PushMi PullYu

Pushmi Pullyu

PushMi PullYu is a piece by international design studio Hyphen-Labs. It is showing as a part of their solo exhibition at Schering Stiftung in Berlin from Sept 12 - Nov 22, 2020.

Seven sensorimotor machines move throughout the space, which is flooded with coloured light. The machines cast varied projections across the walls as they move through what at first appears to be random patterns of motion. Over time, the visitors realise that these beings are responding to their environment, creating an emergent behavioural narrative. The audience finds that they are able to affect the direction of the piece as they become a part of the choreography.

For this piece, Kai Lab developed a motion control system using an array of distance sensors that was retrofitted on to a set of Roombas. We built a custom radio communication system to enable synchronisation of the behaviours of the robots as well as a pedal-controlled lighting system that allowed visitors control over the space.