Overview
Meet Eva Here is a landmark interactive art installation created by celebrated Singaporean photographer and artist Shavonne Wong, exhibited at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore — one of the world's most prestigious venues for the intersection of art, science, and technology. The installation features an AI-powered digital avatar, Eva, who perceives and responds to museum visitors in real time through gesture and movement tracking.
The Challenge
Bringing an AI-driven interactive avatar to life inside a museum gallery environment presented a unique set of technical and creative requirements:
- Real-time body and gesture tracking that works reliably in a public gallery with variable lighting and visitor behavior
- An avatar that responds naturally and expressively to human presence and movement
- A Unity build stable enough to run continuously during exhibition hours without intervention
- Seamless collaboration between the technical team and the artist's creative vision
Our Solution
Virtual Verse Studio built the Unity-based interactive system that powers Eva's real-time awareness and response:
- Real-time gesture and movement tracking — using computer vision and body tracking, Eva detects visitors entering her space and responds to their movements with corresponding gestures and expressions
- AI-driven interaction logic — the avatar's behavior is guided by an AI layer that determines appropriate responses based on visitor proximity, body language, and movement patterns
- Expressive avatar performance — Eva's responses were designed to feel natural and human, creating genuine moments of connection between the artwork and its audience
- Museum-grade stability — the build was engineered to run continuously throughout the exhibition run without crashes or manual resets
Key Features
- Real-time visitor detection via computer vision and body tracking
- AI-driven avatar response system
- Expressive gesture and movement-based interaction
- Stable continuous-run Unity build for gallery exhibition
- Deep creative collaboration with artist Shavonne Wong
Tech Stack
- Engine: Unity 3D
- Tracking: Real-time computer vision and body-tracking pipeline for gesture recognition
- Character: AI-driven avatar behaviour system with gesture-triggered animation blending
- Deployment: Standalone Windows build optimised for unattended 24/7 gallery operation
- Integration: Gallery AV and display hardware at ArtScience Museum Singapore
Delivery Profile
- Client: Shavonne Wong — Singaporean photographer and digital artist, in partnership with ArtScience Museum Singapore
- Venue: ArtScience Museum, Singapore — one of the world's leading venues for the intersection of art, science, and technology
- Format: Permanent interactive gallery installation
- Team: Cross-disciplinary Unity engineering and 3D animation team at Virtual Verse Studio, working directly with the artist on iterative creative reviews
Results & Impact
The installation was a critical and audience success at ArtScience Museum — visitors who expected to observe a static display found themselves in a genuine exchange with Eva, fundamentally changing how they engaged with the artwork. Internal stakeholders praised Virtual Verse Studio's responsiveness and work culture throughout the collaboration. The project validated a pattern we have since reused for museum, retail, and brand-activation AI-avatar work.
Related Reading
- Deep dive on the architecture: AI avatar interactive museum installation — the Meet Eva Here build log
- Adjacent work: Work Spatial — AI-driven XR onboarding platform
- If you are planning a similar installation, start with our AR development services or book a discovery call.
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