This project explored how virtual, AI based, non-anthropomorphic animistic entities could work as colleagues and collaborators in Mixed Reality, especially in creative contexts. Building on my prior work in animistic design – where multiple actors have distinct personalities and expertise – this project imagines smart entities that have super-powers because of their virtuality, yet feel present and embodied because of their three dimensional integration with the real. It’s a more cooperative direction for animistic design, where the AI collaborators actively participate in the creative process, making and modifying things in a person’s “physical” environment.

With graduate research assistants:
Stephanie Cedeño, Xing Lv, Godiva Reisenbichler, Nan Tsai, Nicci Yin

Project Website: cargocollective.com/anicollab/