unsettled succinctly describes the mood prevailing in Japan in the wake of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. Since then, some Japanese people won’t eat fish or seafood for fear of radioactive contamination; others are constantly measuring the radioactivity in their immediate environment; still others steadfastly refuse to abandon their houses in the no-go zones. People lack a consensus and a shared conception of how to manage the nuclear crisis.

Bulb, Camera and Clock

Abe and Kakehi confront this state of tense uncertainty in three works subsumed under the title unsettled. In them, they attempt to capture the essence of radioactivity by connecting a Geiger counter to objects that then react whenever radioactivity is measured.

In the case of existence, it’s a bulb that blinks every time enough radiation is detected; in spread, a camera’s shutter is released when a certain level of radiation is exceeded; and in transitions, a clock’s hands move only when sufficient radioactivity is present.

Yasuaki Kakehi and several colleagues have been working for a considerable time now on the development of haptic interfaces and technology to thereby add a third medium – in addition to audio and video – to the creative repertoire available to digital art and design. To precisely describe what they’re after, Kakehi & Co. have coined the term “techtile,” a portmanteau word that combines “technology” and “tactile.”

A Toolbox

Despite their concerted efforts, the development of haptic applications and tools is still in its infancy. To speed things up and pique the interest of the digital community, Team Kakehi has developed the TECHTILE toolkit. This prototype includes a microphone as haptic recorder, a few tiny vibrators as haptic reactors, and a signal amplifier that can also generate low-frequency vibrations below the auditory threshold.

The tamable looper is one of a group of works in which inorganic material is set in motion and thereby evokes the distinctive behavior of certain living creatures. In the work presented at the 2014 Ars Electronica Festival, a short string of metallic beads under the influence of electromagnetic fields crawls like an inchworm.

Lapillus Bug is an atomic creature that hovers over a breakfast plate. An inorganic particle is trapped in mid-air by ultrasonic sound waves. This bug, which looks a bit like a fruit fly, flies about quivering. The bug also likes to play with humans and displays various types of behavior, reacting to illuminated lights and to objects placed on the plate.

Ultrasonic waves

Focused 40kHz ultrasonic waves are produced from an ultrasonic phased array that is settled above the table. Polystyrene grains are trapped in the nodes of the standing waves caused by the ultrasonic waves, which enables them to stay in mid-air. This method is based on a phenomenon known as acoustic levitation.

The spiritual features of matter

This work aims to extract and express creature-like behavior from inanimate objects by using external force. Computer-controlled movements and accidental movements caused by the physical matter express creature-like behavior. Emerging technologies help to visually recognize and represent the hidden and involved spiritual features of matter.