Digital creatures projected onto veils of fabric respond to human interaction. Photo courtesy of projectgaia.ca

Written by Congress Correspondent, Sarah Deshaies

Amid the flurry of ideas, lectures and papers that is Congress, delighted passersby having been stepping into a small wonder of a world in a darkened room on the second floor of the Molson building.

The presentation is Project Gaia, and it’s an ecosystem writ large. Different microscopic creatures are projected onto veils of gauzy fabric that envelope the viewer as they step in. The soundscape is made of layers of organic sounds that are ‘emitted’ by the organisms – crunching, buzzing and growling.

A viewer looks on and interacts with earlier incarnation of Project Gaia. Photo courtesy of projectgaia.ca

Like in a real ecosystem, the living organisms interact with each other: there are roving snake-like purple and blue predators that eat the little green and blue herbivore blobs. When the predators eat too many herbivores and don’t have enough food, they die off, turning still and yellow. Orange scavengers dart in to consume the corpses.

Their waste produces more herbivores, who multiply by cell division. Nutrients, tiny orange circles, complete the picture. The atmosphere of the room evolves as each creature becomes dominant; once the herbivores are populous, the room glows green, and their buzzing fill the air.

The project is also interactive. Sensors note when people step into the room, and the presence of more people can change the balance of the ecosystem, like in real life. The end result is sensory rich experience a dark room lit up by colourful creatures.

The four authors of the project met up in digital computation class at Concordia called “Ecosophy,” which linked philosophy and ecology. Their creation was inspired by James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis that the earth is a living organism. The Ecosophy class linked philosophy and science, and soon spawned Project Gaia. Henk Boom was the chief programmer, with Karen Lee working on graphics, Nicolas Munoz developing sound, and Peter Rockwell working on programming the organisms’ behaviour. The team worked together for hours to bring Gaia to life.

The minds behind Project Gaia. Photo courtesy of projectgaia.ca

The students had previously presented their microcosm at Concordia’s Art Matters festival, and at a year-end computing arts presentation, but this was a chance to present it to a larger audience – who might like to bring Project Gaia back home.
Rockwell was on hand Friday morning to usher newcomers into the wunderkammer and explain the world his team had created.
“For us, the computer is just a tool – it’s a paintbrush,” says Rockwell of the philosophy in the computation arts program. The team behind Project Gaia believes that digital art is supposed to be interactive and immersive. “I think that’s something Gaia does very well. [...] Basically, everyone can enjoy it.”

Michelle Coulombe, a volunteer student in the business faculty at Concordia, assigned herself the task of bringing people into the room for the few days that it was up. She found the space intimate, and promised people it would change them.
“Most people feel comfortable [in the room]” Michelle said. “They come out calm, they come out happier.”

Click here to see the Project Gaia website for more photos, video, and to learn more about the process behind the project.