a computer controlled by a string of bricks/bits and the cumulative actions of the participants.

presented in the itp winter show 2017 as a work of escenaconsejo.

video

change-a-bit demo video (mp4, ~10MB)

transcript

change-a-bit

a computer controlled by a string of bricks/bits.

each brick/bit has two possible states: high (standing) or low (laying).

the bricks/bits encode an instruction that effects a change in the screen.

increasing the size, decreasing the speed of computing.

the screen works as a memory showing an accumulation of changes.

computing: manipulation of arranged minerals to achieve a pattern of light on a surface (?)

interaction

each brick/bit has two possible states: high or low.

the string of bricks/bits encodes an instruction for the computer: the cell in the screen that will be modified, and the visual pattern that will be assigned to it.

about

this project comes from when we started fully researching ways of making computing tangible and evident in its low-level workings.

although the original idea of the project was about showing these workings without using electronics, the process led us to implement in (electronics-based) software the screen and the computer vision algorithm to detect the bricks using a depth camera.

the physicality stayed: we loved the experience of having other people and us interact with this computer via rough and found bricks, close to the floor.