Workshop of the Automatiers: A Digital Database of Historical Automata and Contemporary Automaton-Making in an Immersive Environment

Abstract

In art history, an “automaton” (plural: “automata”) generally refers to a non-electric robot made to mimic a living creature. Popular in Europe since the eighteenth century, historical automata have a multi-faceted legacy that makes them important subjects for scholarly research in the arts and humanities. The timeless charm of the “self-moving machine” has also inspired contemporary scholars and artists to utilize digital technology to better preserve and promote both extant historical artifacts and the intangible practice of automaton-making. There is not yet, however, a transdisciplinary online resource on this subject. Considering the high potential of this research topic and the gaps in existing practice, we propose a digital database entitled Workshop of the Automatiers. Inspired by the key considerations of scenic design in immersive theater practice, Workshop of the Automatiers experiments with alternative ways of organizing scholarly knowledge and community contribution from a variety of automaton experts and enthusiasts in the format of an immersive digital environment.