. Projectproposal:

Realname: Airman-Codename:GG_02_A2S-Prautotypes: Wilbur & Orville

. Origin of the name:

Sir Gibbs-Smith divided airplane inventors into two categories. The first he termed "Chauffeurs of the Air", because they acted as though flying a plane was like driving a car. Maxim is the best example of this large category.

In contrast, Gibbs-Smith identified "Airmen" who understood that the fluid medium of air made flight a quite different proposition than land based maneuvering. Chauffeurs tended to be concerned with obtaining sufficient propulsion, without worrying over much about factors like lift or control. "Airman" often worked on gliders before tackling the problem of powered flight.

Otto Lilienthal is the prototype "Airman".

. Purpose:

To build a creature, and later on a species. That is strong, flexible and powerful enought to survive humanlike artificial environments.

Like parties, vernissages, expositions

Where they will make humans respond although categorical ignoring and

avoiding the

while filling the air with inane distressed chatter.

that is the species.

These “Airman” will be the first representatives of the A2S.

The Aeronautical Artificialist Society,

A machine centred splinter party newly formed to promote flying organism.

Technology has pushed people into new social structures, new subjectivities and new awarenesses of themselves and the world. Art is one of the first fields to receive this shock of the new. If it has not caused it.

. Creative inspiration:

In 1986 computer scientist Craig Reynolds synthesized birds flocking behavior on a computer screen. Creating paper airplane icons called boids, he gave them three rules.

. try to maintain a minimum distance from all other birds à1

. try to match speed with the nearby birds à2

. try to move to the center of nearby birds à3

Research has shown that a female cricket can find a conspecific male by walking or flying towards the calling song the male produces. This sensory cue is sufficient for finding a mate. Using only auditory cues, the female is able to locate a single male, despite other males and other sounds in the vicinity.

Many believed that God would have given man wings if he wanted him to fly. Men like Otto Lilienthal believed that if God had not wanted man to fly, He would not have given him a brain.

On december 17, 1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first sustained controlled fligths in a powered aircraft.

In northern Taiwan, some people still release lanterns into the night sky to beseech the heavenly God for blessings just like the ancients did in the past.

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. Intention:

To create an complete artificial environment using robots mimicking a combination of animal behaviorism.

Making each visitor a ornithologist observing a rare supernatural species.

To explore the possibilities of technology as a medium of artistic expression.

To prove that technologically mediated art is thruelly authentic and charismatic.

To built a mobile, responsive, behavioral, environmentally conscious, and essentially audiovisually perceiving, art[ificial]ist species able to create (maybe for the first time in history) a responsible art for all humans, animals and machine.

To create machines that deal with people rather then people that deal with machines.

. Object and activity description:

Airman consists of a set of about 20 independently controlled flying robots.

Each one is built like a two-eared robot that tracks sound the way a female cricket does. It will be able to recognize and localize a conspecific sound pattern and fly towards the robot producing the sound despite other sounds produced in the vicinity.

To do so each robot is equipped with 3 small ligthweight electrical motors. Two at the side for forward-backward motion and to turn left or right. One at the bottom to move up and down.

Furthermore they use 3 proximity sensors to detect each other, objects and persons.

To produce and register sound the use small speakers and Two microphones.

All these devices are controlled using one programmable microcontroller.

All the hardware is mounted on a ligthweight frame and made airborn using a small helium balloon. Without propulsion they stay floating at the same spot.

Initially the airman are in a state of hibernation, saving energy. Floating at a height of about 60 cm above the ground.

The moment a visitor enters they‘ll become distressed and fly away. Trying to keep a certain distance between them and the visitors. (they are programmed to fly up, safe above the visitors heads)

In distress they start to produce sounds. This will make them interact and start flocking like birds do. As long as there is someone in the vicinity the will not rest. It is very well possible that they will leave the room and migrate to a more quiet and safer place.