Tactile MicRocosm of ALife: Haptic Interaction with Artificial Life by Aerial Mixed Reality Display

This project proposes an enhancement of MitsuDomoe at ReVolution 2017. The new feature is tactile aerial imaging by combining retro-reflective optics and haptic interface. New application for the improved system presents novel interaction with artificial life. The application is mid-air interaction with virtual schools of fish-like artificial life. It looks like bacteria in terms of size but the behavior seems fish. The fish has rule-based pseudo intelligence based on Reynolds' BOIDs algorithm. User can enjoy interaction with the primitive artificial life through aerial imaging and haptic feeling; the school of fish will spread when a user stirs the school of fish. And the school of fish separates and/or gathers when the user gives feed. It makes fully use of the synergistic advantage of the functions to provide realistic feeling to the interaction. The force feedback function allows the user to feel of stirring and/or touching artificial lives in viscous liquid or gel material filled in the petri dish. And aerial imaging function allows the users to observe pseudo volumetric image of the petri dish, which is filled with liquid and virtual creatures moving around in it. The first prototype system of MitsuDomoe, an interactive ecosystem simulator of virtual creatures in a petri dish, comprises three species of primitive artificial creatures. MitsuDomoe simulates the predation chain of the virtual creatures in the petri dish. Users can interact with this ecosystem via the physical MR interface, which consists of a LCD module with petri dishes and a pipette-like device. The physical MR interface can provide users with the sense and enjoyment of performing experiments in a laboratory.