I dig this robotic plant project by Japanese artist and visual designer Akira Nakayasu. Based roughly on an earlier work titled Himawari, which was a sunflower-shaped robot, this piece (simply titled Plant) is an interactive installation inspired by the sight of grass blowing in the wind. Plant is made up of 169 artificial robotic leaves which react independently to movement, such as an approaching hand, making it appear to move to a virtual wind. Each leaf is controlled using shape memory alloy actuators. Plant will be showcased at Ars Electronica 2010 in Austria from September 2-7.

via DesignBoom