ANDROID MARIA
ANDROID MARIA is a newly created android equipped with AI, unveiled for the first time in June 2025 . The work was conceived and developed by composer and artist Keiichiro Shibuya—who has created android operas and other groundbreaking works for nearly a decade—together with a team of leading collaborators. Enabled by AI, MARIA is capable of multilingual conversation and continuously perceives her surroundings through built-in microphone and camera. Her form was generated by AI trained on countless images of goddesses and bodhisattvas from antiquity to the present. Her lower body is enveloped in a network of tubes resembling rhizomes, evoking a deep connection to the earth, to life, and to the very notion of existence. MARIA’s voice and movements stir previously unfelt emotions in those who encounter her—offering a glimpse into a new model of communication.