Public Anemone

In August of 2002, we debued the Public Anemone installation at the Siggraph Emerging Technology Exhibit. This exhibit combined several core technologies: (1) Integrated show controls that turn the terrarium into an intelligent stage; (2) Interactive, autonomous robot performers with natural and expressive motion that combines techniques from animation and robot control; and (3) Real-time, stereo vision that tracks multiple features on multiple people. This robotic creature was capable of moving naturally and expressively while interacting with its environment and with people around it. The exhibit featured several autonomous robots performing on an "intelligent" stage, featuring computer-controlled special effects.

Together, these elements create a physically interactive, ever changing, multi-sensory experience (including, sight, sound, touch, and even smell). The performance follows a storyline where certain elements occur each time, yet audience participation allows the experience to be different every time.

Inspired by primitive life, Public Anemone is a robotic creature with an organic appearance and natural quality of movements. By day, Public Anemone is awake and interactions with the waterfall, pond, and other aspects of its surroundings. It interacts with the audience by orienting to their movements using a stereo machine vision system. But if you get too close, it recoils like a rattlesnake.

The skin is made of a highly elastic silicone rubber and is designed to fit over the mechanics in a way that maximizes the realism of motion. Modified commercial servo controllers, using optical encoders to measure finger positions, control each of the finger motors. The high-level behavior is controlled by a system used to create graphical creatures that interact with and learn from people. We adapted it to the task of controlling a robot a for this project and used the animation capabilities as a simulator.

The anemone starts each days' cycle with a high confidence level and a desire to complete various tasks. It chooses to either continue it's tasks or interact with a participant base on their behavior and how much progress it has made with its tasks.