Aurator

Aurator is a online public engagement platform masterminded by science storyteller Britt Wray and scientist and media producer Nadja Oertelt.

At the core of Aurator is a set of audio diaries from seven leading practitioners in the field of synthetic biology. The diaries delve into the broad range of questions posed by the field of synthetic biology: questions of ethics, politics, business, art.

We were already familiar with fractal equations from our earlier work on the Open Orchestra. It was a quick jump for us from Sierpinksi carpets to L-Systems.

L-systems are a set of recursive rules and symbols developed in the late sixties by biologists seeking to synthesize the growth processes of simple organisms like algae. It seemed like magic that a simple set of signs and symbols (X → F−[[X]+X]+F[+FX]−X), (F → FF) could endlessly draw a plant, or crystal, or anything for that matter. We harnessed this algorithm to procedurally create expressive visuals to accompany the audio tracks.

Under all this lies a commenting system that allows listeners to input text and audio at any point within a diary, echoing a fractalized SoundCloud. The public can also input their own diaries in the Public Voices section of Aurator, which in turn form the foundation for ongoing discussion, in a recursive process not unlike the L-systems described above.