This article was taken from the January 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
These snake-like robots are part of a digital petting zoo created by London and New York-based design firm Minimaforms. The robots, exhibited at the FRAC Centre in Orleans, France, until February, react to human contact, and each other. By moving and changing their colour and brightness, moods such as anger or fear (red), boredom (blue), and playfulness (white), can be indicated. "It's about people engaging with inanimate elements," says Greek-American architect Theodore Spyropoulos, 36, who runs Minimaforms with his brother Stephen, an artist. They are now using the installation to research how they can design buildings and spaces that are responsive to occupants.
The robots in the zoo adapt their behaviour by using a Kinect to locate and map who is in the area and how they touch and approach the installation. They log this data and identify patterns between their interactions and visitors' responses, which lets their behaviour evolve. The pets continually change their colour, brightness, movement and sound in response to specific interactions. Too many visitors might make the pets angry, so they turn red and get louder, but can be pacified if stroked.
Theodore Spyropoulos says their observations of human reactions to the exhibit is helping them design an evolving illumination system for the Waterfront Faleron Bay, Athens. They are also looking into designing living spaces. "What if a home took on the characteristics of its inhabitants?" he says. "What if a house could influence its own self-organisation within larger clusters of apartments?"
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
