This project was created for a class project, called 'Zone of the Impending', which looks at how humanity and the coming ecological crisis are related, and what technology's role is in this complex relationship. The project was based on the upcoming Translife exhibition, taking place early 2011 in Shanghai.
What you are seeing is an example of an artificial life form. It is intended to be one of many creatures in a small, fabricated ecosphere. They are all hooked up via a USB cable to a Processing sketch that is reading real time data on CO2 levels in the atmosphere. As the CO2 levels rise (and somewhat indirectly, conditions for ACTUAL life diminish), these creatures starting taking on more life-like attributes.
This creature is a representation of a animal-like thing, which has a heart beat that beats faster, and a motor that drives it around as it comes more to life.