The Essential Hub Project transforms Ars Electronica, an international creative institution, into an essential hub at the time of crisis to help our society in need.

The Zen Machine explores the role of machines in the context of spirituality and religion. The concept envisions a robot taking the place of a monk and maintaining a Zen garden. Can a machine, which is traditionally intended to execute functional or repetitive tasks, really fulfill this role or is spirituality reserved solely for humans?

This installation is an interactive experience based on real-life animal tracking data. Not only are the mechanical animals – robots – of Migrate interacting with each other but also with visitors. In a shared space, people can walk around within the miniature world together with artificial lifeforms.