Walking Maps through Bacterial Colonies is an interactive virtual reality (VR) and bio-art installation created by Angela Fragkou and Thanos Makris that lets participants navigate a simulated microbial ecosystem.

 

Key Details of the Project

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• Concept: It explores the life cycle of bacteria (birth, growth, and decay) by placing the viewer inside a virtual environment that mimics a living cell or microscopic space. 

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• Interaction: Using a walking-in-place interface and bodily gestures, users move through shifting, algorithmic bacterial formations that react to their presence. 

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• The "Walking Map": As a participant moves through the virtual space, their physical trajectory is tracked, recorded, and projected onto an external wall as a visual map. 

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• The "Nikos Kessanlis" Connection: Early experimental testing and user evaluations for the project took place at the "Nikos Kessanlis" Exhibition Hall at the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) in July 2022, where the projected walking maps were first gathered and analyzed

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