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younger you would be proud

an interactive media project exploring beauty standards, self-surveillance, and self-perception in digital culture.

Concept

Younger You Would Be Proud is an interactive face-tracking experience and short film that explores the emotional impact of beauty standards and digital self-surveillance. Using p5.js, ml5.js, webcam interaction, and layered text, the project mirrors the way people overanalyze their appearance through cameras, mirrors, and social media. As viewers move their cursor across different regions of the face, negative thoughts and insecurities appear, reflecting internalized criticism surrounding appearance and perfection.

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The interaction gradually shifts from self-criticism toward reassurance and self-acceptance. Positive affirmations replace harsh observations, while the final sequence removes the viewer from the cycle of self-surveillance entirely. Inspired by online beauty culture, personal experiences, and works such as Excellences & Perfections and Black Mirror, the project examines how technology can intensify insecurity while also creating space for reflection, vulnerability, and healing.

Themes     +

Questions        +

Technical Process

Topics:

  • beauty standards

  • self-surveillance

  • internet culture

  • digital identity

  • vulnerability

  • perfectionism

  • girlhood

  • memory

  • healing

  • self-image

The project asks:

  • How has technology changed the way we look at ourselves?

  • At what point does self-awareness become self-surveillance?

  • Why do imperfections become amplified through digital spaces?

  • What would happen if we spoke to ourselves more gently?

The project was built using p5.js and ml5.js face tracking technology. Facial landmarks are mapped in real time to create region-based interactions tied to the eyes, forehead, nose, and mouth. Dynamic overlays, timed emotional states, and layered text systems were used to create a responsive emotional environment rather than a purely technical interface.

Tools:

  • p5.js

  • ml5.js

  • FaceMesh

  • webcam interaction

  • Davinci Resolve

  • sound design + editing

younger you would be proud.mov

Interactive Experience

The project was created using p5.js, ml5.js face tracking, and interactive webcam-based mapping. Users can move their cursor across facial regions to trigger different emotional responses and interactions.

Open Interactive Project

camera access required

How It Works

  • The system tracks the viewer’s face and cursor movement in real time.

  • As the cursor moves over different parts of the face, negative thoughts/insecurities appear in those areas.

  • When the viewer clicks, those negative messages transform into positive affirmations.

  • If the cursor leaves the face for a few seconds, calming messages appear, like “you are beautiful.”

  • The interaction ends with a final message: “younger you would be proud,” emphasizing self-acceptance.

Personal Reflection

This project was influenced by personal experiences with insecurity and the pressure to constantly analyze appearance through cameras, mirrors, and online spaces. I wanted to create something that felt intimate and emotionally honest while also reflecting larger conversations around beauty culture and digital self-image.

Rather than ending in criticism, the project shifts toward reassurance and self-compassion, especially through the perspective of one’s younger self.

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