As smartphones distract us from the beauty around us, art and technology can often seem to be in conflict with each other. But NYU professor Daniel Rozin is proving otherwise. Using his technology and design skills, he creates moving art “mirrors” with different objects.

Cameras track the movements of the viewer, and custom software moves the objects on the canvas like pixels to “reflect” the viewer’s actions. Although he incorporates computers, they are not typically visible. Rozin has created his works out of a wide range of materials, including pom-poms, coffee lids, troll dolls, fans, and toy penguins.

So why the fascination with mirrors? The artist explains his view:

I find the mirror, as interface and paradigm very successful and useful for the creation of participatory interactive art. All technologically based art require (sic) an interface and reflection is a very simple and satisfying one. Mirrors are of course also very loaded and interesting objects that allow us to experience our being from the vantage point of others, which is a very different from the way we experience ourselves internally and a unique sensation.

Not only are Rozin’s works unique in their ability to allow the viewer to take an active role in the pieces, but his art demonstrates that technology doesn’t always distract from amazing art. The two genres can work together.