Page 26 - Festo Smartbird

Biology and technology

A gull-like creature darts through the air. The human hand from which the bird has autonomously taken off feels its airflow. The creature executes diverse flight manoeuvres and ends up back in the hand of the engi-neer. This evolutionary act of engineering art is made possible by the human-technology interaction achieved by Festo.

Accompanied by seven chosen seagulls, Jonathan exu-berantly demonstrates his perfected flight acrobatics to the flock. They fly in close formation, wing tip to wing tip as if they were one single bird. Jonathan wants to show the other gulls that they too have the ability to overcome their own limitations.