Art Project | Cypher
Sculptural installation that combines a soft robotic body with a VR interface. The sculpture detects the proximity of the audience and change its shape accordingly. The VR headset allows the user to change the shape of the simulation through natural hand gestures. As the user changes the shape of the VR simulation, the robot moves real-time, aligning the physical and digital transformations.
http://www.ozeloffice.com/home#/cypher/
Artist Intentions
The artist intends to create an experience that brings the physical and digital world together. A user interacting with the VR environment causes corresponding changes in the physical environment through the soft robotic form.
Brainstorming
This art piece has already applied soft materials in the physical form of the sculptural portion. An alternate way soft materials could be used to achieve a similar affect could be replacing the pneumatic bubbles with a different method of deforming shape. This could include deforming fabric by pulling or stretching it, creating silicone tendrils or arms, etc.
Reference Paper | Cabbage Gripper
This paper created a thermally actuated soft robotic gripper inspired by the structure of veins in cabbages. The gripper was created with a composite of paper and PLA with 3 “leaves” arranged in a circle to grip objects as they curl toward the center.
Hu, Fuwen, Limei Lyu, and Yunhua He. “A 3D Printed Paper-Based Thermally Driven Soft Robotic Gripper Inspired by Cabbage.” International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing 20, no. 11 (November 1, 2019): 1915–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-019-00199-6.
Application
A potential way that cypher could be modified to adopt the cabbage gripper’s technology would be changing the shape of the the sculptural potion and visuals of the virtual environment to resemble a plant-like form. This might look something like a pineapple or frond like shape or more distantly a tree like structure with cabbage-like curling leaves. Changing the technology involved creating the form of the sculpture might drastically change the mood and visual impression of the work. Currently the form and VR portion suggest a very alien, abstract, surreal experience. Changing it to a more plant-inspired form may shift the experience to a more soothing, naturalistic tone.