We propose “Calmbots” that is a novel user interface utilizing insects’ capabilities such as mobility, self-maintenance, and hiding. In Calmbots, we utilize Madagascar cockroach and control multiple cockroaches by electrical stimulation to use them as display (by making them as pixels) and object transportation, or make them attach pens for drawing lines. Further, Calmbots can be used as input or haptic interfaces or audio device. We make the following novelties. First, we controlled Madagascar cockroaches with high mobility of moving across walls, carpets, and the floor with cables, where robots are difficult to achieve. Second, we devised option parts attached to cockroaches, making them capable of drawing lines and transporting objects. Third, we controlled multiple cockroaches effectively by developing the control based on the principle of worker ants, which exists in a swarm of ants. When there appear out-of-control cockroaches, we utilized the substitute cockroaches to continue the ongoing task.
Art concept
Might an interface integrated into our living space behave like an ecosystem? Calmbots is an interface made with cockroaches. Their mobility releases the interface from a fixed surface of contact and extends it into the living space itself.
What properties might an interface acquire when living organisms carry it through our surroundings? An interface independent of the human hand suggests new relationships between organic life and inorganic systems. It evokes an ecosystem that behaves like the elves in The Elves and the Shoemaker, changing the relationships between us, computers, and other organisms.
Yuga Tsukuda, Daichi Tagami, Masaaki Sadasue, Shieru Suzuki, Jun-Li Lu, Yoichi Ochiai