Glowing Pathfinder Bugs = A-Volve + 14 years
07 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in art, Simon Fraser University, Tech The Crazy Tags: A-Volve, glowing pathfinder bugs, IAT222, interactive arts, mignonneau, s, SFU, Simon Fraser University, sommerer, squidsoup
So I was surfing on Engadget and came across an article (with video) about an interactive art installation called “Glowing Pathfinder Bugs” by Squidsoup, Anthony Rowe, Chris Bennewith, and Liam Birtles, that was first shown in 2008, and most recently was installed at Siggraph 2010. I immediately thought back to a piece we looked at in IAT 222 (Interactive Arts) at Simon Fraser University last year called A-Volve, by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau from way back in 1994. Super cool! Evolution has evolved, har har har.
A-Volve let users draw 2D shapes which were translated into 3D ‘creatures’ that floated about in a primordial soup, so to speak, where users could then interact with them in a shallow water pool to control their movement, mating, and predatory habits. Back in 1994, revolutionary. Won the Golden Nica for Interactive Art at the Prix Ars Electronica that year as well.
Glowing Pathfinder Bugs projects bugs of light onto a sandbox. The ‘bugs’ are aware of elevation changes in their environment, so users can change the terrain in the sandbox by building hills and valleys, as well as ‘pick up’ the bugs in their hands. The creatures can ‘die’ (with a big *SPLAT*) if dropped back onto the sand from too high a height, or if someone dumps sand on them. And yes. The bugs mate. Users can influence this too, by gently encouraging interaction between two bugs. Apparently, if the bug survives a few rounds of mating, it will turn into a butterfly. Cute.
I think Glowing Pathfinder Bugs is a fantastic re-imagining of the interactive environment that Sommerer and Mignonneau pioneered…and it looks most importantly, really fun. Kids like fun art. I love fun art.
Check out the links below to explore both Glowing Pathfinder Bugs and A-Volve.
Glowing Pathfinder Bugs by Squidsoup and Anthony Rowe, Chris Bennewith, Liam Birtles.
Article on Engadget about GPB at Siggraph2010: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/glowing-pathfinder-bugs-installation-puts-the-minority-report/
Artists’ website for GPB: http://www.squidsoup.org/bugs/
A-Volve by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau
Artists’ website: http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/WORKS/index.html
Video of the artists describing and demonstratin A-Volve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ3v1jcCXmk
Clip from the ORF-Documentary about Prix Ars Electronica 1994 re: A-Volve: http://vimeo.com/7723546
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