Child at play amidst Flourish

Katrina Tyler’s artwork Flourish is a richly symbolic sculpture for Newport Waterside Park, a state-of-the-art recreational park in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland. The interactive piece uses material, process, and form to explore the activity and diversity of those coral species that inhabit areas of the Bay. Design Robotics and Urban Art Projects (UAP) employed Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to streamline the workflow. Comprising five pier-like vertical elements, each created from a cluster of hand-beaten discs, this work is a shining example of the unity between physical and digital making. </div> 

UAP team members fabricating Flourish using HoloLens & Fologram
Experimenting with AR & VR

The five totems that makeup Flourish are between 2,500 millimeters and 3,000 millimeters high. Each vertical element was carefully crafted from a cluster of hand-beaten discs that were individually heated and power-hammered before being welded and finished by hand.
No two discs were alike, as such, scaling, sorting, and placing each component was potentially a costly and time-consuming process. Following a period of sketching and modelling in 3D, each of the 5 elements were color-coded, after which fabrication began. During the welding process, AR HoloLens headsets with VR Fologram mixed-reality software were adopted to aid in the construction process. This technology assisted in determining the orientation and placement of each of the 316 stainless-steel discs. The same process was then used to assess the aesthetic quality of the work, resulting in a well-organized system for iterative design improvements.
Tyler spoke enthusiastically about the use of AR and VR in the fabrication stage:
“I was really excited and intrigued at how this new technology was going to be employed, and curious about the specifics of how it will be operated… the finished work has surpassed my expectations!  It’s amazing how the use of highly intricate and advanced technology was key in executing a harmonious and organic finish for the work.  The way the texture of the hammered stainless-steel catches and reflects light enhances the sense of movement and activity I was aiming to capture.”

UAP team members placing the discs using HoloLens & Fologram
The Future of Manufacturing

This project heralds a long-term commitment to the use of AR and VR in the design and fabrication workflows. Through the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), Design Robotics and UAP are collaborating to present a range of new possibilities. The goal is simple – to design for human intelligence and optimize the relationship between people and machines.
Making headway in the design process and pushing the boundaries in industrial robotic capabilities is a move to empower people. Navigating the increasing complexity of manufacturing inevitably supports human experience and enhances skills acquisition. At its heart, this approach celebrates the best of what robots and machines can achieve – problem-solving, and the best of what humans can do – social intelligence and contextual understanding.
It is important to both Design Robotics and UAP that every artist is an integral partner in technological experimentation, in order to inform creative concepts, design thinking, and enhanced workflows. In turn, this enables UAP’s craft makers to fulfill their creative potential resulting in dedicated skills acquisition. Ultimately, AR and Vision Systems are not used to initiate a race between robots and humans, but instead, they foster a relay in which the baton is passed from one to the other until the finish line is in sight.