Motka

In 2022, the Slovenian design studio Motka approached me as a technical partner on an experimental commission. Their client — a startup building a chatbot companion — was exploring how AI presence could be communicated beyond text, without resorting to anthropomorphic avatars.

The project centered on a visual system reflecting the AI’s internal emotional state and offering users additional modes of interaction. While the art director at Motka had developed a rich conceptual direction, the challenge was translating it into something a development team could reliably understand and implement.

Prototype as Source of Truth

The initial plan followed a conventional path: static visuals, isolated animations, and behavioral documentation. Given the system's dynamic nature, this approach carried a real risk: too much would get lost or misread.

At this point, I proposed a different direction: instead of describing the system, build it. A functional prototype would act as the primary medium — not a description of the system, but the system itself. Behavior, transitions, and interaction logic could be experienced directly, not interpreted from artifacts.

Built as a web-based application using P5.js within an HTML canvas environment, it was fully functional — a complete, working embodiment of the system. It provided a shared reference point for all participants — design, client, and developers — eliminating ambiguity and reducing the risk of misinterpretation during implementation.

Outcome

The prototype successfully translated the conceptual system into an operational form — so much so that the client chose to integrate it directly into production as an external module, rather than use it purely as a reference.

This wasn't anticipated. It introduced new challenges around performance and battery usage, which were addressed through additional controls — giving the client's developers the ability to tune frame rate and resolution to an acceptable level.

2022