Stumbling in the dark could become a whole lot cuter with the help of two automated, bionic buddies, dubbed Wallace and Darwin.
Created by Dutch designer Ben de Graaf,  Species of Illumination consists of two Wall-E-esque automatons which are programmed to tirelessly serve their human masters, seeking out and lighting up the gloom.
Wallace is a tadpole-like ceiling fixture fitted with sensors that allow it to intelligently understand where the darkest spot in a space is - at which point it winds its way over, illuminates the area, and then proceeds to repeat the process elsewhere.
During the day, meanwhile, solar-powered Darwin trawls a room for sunspots to feed its built-in hunger for natural energy. At night, Darwin wheels itself on coiled wire tyres in search of human companions, which it automatically aids with a beam of light emitted from its neatly rounded head. The machine recognises hand gestures so if the contraption gets too close for comfort you can order it to cease and desist or direct it elsewhere.
For a duo of jumped up lightbulbs Wallace and Darwin seem endearingly sentient. Similarly blurring the lines between machine and pet was the Minimaforms Petting Zoo, where artificially intelligent installations used a combination of sensors and cameras to understand and actively respond to the actions of visitors.