Touching with the eye: Science films, embodied technology and nanoscientific data

Science filmmakers have created new forms of image-based scientific data through techniques, such as stop-motion and time-lapse, predominantly using optical instrumentation. These tech-niques enable direct observation via the lenses of cameras and microscopes without further augmenting the human senses. However, these optical techniques cannot capture suprasen-sible phenomena – those that cannot be directly perceived without further translation. Observ-ing these phenomena must be technologically mediated on multiple levels via instrumentation, hardware and software, effectively disrupting the filmmaker’s experience of embodied technol-ogy, a crucial aspect of cinematographic practice. We speculate how to incorporate embodied technology that will enable filmmakers to depict suprasensible phenomena of nanoscale envi-ronments in experimental media works. This short paper details our practical experiments and experience with audio, visual and tactile representations of nano-data.