The Trees Chime In: Where Earth Whispers and Your Soul Listens

The Trees Chime In is an immersive, cross-cultural installation that invites guests into a multi-sensory meditation guided by the voice of an ancient tree. Through a blend of haptic feedback, personal reflection, and interaction, participants gain environmental awareness in order to commit to individual action, taking with them a seed of intention to cultivate change.

The Trees Chime In was created as part of the Haiku Horizons program under the 2025 President’s Award of Global Learning at the University of Texas at Austin. In collaboration with Keio University Graduate School of Media Design (KMD) in Tokyo, Japan, this experience was created by sixteen UT Austin undergraduates under the mentorship of UT professors Erin Reilly, Kate Freer, Kirsten Cather and graduate assistant, Nitsan Scharf.

A special thank you for the support, access, and guidance from Dean Masa Inakage; KMD professors Kouta Minamizawa, Sohei Wakisaka, and Assistant Manager Satomi Tanabe (Embodied Media Lab); Matthew Waldman (Samcara); Kai Kunze and Mathias Hoppe (Geist); Junichi Yamaoka (Future Crafts) alongside KMD graduate students: Rose Shao, Susie Lee, Isa Kagawa, Rosie Gibson, Innamia Indriani, and Cat Liu.

The Trees Chime In will premiere at QWS in Tokyo, Japan (June 2025) and later in Austin, Texas (December 2025). Designed to be experienced in both Japanese and English, the installation features a variety of tactile and digital elements, including:

Guided reflection activities

Interactive haptic feedback woven into the environment

Collaborative artwork inspired by the groups travels through Japan

Narrated by the voice of nature, The Trees Chime In guides participants through 15 minutes of reflection about their memories, interactions, and opinions about nature, consumption, and sustainability. Our goal is to nurture environmental empathy and empower guests with the knowledge and intention to live more consciously.