445471315Anima / Design that Instills a Soul.

“Creating a future where humans can demonstrate unlimited creativity, free of physical constraints.” The cyborg startup MELTIN develops cyborg technology for envisioning a world where people can fully exert infinite creativity. MELTIN believes that the human body enables a human to move but also acts as a constraint to creativity. TAKT PROJECT designed MELTANT-α, a concept model of the MELTANT cyborg developed by MELTIN. MELTANT-α can be remotely operated as if an operator is moving his/her own arms and fingers. Its major superiority is the hands. The wire-powered operating mechanisms that were realized by mimicking the human body structure, and the bio-signal processing that analyzes and reproduces the electrical signals that pass through the human body: these two technologies enable the creation of a hand that combines the delicateness, dexterity and power of the human hand.
For the design, we set the concept as “anima/design that instills a soul.” MELTANT-α is neither a mere tool nor a robot, but rather a cyborg that is expected to behave as part of a human. “Anima” means life or soul in Latin, and is also the etymology of “animation.” We hypothesized that it may be possible to feel a soul from the quality of the motions, and aimed to realize a design that demonstrates anima, by combining it with technology. The cowls that cover the body and hands are minimized, and wires that are typically internal structures are exposed, resembling muscles and tendons. Compared to the rigid cowls, the wires express a more flexible and smooth movement. Furthermore, the minimized cowls add even more contrast to the motions. The Noh mask-like clean face leaves room for imagination, allowing for the generation of different personalities based on the motions. MELTANT-α is the first model towards a grand vision that leads to “a future where people choose their own bodies.” The “anima/design that instills a soul” concept will remain for the development of updated versions in the future. We hope that MELTANT will redefine our physicality, and a more creative society will be realized in the near future.