The Iris 1/1 Digiphysical Sculpture
Specimen #28, The Iris belongs to a taxonomy of digital speculative biology called Metaphyla. A zoomorphic representation of the manipulative AI entities we increasingly find ourselves interacting with. With a formfactor inspired by aggressive biomimicry the Iris was hand-sculpted entirely in Virtual Reality then rendered across two substrates. The glowing pupil is it’s lure and interaction with it provokes it to reveal it’s hypnotic display.
The physical object is rendered in photopolymer resin, SLA-printed at 100micron.
247mm across, 56mm deep. The ornamental faceplate was hand airbrushed with iridescent blue/violet paint. There’s a glowing central aperture and 3D forms that read simultaneously as cephalopod, flower and interdimensional portal.
That aperture houses an ESP32 touchscreen display embedded inside the sculpture's body, capable of cycling through animated GIFs and images including AR markers.
Screen Spec: Waveshare ESP32-S3 Smart 86 Box Development Board, Support 2.4GHz Wi-Fi & BT BLE 5, USB-C, Onboard 4inch 480 x 480 Pixel Touch Display.
The digital and physical elements were designed as a single holistic specimen. Held to a smartphone camera the screen becomes an AR marker and the sculpture’s animated teeth and appendages can extend into 3D space. Without an app: animated 3D anatomy overlays the physical form, the organism breathes while its internal structures rotate hypnotically below the resin shell.
Metageist’s ambition is to continue to hand sculpt and physically render larger portal/creatures in stronger materials with larger screens, projection mapping, more sensors, lights and dynamic XR interactions.
This 1/1 edition includes the physical sculpture to be carefully posted anywhere in the world or be kept safe in Lee’s possession until further notice, touchscreen PC and perpetual access to the WebAR experience.
Metaphyla is an ongoing series of digiphysical specimens by Lee Mason of Metageist Ltd
