Robotics Aesthetics & Usability Center (RAUC)

Walking Canvas ; Pors & Rao in technical collaboration with RSL, demonstrated at the ETH Pavilion in Davos, 2020. Wyss Zurich Heart ; responsive beating heart as a mascot for the unity between UZH + ETHZ, at Start Up Days, Bern 2020. Anima Exhibition installed at the Zoological Museum since 14th December 2020 The first PATHOS modules, live in Anima I by Lea Pereyre , at EPFL’s Pavilions Nature of Robotics , 2020. Glimpse of PATHOS exhibition at the Zoological Museum, UZH , opening in December 2020. The first prototype of motion curve editor feature, of PATHOS project started at Wyss Zurich in 2017.

The aim of the RAUC is to connect robotics to visual arts. By developing an online animatronics platform called PATHOS, we hope to enable non-technical people to access tools for robotic animation, which in turn can open up new possibilities for visual culture and artistic practice. These are the three focus areas:

Aesthetics

Currently the development of robots is largely driven by the industrial requirements. The center explores robotics as a physical and performative language of motion and response where the technology serves as a new visual medium for the individual.

Sentience

Approaching physical movement as communication is at the heart of the RUAC, particularly the notion of a sentient presence where complex inner states are revealed through the nuances of physical behavior.

Usability

A key aspect of our platform (PATHOS) is the ability to control motion and behaviour parameters through a friendly browser interface, thereby removing the need for complicated and expensive engineering softwares.

The mission is to develop the PATHOS tools, conduct workshops, collaborations and hold public exhibitions to share its tools and vision.

The project was initiated by the Indo-Danish art duo Pors & Rao during an artist residency at the external page Wyss Zurich in early 2017. The frustrations they faced over a period of 15 years while working with robotic technologies created the basis of approaching robotics as a performative medium for non-engineers.

People

Aparna Rao

Artist In Residence & Center Director

Aparna Rao is a part of Pors & Rao, a Bangalore based art duo working with objects and installations that often incorporate lifelike physical movement and responsive behaviours. Many of the works are conceived as a kind of 'being' with basic behaviour patterns such as shyness, fatigue and dependence, highlighting involuntary aspects of human behaviour and relationships. Their work has been included at Setouchi Triennale, Japan; Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India; Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland; Nam June Paik Art Center, South Korea and The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Norway. Aparna’s role is to envision and realise a new ecosystem of research, industry and the creative and cultural output, that builds on the unique possibilities of making PATHOS accessible to the visual arts.

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Søren Pors

Artist In Residence & Artistic Director

Søren Pors is a part of Pors & Rao, a Bangalore based art duo working with objects and installations that often incorporate lifelike physical movement and responsive behaviours. Many of the works are conceived as a kind of 'being' with basic behaviour patterns such as shyness, fatigue and dependence, highlighting involuntary aspects of human behaviour and relationships. Their work has been included at Setouchi Triennale, Japan; Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India; Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland; Nam June Paik Art Center, South Korea and The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Norway. Søren’s role is to define and lead the usability aspects of the PATHOS platform as well as oversee innovation aspects in the domain of aesthetics (both in visuals and in motion), in all partnerships.

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