This paper describes the creation of SwarmVision, a system of autonomous robotic cameras that functions both as the basis for an art installation and as an instrument for generating novel engineering research. Through a series of interviews with engineers who examined the project, we illustrate how experimentation with the instrument could lead to potential new research directions in computer vision, machine learning, swarm robotics, remote collaboration, and visualization. This suggests that an unstructured and aesthetic approach to research can inform and inspire new engineering research directions, within and beyond the scope of this particular project.

Keywords: Media arts methodologies, computational photography, swarm robotics, autonomous robotic cameras, arts and engineering.

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Pinter, M., Forbes, A. G., Bazo, D., Legrady, G., Generation of Engineering Research Directions through Artistic Process, In Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Arts and Technology (ArtsIT 2014), Istanbul, Turkey, November 10th, 2014.