Synchrony

About the project

‘Synchrony' is an interactive digital artwork created by computational artist Andy Lomas in collaboration with the Srinivas & Riley research groups, who study how the human heart gets its shape and rhythm.

The piece uses mathematical modelling inspired by the developing heart and the advanced imaging researchers are using to study the cells that make it up. A stereoscopic installation enables viewers to explore how coordinated cell behaviours emerge from interactions between cells. These behaviours are simulated as visual and auditory patterns which can be modified in real-time by viewers, allowing them to see how changes in cell behaviour cause and are linked to changes in the shape and rhythm of the heart.

Through ‘Synchrony’, we aim to share the beauty, wonder and fragility of the growing embryo with the public. We hope to discuss what we know about how we develop before birth and why it’s important to better understand human development.

The science behind the artwork

Researchers at the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, University of Oxford are interested in better understanding how the heart develops before birth in order to better understand congenital heart defects. The more we know about early heart development, the more we empower doctors in providing better treatments for this condition. Heart defects are one of the most common congenital diseases, affecting 1 in 100 babies.

The heart is the first organ to form in an embryo, going through very dynamic changes during development. Starting as a single cell smaller than the point of a pin, a human embryo undergoes remarkable shape and size changes. The heart is no exception, starting as a crescent-shaped group of a few hundred cells, which then then form a tube that loops and grows, eventually forming the four-chambered organ we know, with millions of specialised cells acting in synchrony. This all happens while the heart is rapidly growing in size and complexity, and as the heart starts to beat and pump blood. Both the organ as a whole and the individual cells themselves also undergo very dynamic changes. At first, the cells all appear to be the same, contracting randomly and independently. Gradually, these cells begin to communicate and coordinate, synchronising and eventually functioning together as a single organ. All these events must take place in the correct order and at the correct time in order to develop into a fully functioning, healthy heart.

How the artwork was made

Andy Lomas is a computational artist with a background in creating 3D animation for films. He has a long-standing fascination with biological processes and the beauty of shapes and forms in nature. He had extensive conversations with the researchers, discussing how forms emerge and how physical forces are key in shaping the heart’s 3D structure. These conversations meandered through evolution, animation, mathematics, technology, art and human health, highlighting how science exists at the intersection of nature and human endeavour.

Andy’s modelling shifted and expanded how researchers thought about their science, leading them to consider novel ways of generating biological complexity based on simple rules. This collaboration highlights how physical parameters like force, velocity, tension and gravity experienced by individual cells can, and do, contribute to the shape and growth pattern of the heart and all of our organs. In addition, abstract representation of these parameters opens scientific and artistic possibilities, in ways that were not possible before.

If you are interested in knowing more, including viewing or displaying the artwork, please get in touch: hdbi-pe@bio.cam.ac.uk