Siphonophore

Abstract

This paper sets out to document the procedural design and implementation of "Siphonophore"; a multisensory digital ecology, mimicking colonial-ordered behaviour systems. The exploration of the notion of "self" in a complex system of highly integrated individuals with reference to the emergence of behaviours from the human-machine-context interaction, is engaged by this open system's hierarchical articulation of electronics, Arduino boards, sensors and programming routines. User interaction and recorded statistics from the system's core algorithm are assessed, in relation to the capacity of this prototype to provide an alternative methodology of describing collective intelligence, while presenting a non-standard perspective of body-space interaction and design as entertaining art. The overall impact is discussed in relation to the examined observations, towards a potential advancement to a system of superior contextual understanding.