Proteus v2.0
Proteus is an installation that modulates ferrofluid patterns in a closed loop with both human and machine bits of intelligence. An individual and prolonged…
Series
Proteus is a collaborative project continuously evolving as a series of mixed-media interactive installations integrating human and machine intelligence to interact with organic material behaviour, digital modulation, and human perception. A common material vector to the series gathers the unique characteristics of ferrofluid — a colloidal material that dynamically alters its shape under magnetic influence — to evoke an elemental, elusive presence akin to the ancient god Proteus, a foretelling deity reappraised and characterised anew throughout digitised communication. As Proteus shifts between forms to evade truth, it becomes a contemplative meditation on change, unpredictability, and the vast unknown. This behaviour speaks to the universal myth of the desire to understand and categorize phenomena that resist stable form.
Version
Proteus is an installation that modulates ferrofluid patterns in a closed loop with both human and machine bits of intelligence. An individual and prolonged visual experience immerses the visitor in an implicit interaction with the material through a brain-computer interface. A pre-trained dedicated machine learning model is informed by real-time neural signals produced by the visitor’s gaze while being exposed to the rapid serial change of patterns without any explicit instructions to follow. Over the time of the gaze experience, visitors may witness a certain stabilisation of their modulated picture of the material. An AI-controlled system of pneumatic actuators holding magnets in a grid modulates the ferrofluid display over time. It slowly builds a digital motion picture of its behaviour and records sequences. The project infers on digitally encoded material properties using a computational mixture of human and machine vision models to allow for meditative and thoughtful interactions.
Details
An intimate moment with one's wandering thoughts. Built as a room surrounding a digital well into which individuals can mindfully fall for a brief moment and mix their intelligence with Proteus.
Legend
Full installation view as exhibited for Error, at Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, 2018.
Series: Proteus
Version: 2.0
Title: Modulating Matter With Mixed Intelligence
Year: 2018
Type: Interactive and Generative Installation
Authors: CompMonks, Maria Smigielska
Dimensions / Format: 30 x 30 x 110 cm
Materials: Ferrofluid, glass, 3d printed ABS plastic, extruded acrylic glass, milled and extruded aluminium, pneumatic actuators, compressed air, mdf wood, misc electronics, acrylic paint.
Funding: CAAD ETH Zürich, Creative Robotics
Production: CompMonks, Maria Smigielska
Collaboration: Creative Robotics - Production collaboration,ETH Zürich - Scientific collaboration
Exhibitions: Error (Ars Electronica Festival, 2018),Bits, Bots, Brains (Tetem Art Space, 2018)
Credits
©CompMonks, Maria Smigielska