Articulated Head 2.0, 2019
Stelarc (AU)
The Articulated Head 2.0 is an art installation that was initiated by the Prosthetic Head, an embodied conversational agent. The Articulated Head 2.0 system consists of an industrial robot arm with an LCD mounted on the end effector. The LCD screen displays a 3D rendering of a head that replicates the artist Stelarc. The system also contains an array of sensors including auditory localisation, stereo vision and monocular vision that provides situational awareness for the robotic ‘agent’. The complete system is driven by a novel ‘attention model’, an algorithmic implementation that emulates simple brain functions. The system is driven by a component-based software architecture. The AH 2.0 is an interactive system where the head speaks to the person who interrogates it. The facial expressions and lip-syncing are augmented by the choreography of the robot arm, generating an artificial aliveness.
(c) Stelarc, Damith Herath, Christian Kroos
Bio
Stelarc explores alternate anatomical architectures. He is an artist whose projects incorporate prosthetics, robotics, biotechnology, medical imaging and the internet. He has performed with a Third Hand, a Stomach Sculpture, Exoskeleton and a Prosthetic Head. Fractal Flesh, Ping Body and Parasite are internet performances that explore remote and involuntary choreography. He is surgically constructing and stem-cell growing an ear on his arm that will be internet enabled. In 1996 he was made an Honorary Professor of Art and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh and in 2002 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Monash University, Melbourne. In 2010 was awarded the Ars Electronica Hybrid Arts Prize. In 2014 he initiated the Alternate Anatomies Lab. In 2015 he received the Australia Council’s Emerging and Experimental Arts Award. Between 2013-2018 he was a Distinguished Research Fellow, School of Design and Art (SODA) at Curtin University. His artwork is represented by the Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne.
Damith Herath is a Roboticist and Christian Kroos is a cognitive scientist.
