Meet Casey Scalf | Artist, Designer, & Engineer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Casey Scalf and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Casey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The thought process behind starting Sensebellum was from a collection of observations about education, technology, art, and entertainment.

I saw how technology was opening up new intermediations between our sensory faculties. How the internet allowed for near instant communication between people, and via archived material, whilst engaging our eyes, ears, and hands.

It was this intersection of the humanities and technologies that spurred me to think about what kinds of spaces and experiences we could realize in person and in silicon.

This started first as a foray into the augmented reality of 3D projection mapping which quickly took on an interactive component, and then came sound, then next to stand alone installations, and now finally emerging as cohesive immersive spaces that Sensebellum curates.

Though I consider myself an artist, and Sensebellum a studio, it’s these bigger aims that cue me to formally make it a business and think of such structures so as to enable the vision to scale.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I feel my blend of art is unique in a few ways.

One is that I embrace a multi-sensory approach as is alluded to in the name. It is through these senses (which there are more than 5!) that we perceive, understand, and interact with the world. This sensory information is then partly routed through the cerebellum in our brains – therefore, “Sensebellum”.

So when it comes to art I aim to engage as many of these senses as I can, in concert, to more efficiently and richly convey the essential idea at hand.

Take for instance the interactive art installation, “Floragraph”.

This is a plant with a screen and speaker. As you approach it the speaker emits a melody and the screen graphs the response. You might come to notice as you get closer to the plant, and eventually touch, the nature of the sound and screen changes. This is because tiny sensors in the plants roots are sensing the interplay between the electromagnetic fields of you and the plant. It is made real by seeing, hearing, and touching and only goes deeper from there as you explore the interaction.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I were to show a friend around town it would definitely be via bicycle!

This is of course the most fun and easy way to get around a downtown area.

We would go to the parks, maybe a museum, surely a good trail, and end it with a nice outing of food and beverage at a place with a view!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shoutout to all the un-sung heroes that made the computer revolution possible. Most specifically Alan Turing.

From all accounts Alan Turing was a good natured sole born just a few generations too soon.

His legacy is that of the essential architecture of the modern computer and for cracking the Enigma code and likely saving Britain. Through this he developed some of the first electronic computers as well as pioneered the idea of an “infinite tape machine” and the idea of the “Turing Test”; among many others.

As the internet continues to grow and our newest software creations take on a life of their own his ideas become only more relevant as time passes on.

Thanks for the great work Alan Turing!

Website: www.sensebellum.com

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