Sarotis
Sarotis (2016) Soft robotic prosthesis, 3d vision system Researchers: Ava Aghakouchak, Maria Paneta Released by Interactive Architecture Lab, The Bartlett UCL, led by Ruairi Glynn Sarotis, is a series of soft robotic prosthesis combined with 3D vision systems to create a whole new way of sensing space through the body. Sarotis began with the question, how would 3d vision technologies change the way we see and interact with the world around us? Looking to answer this question beyond the era of mobile phones, we examined more intimate wearable technology futures, where advanced vision systems and other sensory technologies would be connected directly to body through their “soft interfaces”. Sarotis is a two-part study: a series of technical experiments followed by a speculative film. First an experimental prosthesis was designed to study if a person’s awareness of space could be amplified using live 3D scanning technologies that control the inflation and deflation of soft robotic wearables. To critically explore the Sarotis vision of future soft wearable technologies, a speculative film provokes us to consider how fluidic hydrogel interfaces may dissolve the distinction between our own physiology and that of the softening machines that will extend our bodies. Sarotis has been exhibited in Athens, London, Shanghai, Texas, Utrecht.
Maria Paneta (GR)
Maria Paneta is an architect and independent researcher based in Athens. Her work includes developing soft robotic 3d vision systems (Sarotis, 2016), prosthetic ai cloud (Modular Bones, 2021). Her design work has been exhibited in Athens, London, Shanghai, Texas, Utrecht, Zurich and on the Internet, has appeared in magazines and newspapers including Wired, Domus, Slanted, Pasajes Arquitetura and many others, inprint and online. She has collaborated with leading educational and cultural institutions, including The Bartlett School of Architecture, Victoria and Albert Museum and MoCA Shanghai. Maria’s current work continues to explore human life in non-familiar environments.
