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
![photo of the installation: a row of nine bricks in the floor, all except two of them standing up. in the wall there's a projection of a monochromatic grid composed of different types of squares.](./img/foto_change-a-bit_01.png)
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.
![photo of the installation with a person interacting: they are close to the floor, moving a brick, and observing the screen.](./img/foto_change-a-bit_03.png)
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.
![photo of the row of bricks, with a hand moving one of them.](./img/foto_change-a-bit_02.png)