Tentacles

When we see the wriggling movement and the shape of a tentacle like the sea anemone, we feel an existence of a primitive life. Furthermore, known as “flowers of the sea”, sea anemones are quite beautiful.

The “Tentacles” is an interactive art inspired by the sea anemone. It has 55 SMA (shape-memory alloy) actuators that we developed as tentacles. The slow movement of tentacles looks like the sea anemone dancing on the waves. The “Tentacles” provides users with a comfortable interactive experience by synchronizing the light, sound and movement of tentacles, creating an otherworldly space.

The interface system is composed of an infrared camera, a control program, an electric circuit, a white led array, shape-memory alloy actuators, and a tone-generator module. Images from the infrared camera above the Tentacles are analyzed using the control program and are converted into control signals. These control signals are converted into signals for pulse width modulation using an electric circuit, developed with a PIC microcontroller. The heat of each shape memory alloy actuator is controlled through 55ch voltage values, and 55 tentacles are driven in total.

2010 Asia Digital Art Award, Interactive Art category, Finalist Prizes.
Laval Virtual Awards 2011, Nominated.

中安翌, 富松潔. Tentacles: 形状記憶合金アクチュエータを用いたイソギンチャクの触手の蠢きの表現. 日本バーチャルリアリティ学会論文誌（3次元インタラクション特集号）, Vol.17, No.4, pp299-305, 2012.

SIGGRAPH ASIA 2010 University Exhibition, Seoul, 2010.
東京ミッドタウン・デザインハブ「にんげんをしあわせにするデザイン」, 2011.

This work was supported by JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Encouragement of Scientists) 22919017.