For the lab’s first multi-day challenge, Robert Krulwich gave a playful and curiosity driven talk centered around the idea of “Big and Little.” With that, each studio spent two days devising concepts, experiences and ideas that in some way reflected back something about the idea or experience of this broad theme. Here’s a recap:
TWO OR MORE:
- Pixels – an audience participation piece that tells a story about a lone red pixel in a great white void. Audience members choose between holding up red or white papers and computer vision detects the result and responds with different imagery.
- Robert’s feedback: He felt the audience input was not strong enough and there was not enough context to motivate the audience decisions.
- The Exquisite Formation of Driftwood – explores the nature of driftwood, its formation and its interaction with water. Proposes an installation around boat portholes that allow a glimpse into different aspects of the wood.
- Robert’s feedback: He felt that the creators of this idea were enthusiastic about concepts that didn’t relate enough to the prompt.
- Spooning with Cells – coming up with a space where people can mimic what cells are doing; scaling up cell behavior to the scale of the human body. They are proposing a modular hotel design that redefines the concept of comfort. The smart hotel can relocate and modify the size and appearance of rooms in real time according to based on the activities and moods of the occupants. For example, a room filled with party people will be moved away from a neighboring room where people are asleep.
- Robert’s feedback: he liked the hotel metaphor for how cells work and fit into the larger context of bodily organs based on function and activity and movement.
HI-FI/LO-FI
- Culture Shock – Why is everything so big in America? This project questions the design of everyday things and explores ways to change those things and see if anyone notices. Items discussed included tiny sippy cups, raising the height of a subway turnstile or a park bench. It encourages people to “understand one’s scale as a person.”
- Robert’s feedback: It’s good. The opening is relatable because the “shock of the new” is a fundamental human experience.
- Dream Drones – What would dreams look like if they were really big? How would we all relate to our dreams, and if we all shared our dreams, what would that collective dream look like? This idea proposes a flock of drones that people can speak and record their dreams into. Aspirational dreams/goals are flown into the air while unconscious dreams experienced during sleep dive into the water. Speakers project a cacophony of the recorded audio for the participants to listen to. LED lights on the drones flicker in time to the audio.
- Robert’s feedback: “Deeply beautiful.” Not sure about the aspirational vs the sleeping dreams. He liked the graphic.
SMALL FRY
- The View Tube – This tunnel-like structure is filled with interactive murals and installation pieces that encourage children to explore and inspire them with positive messages about body image and aspirations. Also, interactive optical illusions and kinetic sculptures.
- Robert’s feedback: impressive, interesting ideas all around.
ON THE GO
- Scaling – Time and distance-based audio storytelling that are customized for the distance or time you are traveling to a destination.
- Binding Stories – People record audio of their stories into physical nodes which can be placed in a tumbler that binds the nodes together into a generative sculpture. These nodes can also have other forms of content uploaded to them wirelessly for visitors to download, experience, and vote on favorites. These stories can also be bound to the geographic location or the date of a particular event of personal significance. All of these small stories come together to illustrate a larger theme. The final product of this will be public art sculptures that are on display for a finite period of time.
- Sticky Citizen Storytelling – On the Radiolab website, listeners can choose from a few themes to record their personal audio stories onto an app that interacts with other devices with the same app. When a person passes another person with the app, the audio stories are exchanged with neighbors. These stories are collected anonymously for participants to enjoy.
- Robert’s feedback: sometimes things are actually better when kept little rather than combined. These experiences shared an intimacy that is likely more powerful than the result if combined or collected together.