Meet the PIXI: our digital organism | Olav Huizer | TEDxGroningen

Olav and his colleagues at WERC created a digital organism, inspired by the complex patterns that exist in nature, such as flocks of birds and schools of fish. With Pixi, WERC wants to find out whether a technical natural phenomenon can imitate the complex aesthetics of nature, and whether the installation can interact with that nature. The Pixi was designed to be self-sufficient; able to survive in a natural environment. Pixies make their own choices, but they are also influenced by environmental factors from nature. Each Pixi contains a pulsating light. When we observe only a handful of Pixies, there are no discernible behavioral patterns. However, when we step back and look at them from a distance, the connections in the flock become clear and visible. A group intelligence arises that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Olav is the founder of WERC, an completed his Bachelor of design at the Academie Minerva, Groningen in 2012. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx