Imagine a piece of public art that was able to reflect the mood of its city. MIMMI is an artwork that seeks to be the 'emotional gateway to Minneapolis' by engaging both physical and virtual layers of the community. Designed and developed by INVIVIA, Inc. with Urbain drc., the floating, air-pressurised sculpture acts as a collective mood ring for the city of Minneapolis.

Suspended 30 feet above the ground in the centre of the Minneapolis Convention Centre Plaza, the cloud-like sculpture gathers emotive information via Twitter and analyses the data in real time to aggregate a collective mood amongst the residents and visitors. MIMMI then transmits the abstracted emotion of the city to a series of wifi-enabled LED bulbs and integrated water misting system. The low-energy lights display the mood beginning at sunset with cool colours representing negative emotions, and warm colours representing positive ones. During the day, water activity occurs through tubing and nozzles embedded in the fabric of the sculpture, with higher levels of misting occurring when the city mood is happier.

Much like Jennifer Wen Ma's social media-reactive installation in Beijing, MIMMI is a productive response to how cities and societies have changed and evolved due, in part, to social media. Social media is seen as a virtual sphere. MIMMI takes the virtual and transforms it into a physical entity that builds real community discussion. For those unable to see it in person, there is a live stream available on the city of Minneapolis website.