In my research I explore and evaluate concepts and methodologies from those sciences, which pursue a synthetic approach, with regard to their applicability to art and design. The synthetic principle of abstraction of natural processes and their reimplementation in an artifact is very common in art and steadily gains in importance in science. I'm particularly interested in the fuzzy boundary region between the scientific fields of Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life and the artistic fields of interactive and generative art. Topics such as emergence, self-organization, complexity, autonomy, adaptivity and diversity are of general interest to art and science and form a potential basis for a mutual exchange. Complex and self-organized systems have a great appeal for art, since they possess the capability to continuously change, adapt and evolve. In addition, such systems tend to respond to user input in surprising and non-trivial ways and can therefore be very rewarding for users who engage inexploratory forms of interaction.

The following two topics currently constitute my main interest:

automated artificial aesthetics

In both living and non-living nature numerous pattern formation processes occur, whose results often possess astonishing levels of complexity and structural organization. In natural organisms, these processes result from a combination of physical laws, innate properties, adaption capabilities and environmental effects. Im interested in employing a similarly intricate network of mutual dependencies and capabilities for the development of automated media generation systems. This requires an abstraction and reconceptualization of the relationship of structure, behavior and appearance in biological systems into possible equivalents of aesthetic artifacts.

interactive and semi-interactive systems

The concept of a complete autonomous agent constitutes is of central importance to the field of embodied artificial intelligence. In order to fulfil the criteria of complete autonomy an agent needs to be self-sufficient, situated, embodied, adaptive, and autonomous. I'm particularly interested in how this concept could be applied to interactive installations. How do the roles of user and artefact change in case of autonomous systems. How to support intuitive forms of interaction with a system that can no longer be controlled. What sort of interfaces will be suitable to support these novel forms of interaction.

Bisig, D., and Neukom, M. Swarm Based Computer Music - Towards a Repertory of Strategies. Proceedings of the Generative Art Conference. Milano, Italy, 2008.

Bisig, D., and Pfeifer, R. Understanding by Design: The Synthetic Approach to Intelligence. EXPLORATIONS IN ARCHITECTURE: Teaching, Design, Research. Birkhäuser Verlag für Architektur, Basel/Boston/Berlin, 2008.

Bisig D., Neukom M., and Flury J. Interactive Swarm Orchestra - A Generic Programming Environment for Swarm Based Computer Music. Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference. Belfast, Ireland, 2008.

Bisig D., Neukom M., and Flury J. Interactive Swarm Orchestra - An Artificial Life Approach to Computer Music. Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference. Belfast, Ireland, 2008.

Bisig D., Neukom M., and Flury J. Interactive Swarm Orchestra. Proceedings of the Generative Art Conference. Milano, Italy, 2007.

Unemi T. and Bisig D. Identity SA - an interactive swarm-based animation with a deformed reflection. Proceedings of the Generative Art Conference. Milano, Italy, 2007.

Unemi, T. and Bisig, D. Flocking Messengers - an online chat system via flocking agents, the 34th Intelligent System Symposium, Kyoto, 291-296, 2007 (in Japanese).

Scott J. and Bisig D. Active Discourses: Inside the Lab Context. Proceedings of the 95th annual conference of the College Art Association, New York, USA, 2007.

Unemi T. and Bisig D. Flocking Messengers. Proceedings of the Generative Art Conference. Milano, Italy, 272-280, 2006.

Bisig D. and Unemi T. MediaFlies - A Video and Audio Remixing Multi Agent System. Proceedings of the Generative Art Conference. Milano, Italy, 63-74, 2006.

Bisig D. and Unemi T. MediaFlies - An Interactive Flocking Based Tool for the Remixing of Media. Proceedings of the 19th International FLAIRS Conference. Melbourne, USA, 2006.

Flury J. and Bisig D. Celerina  A Generative Music System Using Aesthetical Reduction Applied to Simple Cellular Automata. Proceedings of the 19th International FLAIRS Conference. Melbourne, USA, 2006.

Daniel Bisig, BioSonics - Interactive Growth System, In Buurman G. M. (Ed.), Total Interaction, Birkhauml;user (Princeton Architectural Press), 290 - 303, 2005.

Bisig D. and Wortzel A. Narrative in Robotics Scenarios for Art Works, Proceedings of AISB 2005, the 5th International Conference on Social Intelligence and Interaction in Animals, Robots and Agents, 2005.

Bösch J. and Bisig D. goApe: an Interactive Multi-Agent Simulation Tool for Art and Science. In Rusu A. S. (Ed.), Studying Communication in Animals, ASCR Press, 143-151, 2005

Bösch J. and Bisig D. goApe: an Interactive Multi-Agent Simulation Tool for Art and Science. Cognition, Brain, Behavior. Special Issue on Studying Communication in Animals. Romanian Association for Cognitive Science, 575-582, 2005

Unemi, T. and Bisig, D. Music by Interaction among Two Flocking Species and Human. In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Generative Systems in Electronic Arts, 171-179. Melbourne, Australia, 2005.

Unemi T. and Bisig D. Flocking Orchestra. Proceedings of the 8th Generative Art Conference. Milano, Italy, 2005.

Unemi, T. and Bisig, D. Flocking Orchestra - a challenge toward music by interaction between flocking agents and viewers, The Eleventh Emergent Systems Symposium, Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, pp. 94-95, 2005 (in Japanese).

Daniel Bisig. Biosonics: Sensual Explorations of a Complex System. In Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Intelligent user interface, 220-222, 2004.

Unemi, T. and Bisig, D. Playing Music by Conducting BOID Agents. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Artificial Life IX, 546 - 550. Boston, USA, 2004.

Unemi, T. and Bisig, D. Playing Music by Conducting Flocking Agents - a study on a connection between Artificial Life and Real Life, NICOGRAPH Spring Symposium, Tokyo,2004 (in Japanese).

Bisig, D., Park J., and Scott J. Smart Sculptures - Interactive Skin. Technical report, University of Applied Sciences, Aargau, 2003.

Bisig, D. Biosonics - Interactive Growth System. In Proceedings of the Generative Art Conference, 2003.

Bisig D., Weber P., Vaughan L., Winterhalter K., and Piontek K. Purification, Crystallization, and Preliminary Crystallographic Studies of a Two Fibronectin Type-III Domain Segment from Chicken Tenascin Encompassing the Heparin- and Contacting-Binding Regions. Acta Crystalllogr., Sect.D. V.55, 1069, 1999.

Bisig, D., E. E. Di Iorio, K. Diederichs, K. H. Winterhalter, and K. Piontek. Crystal structure of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) cyanomet myoglobin at 1.78 Ã… resolution: Phe29(B10) accounts for its unusual ligand binding properties. J. Biol. Chem. 270:20754-20762, 1995.