Playable Spaces for Urban Places brings the mechanics of the robot to everyday places, in a soft and tangible form and completely safe for curious humans. More than ever we need incidental disruption to urban environments that does not require permission or forethought to attend, which is sensitive and sensible to our needs and encourages us to find different ways of being present.
We make sensitive, responsive street furniture, that disrupts the transitory relationship of visitors to an urban space, with playable, organically moving limbs and considerate actions.
We think that using the emotive “power” of robotics we can represent that complex, interactive ecosystem in which trees are crucial. So not replacing trees but representing them in their amazing complexity via the robot – solar power, air filter, oxygen creator, irrigation, host, shelter, nutrition, sensorial stimulation and providing a means of engaging with today’s complex environmental issues whilst simultaneously discussing possibilities of technological innovation to aid environmental activism.
We use a simple lidar sensor system. This means that the movement will be suitably reactive to visitors’ presence. This programming is designed to simulate the timing of deep, meditative breathing, to encourage passers by to pause, take a breath and feel connected.
