How ‘The Bloom’ Works: We have people with disabilities wearing our brainwave controllers, which can capture the EEG (Electroencephalogram) signal of the wearer through the device's receptors. The captured EEG signal will be converted into the corresponding EEG parameter using the NeuroSky biometric algorithm, thus controlling the external detonating device. Our external device is a PLC (programmable logic controller) connecting to 61 detonators via relays and wires. Each detonator is placed into a balloon full of colored pigments. Each person with disabilities can choose one or several ballons that they like. Then we will individually program the balloons via the PLC and match the balloons to the corresponding brainwave device. All they need to do is to focus, so they can convert their EEG signals to commands and trigger the detonation.《绽放》工作原理: 我们让残障人士戴上了脑波仪意念控制器。该仪器可以通过触角捕捉佩戴者的脑电信号，并采用NeuroSky的芯片生物计数算法，将捕捉到的脑电信号转换成相应的脑电参数指标，以此来控制外联的驱动装置。我们的外联驱动装置是一个PLC控制器，经由控制元件继电器及无数根电线，分别连接了61根雷管。每根雷管都被单独安置在一个装满颜料的气球中。每位残障人士可以选择一个或数个自己喜欢的气球，我们通过PLC控制器单独为其编写了程序，并匹配到相应的脑波仪上。他们只需要集中专注力，便可以将脑电信号转换成指令，完成爆炸。
Cai Guoqiang(蔡国强）Jody Xiong(熊超）
Zhang Yimou(张艺谋）
The Bloom
Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Paralympic is held at the Bird's Nest in Beijing on March 4th. At the same time, Jody Xiong was also invited by chief director Zhang Yimou to become the short film director and visual artist of the opening ceremony, and created a technological and artistic installation called The Bloom.
A group of impaired individuals came together to create a piece dedicated to the Winter Paralympics. They chose their favorite colors and placed them in balloons with detonators. Then wore a brainwave-capturing device that sent a signal to trigger a detonator to detonate a balloon, and the paint was sprayed on the canvas. The colorful intersections formed an abstract "smiley face", which means to greet friends all over the world with laughter. This is an experiment of technology and art, an expression of the spiritual power of the disabled. The Bloom was inspired by Jody Xiong's 2014 personal art project Mind Art, and Zhang Yimou appreciated the work so much that he hoped to apply the concept into the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics. In order to be more in tune with the paralympic theme, Zhang convened a series of brainstorming sessions with Jody Xiong and other creatives, including international art master Cai Guoqiang. They overturned the original scheme and recreated The Blossom: 12 disabled people worked together to create a colorful smiley face around a circular canvas with a diameter of 8 meters. Representing peace, happiness, unity, friendship, the "smiling face" has become one of the most important visual symbols of the Winter Paralympics opening ceremony.
Brain wave idea control is now a mature technology. The team hired Li Daquan, a scientific and technological engineer, as well as Beijing Shiyou, a brain wave technical support team, so that the disabled can truly realize the detonation of brain waves. The disabled man is physically disabled, but not spiritually.
Some Awards
The Official Selection at 12th American Documentary And Animation Film Festival of the Academy® qualifying. The Official Selection at 53rd Annual USA Film Festival's International Short Film & Video Competition. Best Documentary in Contemporary Art at the 8th Master of Art Film Festival. The Official Selection at 23nd Beverly Hills Film Festival. The Official Selection at 31st Arizona International Film Festival. The Official Selection at 23nd Myrtle Beach International Film Festival. Best Installation Award of the Year at The 6th New York Nil Gallery. Best Experimental at the 13th Toronto Indie Shorts. Best Director Honorable Mention at Tokyo International Short Film Festival. The Bloom in the 101st Art Directors Club of New York, winning three Cubic Awards. etc.
2022年3月4日，冬残奥会在北京鸟巢举行开幕式。同时，熊超也被总导演张艺谋邀请，担任开幕式的短片导演兼视觉艺术家，创作了一件名为《绽放》的装置设计，向冬残奥致敬。
一群残疾人相聚一起，共同创作一幅献给冬残奥会的作品。他们选择各自喜欢的颜色，放置在装有雷管的气球中。然后戴上脑电波捕捉设备，发送信号触发雷管引爆气球，颜料喷洒在画布上。绚丽多彩，形成一幅抽象的“笑脸”，寓意着用欢笑迎接全世界的朋友。一次科技与艺术的实验，一场残疾人精神力量的表达。《绽放》灵感源于2014年熊超的个人艺术项目《Mind Art》，张艺谋非常欣赏这件作品，他希望在冬季残奥会开幕式上运用这一理念。为了与冬残奥的主题更契合，张艺谋召集了熊超和其他主创人员，包括国际艺术大师蔡国强，进行了多次头脑风暴会议。他们颠覆原始的方案，重新创作了《绽放》：12位残疾人环绕直径为8米的圆形画布，共同创作一幅绚丽多彩的笑脸。代表着和平、快乐、团结，友谊的 “笑脸”，成为冬残奥会开幕式最重要的视觉符号之一。
脑电波意念控制，目前是一项很成熟的科技。团队聘请了科技工程师李大全，以及脑电波技术支持团队北京视友，让残疾人真正了实现脑电波引爆颜料。残疾人虽然身体残缺，但灵魂并不残疾。
Chief Director 总导演: Zhang Yimou 张艺谋 / Director 导演: Jody Xiong 熊超 / Chief Producer 监制: Shen Chen 沈晨 / Executive Producer 制片人: Li Zhiwei 李志伟 / Artist艺术家：Jody Xiong / Art Consultant 艺术顾问: Cai Guoqiang 蔡国强, Joe Wang 王志鸥 / CO Director 联合导演: Zhu Jinjing 朱津京 / Assistant Director 执行导演: Feng Xiaotao 冯小涛 / Photography Director 摄影指导: Arden Tse 谢粤 / Technical Director 技术总监: Li Daquan 李大全 / Brain Wave Technology 脑电波技术: Shiyou 视友科技 / Producer 制片: Yao Guoqing 姚囯庆 / Choreographer 编导: Guo Xinnong 郭馨浓, Zheng Bo 郑博, Hao Shanshan 郝姗姗, Zhao Chenguang 赵晨光 / Stylist 造型: Cao Tingting 曹婷婷 / Propsman 道具: Li Jie 李杰，Xiong Xiong 熊雄 / Editor 剪辑: Zhao Qi 赵琪 / Online: Wei Na 魏娜 / TC 调色: Yu Yongmei 俞勇美 / 3D 三维: Hu Mo 胡末 / Photography 平面摄影: Liu Yang 刘杨 / Gags Shooting 花絮: Wang Shuo 王硕
Awards奖项：Best 5 Minutes Inspirational Film at the 11th American Documentary Film Festival, AmDocs is an Academy® qualifying festival, and named one of the Top 5 Coolest Documentary Film Festivals in the World, and one of the Top 25 Film Festivals in the World Worth The Entry Fee by MovieMaker Magazine. Best Director Honorable Mention at Tokyo International Short Film Festival, Best Experimental at the 13th Toronto Indie Shorts, Best Installation at The 6th New York Nil Gallery, Best Documentary in Contemporary Art at the 8th Master of Art Film Festival 2023. 冬残奥《绽放》在极负盛名的纽约ADC国际竞赛中击败东京夏奥开幕式，赢得三座立方块大奖；囊括MAD STARS釜山国际广告节设计类银奖铜奖；二项2022德国红点设计大奖；二项纽约广告奖入围；一项英国D&AD提名；The Work亚太广告年鉴七项入选； 2022欧洲创意奖Cresta Awards选为官网首页置顶。
