PICAXE Network on show in Dublin

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
If you are in Dublin, Ireland from 28th January to 25th February, set some time aside to see Visceral: The Living Art Experiment at the Science Gallery.

Among the exhibition's displays will be Silent Barrage, the working, robotic body of a semi-living being. The exhibit consists of 32 robotic poles in a 50 square metre area which record on paper the reactions of living neurons to the movements of the audience.

From a PICAXE perspective, each pole is controlled by a 28X1, networked via 4 extended i2c busses to a master controller box consisting of 6 more PICAXEs: a total network of 37 x 28X1s and 1 x 40X1. For more information on the PICAXE perspective of the project, refer to this thread, which described the project when it debuted in New York in Feb 2009.

The master controller connects via the internet to a live neural culture grown in a Multi Electrode Array (MEA) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Real-time stimulus is provided via the internet to the neurons by cameras, which monitor the movement of the audience around the machine in the gallery space. Neuroscientists at GA Tech are using the data gathered to further research the growth and development of in-vitro neural networks.

I will be travelling to Ireland with other team members from Western Australia and Georgia to assemble and test Silent Barrage. If any forum members would like more information on the project or exhibition in Dublin, please PM me. Silent Barrage is a not-for-profit art project.

Peter
 

fritz42_male

Senior Member
Sounds interesting - I'll forward the details to my brother in law who is a lecturer at Nottingham Trent Uni - he has numerous white papers published in regard to image evaluation using neural networks.

Check your PM
 

manuka

Senior Member
Nice going! I once spent a few "academic" days in Dublin myself, but have to report neural network manipulation was then essentially liquid based-courtesy of a certain St. James Gate establishment.
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
Nice going! I once spent a few "academic" days in Dublin myself, but have to report neural network manipulation was then essentially liquid based-courtesy of a certain St. James Gate establishment.
I had to research the term "St. James Gate". Aha:) Guinness Brewery. Yes, I'll have to set aside some time to sample the wares and rearrange some neurons too. I think that would be best arranged for the end of the day, rather than the beginning.
 

BeanieBots

Moderator
Done quite a bit with neurons myself but never had the stomache to get involved with "wetware". It just sounds so wrong!
Good on you though. Sounds really fascinating. Wish i could go and see it in the flesh:eek:
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
Great to read that this working creation is still on display out there.
There is a lot of interest from galleries around the world for art that challenges conventions. We are in the posistion where we have to select which exhibitions to participate in. All of the team members have to make a living so have take leave from work to travel and build the machine. I'm not complaining but there are limits to what we can agree to.

2009 was a big year with the New York debut, followed by an Honorary Mention at Ars Electronica 2009 (Austria). 2010 saw Silent Barrage win VIDA 12.0 resulting in a reduced version of Silent Barrage being displayed ARCO 2010 Art Fair in Madrid, Spain. Our biggest show to date was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, (July to September 2010) where it ran daily for 2 months. With transport, repair and development time in between shows it keeps us very busy.

Done quite a bit with neurons myself but never had the stomach to get involved with "wetware". It just sounds so wrong!
Good on you though. Sounds really fascinating. Wish i could go and see it in the flesh:eek:
Keeping neurons alive en vitro and giving them a robotic "body" that draws "art" challenges many people's views on life, art and technology. The resultant art is not to everyone's taste but I have come to recognise the beauty of many of the drawings. As the team's technology specialist, I can't claim to be an art critic but "I know what I like". It's also a great experience to stand in the middle of the display and listen to the motors whirring and drawing heads buzzing all around you, all controlled by a network of PICAXEs. Just by being in the view of the cameras, you are contributing to the resulting drawing.

I haven't had an opportunity to visit the lab in Altanta to see the cultures in their incubators, either. However, we have live video feeds of activity in the lab, incubators and the "EEG" traces of the culture are also displayed in the gallery. We try to give the audience an understanding of how the various parts of the system work together.
 
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