Autopoiesis

     
  [1]

 

“Ken Rinaldo’s Autopoiesis consists of fifteen robotic sound sculptures that modify their behaviour over time as a result of public interaction, exhibiting individual and collective agency. Using infrared sensors to detect human presence, the robots exchange information to modify their behaviour. They communicate with each other through a computer network and audible telephone tones….[..] “[2]


“Autopoiesis utilizes a number of unique approaches to create this complex and evolving environment. It uses smart sensor organization that senses the presence of the viewer/participant and allows the robotic sculpture to respond intelligently. I have used smart sensor organization in past papers to describe the process of organizing the sensors in such a way that they can be minimized in number while maximizing the abilities of the software to cope with the data. This idea was also explored at the Fourth Neuromorphic Engineering workshop at the Telluride Summer Research Center where participants noted that just a few sensors can be used to create complex interaction if the sensors are properly organized. For example, at the top of each sculptural element (or arm) four passive infrared sensors face North, South, East and West. When two sensors are triggered, the program knows that someone is located in, for instance, the Southeast corner and this is the direction the sculpture moves to. Four sensors allow eight quadrants of sensing. These passive infrared sensors tell each arm to move in the direction of the viewer, while the active infrared sensor located at the tip stops the arm as it arrives within inches of the viewer. This allows the sculpture to display both attraction and repulsion behaviors.” [1]


[1]: http://accad.osu.edu/~rinaldo/

[2]: Edward A. Shanken, Art and Electronic Media, p.160