*To Make Me Fret* is an interactive performance art piece in which audience members are encouraged to touch and pose a largely passive performer—the Puppet—who wears a costume laced with capacitive touch sensors. A childish virtual stage with a toy-like avatar of our Puppet is projected behind her, mirroring her movements. Touches to varying parts of her body trigger alluring visual effects to emit from the digital avatar. ![[IMG_7177.jpg]] ![[IMG_7181.jpg]] ![[IMG_7185.jpg]] Unknown to the audience, our Puppet has a “discomfort meter” that increases whenever she is touched, where more intimate areas on her costume are assigned higher discomfort values. This meter controls the procedural synthetization of the audio being played within the Room, ranging from neutral sound to uncomfortable noise. Likewise, the environment of the virtual stage becomes progressively darker and more chaotic as the meter advances. ![[IMG_9077.jpg]] ![[IMG_7180.jpg]] Each performance cycle culminates in our Puppet breaking from her passivity and refusing to engage further as “error” pop-ups cover the screen. At that point, our Ringmaster and technical team “reset” the virtual stage and the performance begins anew. ![[IMG_7173.jpg]] ![[IMG_9072.jpg]] *To Make Me Fret* is an exploration of intimacy, discomfort, and the objectifying touch. From a technical perspective, the piece investigates touch as a creative medium, unusual interface design, and tangible media. As producer and director, I defined the creative vision and oversaw the technical development of the piece. I managed our team of 11 students, which involved organizing task division, ensuring consistent progress, and keeping communication fluid among sub-teams. ![[group_pic_yay.png]]