“Oribotics is the systematic revelation of the elegant beauty found in the mechanical movement of folded forms, and offers a reflection on biomechanics.” – Matthew Gardiner
Oribotics are the AE FutureLab artist in residence Matthew Gardiner research artworks, based on the hybrid field between origami and robotic technology.
A sort of digital “flowers”, the Oribots vary their mouths autonomously, but they also use ultrasonic sensors to detect proximity: as an object (a human hand) approaches, the oribot blossom opens up its 1050 folds. Each movement is broadcast to the other oribots in the installation, who respond with sympathetic movements and variation of lights.
The blossoming of all the oribots creates a stunningly complex concert of alive flowers:
The Future Unfolds @ARS electronica 2010 Linz from Phil Fried on Vimeo.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_7sW6N-U88
We catched a funny talking between the Australian artist and her child daughter:
“Pop, your flowers are reeeally nice”, “Thank you! This is what I’ve been doing all this time!”
Here are some more videos on the Oribotics development, which you can read, more in detail, in the artist’s site (also on Airstrip), and blog:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gMC1lEi10o
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t2M4MfrcZE
The magical atmosphere produced by the interaction of a network of Oribotics somehow recalls a famous scene from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0lbfEb8MMk
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