Human in the Loop is a sound-based interactive installation by Dr. Ahmad AlAttar that unfolds through physical interaction, listening, and gradual discovery. The work takes the form of a game of hide-and-seek between visitors and an unseen algorithm. What begins as light and playful shifts into focused engagement as participants learn to interpret and respond through listening.

Suspended from the ceiling is a field of hanging ropes that visitors are invited to pull. The space is filled with a continuous ambient soundscape of nature; subtle, calming, and ever-present. Each pull interrupts this calm with a brief, glitch-like sound. At first, these responses may feel random, but with repetition, patterns begin to emerge.

The glitchy sounds carry direction. Some are faint and distant, while others are sharper and more intense. By moving through the space and pulling different ropes, visitors begin to sense a pattern: increasing distortion indicates proximity to the algorithm’s hidden location. What begins as playful interaction gradually becomes an act of careful listening and navigation.

When the correct rope is found, the system responds with a distinct and heightened auditory moment; a brief reward that signals discovery. Almost immediately, the algorithm relocates, hiding once again within the field of ropes, and the search resets.

The title Human in the Loop borrows from a term in robotics and artificial intelligence used to describe systems that rely on human input. Here, the concept is translated into a physical and sensory experience. Visitors are not external operators; they are embedded within the system. Their actions drive the algorithm, and its responses guide their behavior in return. The shift is subtle but significant – from being part of the loop to becoming the loop itself, held within a continuous cycle that keeps the system alive.

Human in the Loop reflects a contemporary paradox: we take pleasure in interaction even as it draws us deeper into technological rhythms that are increasingly difficult to step away from. Rather than offering resolution, the work foregrounds how such systems reshape attention and behavior over time. By turning engagement into a physical and sensory act, the installation reveals the quiet labor of modern life: the searching, adjusting, and feeding of systems that shape our choices, while never fully letting us go.

Dr. Ahmad AlAttar is a participant of the 2024 cycle of the 421 Artistic Development Program (ADP), facilitated by Jolaine Frizzell. The artist was also mentored by Khalid AlAwadhi, Founder & CEO of Remal, and Dr. Pradeep Sharma, Director of the Arts, Culture and Heritage program at the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, during preparation for the exhibition.

ADP is an annual capacity-building initiative that provides early-career artists in the UAE with the opportunity to explore new techniques, test ideas, and create a cohesive body of work for their first institutional solo exhibition.

For school visits, please note that tours can be arranged on request. Kindly email hello@421.online for further assistance.

To download and view the exhibition press kit, please visit this link.

About the artist

Dr. Ahmad AlAttar (b. 1994, Dubai) is a robotics engineer, researcher, and art-technology innovator based in Dubai, whose work operates at the intersection of robotics research, cultural storytelling, and interactive art. Moving between engineering and artistic experimentation, his practice explores how emerging technologies, particularly robotics and kinetic or interactive installations, can reinterpret heritage, memory, and identity within the rapidly evolving cultural landscape of the United Arab Emirates.

Dr. AlAttar holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronic Systems Engineering from Simon Fraser University in Canada, graduating with honors in 2017. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Electronics Engineering and Management from King’s College London in 2019, followed by a PhD in Robotics Engineering from Imperial College London, where his research focused on robot motion learning.

Alongside his artistic initiatives, AlAttar currently serves as a Senior Robotics Engineer at Dubai Future Labs, where he leads advanced robotics research programs and contributes to the development of  Dubai’s research and innovation ecosystem. He is also the founder of REALIITY, an Emirati Art + Tech startup that creates immersive and interactive installations, blending robotics and emerging technologies with cultural storytelling.