Thursday, September 10, Volen 101, 2:00-3.00 pm
The Cricket is a tiny computer, powered by a 9 volt battery, that can control two motors and receive information from two sensors. Crickets are equipped with an infrared communication system that allows them to communicate with each other. Crickets are the result of cross-breeding our work on Programmable Bricks with the wearable Thinking Tag. Like the Brick, Crickets can be used for robotic applications, but because they are so small, Crickets can be used for science experiments like body-monitoring and data collecting.
Meme Tags are part of a body of research on GroupWear: a wearable technology that supports people in the formative stages of cooperative work. Conference participants wear Meme Tags that allow them to electronically share memes---succinct ideas or opinions---with each other. Alongside of the person-to-person transactions, a server system collects information about the memetic exchanges and reflects it back to the conference-goers in Community Mirrors---large, public video displays that present real-time visualizations of the unfolding community dynamics.
Together, these two projects represent points along a spectrum of possibilities afforded by today's cheap and tiny microcomputer technology. By embedding computation into everyday devices in our world, we can give children a new tools for exploring phenomena in the world around them, and give adults new ways to communicate and share ideas.
Host: Jordan Pollack