The Sound Settler: Spontaneous HRI in an Art Setting

Marcel Kaufmann, Adrian Zwiener, Jean-François Robin, Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Giovanni Beltrame, David St-Onge

Abstract: The Sound Settler is a utopian project which combines engineering and the arts. The utopian vision is to deploy an interactive music system on Mars before the first humans arrive. Two real robotic arms are controlled in a gravity compensated master-slave mode resembling the human part on Earth, and the robotic art piece which is envisioned to be located on Mars. The movements generate electronic music by charging physical capacitors and on screen a simulated third arm is deployed, visualizing the movements on the red planet. This report presents the artistic design, the implemented infrastructure and first subjective insights about human interactions with the art piece in public spaces. It motivates a more formal analysis and opens several research avenues for the future.