Guts-Brain Axis Project

In this project, we were commissioned to design and manufacture a lighting object, referring to the anatomy of the “Gut-Brain Axis”, to be the main exhibit in a pharmaceutical company’s kiosk. During the design phase we opted for a low poly approach, both for aesthetic reasons as well as for better control of overall translucency for light design. The aim was to avoid being overly graphical and precise while depicting the form of the “Gut-Brain Axis”, but to explore the visual qualities that could be extracted from the morphology.

The sculptural part of the object was done in ZBrush, while technical details (joints, segmentation, supports for electronics) were implemented in Rhino. The morphology of the intestines was specifically created with a growth algorithm in the grasshopper.

The object had to be assembled and disassembled by non-trained personnel, to fit into a cabin bag for transportation. This has affected the way electronics were designed and implemented. The LED colors are programmable and controlled by an arduino board. The LED tape uses 5V of voltage, which is provided by a power line, but could easily be switched to batterries.