IM JAHR 2016 BEWILLIGTES PROJEKT

Wyss Zurich Pathos Lab

Redaktion

Für den Inhalt der Angaben zeichnet die Projektleitung verantwortlich.

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Kooperation

Dieses von der Gebert Rüf Stiftung geförderte Projekt wird von folgenden weiteren Projektpartnern mitgetragen: Wyss Translational Center Zurich; Pors & Rao (Artist Duo Aparna Rao & Søren Pors), India; NTB Buchs; Swissnex India

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Projektdaten

Projekt-Nr.: GRS-020/16
Förderbeitrag: CHF 283'500
Bewilligung: 02.11.2016
Dauer: 03.2017 - 02.2019
Handlungsfeld: DesignPlus, seit 2013

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Projektleitung

Aparna Rao, Artist in Residence, Wyss Zurich, Pathos Lab, Weinbergstrasse 65, 8092 Zürich (Schweiz), aparna@porsandraostudio.notexisting@nodomain.comcom

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Abstract

The Gebert Ruef Stiftung supports a two year research lab at Wyss Zurich, allowing artist duo Pors & Rao to pursue a language of nuanced expression through physical movement. PATHOS (Poetic Animatronics Through Hands-On Systems) is a set of tools developed to realise a high degree of resolution in robotic animation and responsive behaviors. It is rooted in the technical difficulties encountered by the artists in crafting a language of affective motion and response. The project specifically explores the potential of life-like animatronics to suggest complex inner states in inanimate objects.The toolkit itself consists of a set of mechatronic modules and software interfaces that are reliable and easy to use. Being nested within Wyss Zurich enables the project to fuse world class engineering research with artistic compulsions and intent. By providing a high degree of control to the non-engineer, PATHOS aims to enable animatronics to become a more accessible, spontaneous and personal medium of expression that can also exist within the public domain. All tools and techniques developed will be demonstrated through a series of Pors & Rao artworks involving performative movement and response patterns; also planned for public exhibition.

Was ist das Besondere an diesem Projekt?

The main focus of the project is two-fold. The first is to enable access to the finer technical parameters of creating physical animation. For example, these can be used to imbibe an object with a high degree of nuance in body language that can elude to complex inner states. For this language to exist in the world, control of fine nuance is needed and this project provides that. The approach is to use personal subjectivity, bringing in elements of individual signatures, exaggeration, caricature to capture a complexity in expression, that has rarely seen or used in robotics. These may include suggesting emotions, such as curiosity, anxiety, playfulness and so on but also combined with humour, or irony. In this way, PATHOS differentiates itself from the largely two current developments in animatronics expressions: one being realism (exact mimicry of human appearance or movement is key) and the other being a kind of emoticon approach - which use binary, symbolic gestures. This project does not need to reply on anthropomorphic forms, any object or geometric shapes can be animated to express a ‘consciousness’. The second key goal is captured in the project’s adage ‘eliminate the technology, eliminate the engineer’. This highlights a key intention to remove the complexity of technology and engineering from the process and allow anyone to directly and intuitively delve into the natural, direct process of animation.

Stand/Resultate

So far with PATHOS, we have been able to make good progress in the area of realising nuance in animation and response patterns through highly robust, custom actuator and control systems. As the designs involved altering fundamental parameters, there was still a need for the artist or non-technical maker to deal with a lot of engineering processes, which is not possible without technical expertise. In the current phase of PATHOS, the gentle interface for animation and behaviour is a focus area and a primary challenge.

Publikationen

None at the time

Medienecho

Keynote at Wyss Annual Event 2016: «Restless Beings: Life Like Physical Movement & Behaviour»
UZH News Website:

Links

Wyss Translational Center Zurich
Pors & Rao Website
Kochi Biennale Interview
Ted Talk 2011
Ted Talk 2013

Am Projekt beteiligte Personen

Aparna Rao, Artist in Residence Wyss Zurich, Pors & Rao India, project leader
Dr. Philipp Reist, PATHOS Lead Systems Engineer, Wyss Zurich

Letzte Aktualisierung dieser Projektdarstellung

14.06.2017