The Tree Elovark  (Multis clamoribus) was reacting to the people in front of its cage.  Sometimes it looked scary and stretched out in apparent anger and other times appeared to be sad or friendly.
Just as humans react to body language for communication animals also rely on body language to understand whether other animals are happy, scared or angry.  This simulation of a living creature is to see if the way animals behave can be copied by a machine. 
How far does that go to making the machine alive?  Can you read the animal’s body language? Have a go at changing yours.  Can you affect its mood?  What happens if you make loud noises?   Look directly when you approach it.  Or turn your head away when it turns away. Crowd round it or back away from it.  Feed it.  Stand still or move around.
It might seem a silly project at the museum in the Edinburgh Science Festival  but today with robots becoming more lifelike and able to take on human activities this is a further step in robotic development.