Kodama is a type of Japanese ghosts or spirit living in trees. So there is no obvious sign you can tell whether a tree is inhibited or not. According to the folkloristic tales, Kodamas produce and communicate with sounds as they have no visible body. Delayed echoing effect in mountains and valleys are sometimes attributed to this kind of spirit and may also be referred to as “kodama”.
In the Creative Space we use the Kodama as concept for a set of prototypes to experiment with acoustic interfaces and digital services and processes that aggregate to higher entities, digital companions. Different from services as commercial companions the Kodama is neither a service robot, protective agent or nudging educator, but an autonoumous entity. The narrative of the Kodama (kind spirits, that are mostly helpful) can be used to experiment with new types of companions and the concept of agency in digital devices.
As platform project the Kodama is a pedagogical playground to endless attempts, learning modules and individual works in areas of computer science like Speech-To-Text, Human-Computer-Interaction, LLMs, audio signal processing (like microphone arrays and sonic cameras) and sociological analytical perspectives to rethink the nature of ambient intelligence and the power this services have on our built environment due to its invisible nature as a Critical Design prototype.