解」。這讓我回頭檢視「射掉情緒泡泡」的設計：它要求人消除情緒，與我想談的接納背道而馳。弓道老師則提醒我每個人接觸射箭的動機不同；如果只是為了修心，打坐或抄經也能做到。這兩項回饋改變了設計方向。我不再把克服情緒當成任務，而是保留自主覺察的空間，也讓單純想體驗射箭互動的人能參與。

I brought the three proposals into one interaction centered on a planetary target. The planet reflects a live image of the participant, its satellites move with their heartbeat, and the sky changes color with their level of attention. Aiming at their own image invites them to notice and describe bodily sensations without the display labeling emotions as good or bad. I kept a real bow as the controller, so the resistance of drawing and releasing continues to connect the visual feedback to a physical action.我將三個方案整合為以行星作為標靶的互動。行星表面即時映射參與者的影像，衛星隨心跳快慢運行，星空顏色則反映專注程度。參與者瞄準畫面中的自己，練習覺察並描述身體感受，畫面不替情緒區分好壞。控制器仍使用真實弓具，保留張弓與放箭的阻力，讓視覺回饋始終連著身體的動作。