Orchisoid

Orchid, interactive brain wave visual analyzer, mobile, computer, custom-made brain-like software
In cooperation with Kawashima Lab. Co., Ltd., Random Electronics Design Co., Ltd., Masaki Fujihata, and Kawashima Lab. Co., Ltd.

Masaki Fujihata is a media artist and professor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Inter-Media Art Department. He started his career as a digital artist for ComputerGraphics and Animations in the early eighties. In the late eighties, he produced Computer Generated Sculpture, and in the early nineties, he entered the field of interactive arts. His networked art piece Global Interior Project received a Golden Nica prize at the Ars Electronica Festival in 1996. His interactive book, Beyond Pages, traveled around the United States and Europe, and was finally installed in the permanent collection of ZKM in 1997. He is one of the pioneers of interactive media art, distinguished with interdisciplinary approaches.

Orchisoid was made in 2001 in collaboration with Yuji Dougane, an oceanographer, horticulturist, and chairman of the "Plantron" project. Orchisoid is a compound term, made from the words "orchid" and "-oid" (as in "humanoid"). As "humanoid" expresses something human-like, Orchisoid indicates something orchid-like. The Orchisoid robot considers both the development of robotic technology and the evolution of orchids. By providing the orchid with a means of locomotion, it gives the plant a new natural function. The project's aim is to find solutions for artificial spaces of the future. Orchid genes have the longest history of all plants. Orchisoid came from the idea of "meme," the term created by Richard Dawkins indicating "cultural genes." Fujihata describes it as following: "If we deduce from here the idea that a 'robot' is one type of meme that was made by humans, this leads us to a new, tremendously interesting hypothesis. Aren't memes using us humans to build new vehicles for them?"