The Keeping It Urban Summit at Cornell Tech brought together startups, investors, artists, technologists, and civic leaders to explore the intersections of cities, culture, and emerging technology. Centered on themes including physical AI, media, and collective urban life, the summit highlighted ideas and projects shaped by the density of cities and the possibilities that emerge from human connection.
At the summit, ITP student Shentong Yu presented her project Bubbles, an interactive installation that transforms breath into image, trace, and atmosphere. Participants exhale into a handheld interface, releasing bubbles that drift through space, burst on contact, or remain behind as delicate remnants of prior encounters. As more people interact with the piece, Bubbles gradually accumulates a layered record of presence, turning an intimate bodily gesture into a shared and evolving environment.
Shentong Yu is a creative technologist and 3D technical artist based in New York. Her practice explores the intersection of virtual 3D environments, physical objects, and human interaction through playful and participatory experiences.
