The Ars Electronica Futurelab (AEF) has been engaged in the “SPAXELS®” project revolving around drones equipped with various light sources to draw pictures in the sky.

As part of their joint research, NTT Laboratories and AEF have developed the concept further into the “Swarm Arena” project utilizing Ground Display Bots (walking robots with built-in displays) and swarms (multicellular robotic organisms) of drones as media for a new visual experience of sports games.

The “Virtual Arena” for watching competitions at remote places as reconstructed through the physical motions of swarms, and the “Augmented Arena” that offers an on-site experience of sports venues expanded by way of swarms, are parts of an ongoing research and development program aimed to recreate various sports-related sceneries that include also spatial renditions of ceremonies and other events.

Being at once components of swarms, Ground Display Bots are robots with a hexagonal display, designed to function as a new kind of medium that can take on different appearances depending on the freely designable movements and visual displays of multiple bots.

Creative team: NTT Service Evolution Laboratories + Ars Electronica Futurelab