Dumbputer - An exploration of computers that decide to drive you crazy.
Dumbputer is a project exploring the potential dangers of computers, featuring a physical artefact that uses eye-tracking and Arduino technology to mimic human-like behaviour and annoy users.
When tasked with crafting a weird creation that would challenge the way we interact with computers (let go of the preconception of a mouse and a keyboard), the team decided to explore the idea of a technological entity whose sole purpose is to annoy its users and prevent them from actually using it. Dumbputer is an experiment inspired by the trend of dumb machines, which are usually concepts created with the goal of not being useful.
Key project stages:
- Object tracking: using a blob detection algorithm based on Daniel Shiffman’s computer vision code, a processing sketch identifies a color threshold that it then follows as a set object is waved in front of the camera. This was developed for eye-tracking of the computer character.
- Physical computing: The playful interaction comes from a digital source that has a physical output. This was done to evoke the feeling of a computer having inherence over the material world, so Arduino–operated devices that would annoy the user were created to activate when someone tried to follow the computer’s instructions.
- Frame-by-frame animation: Computers are still in a very crude state. AI models are starting to be interactive but machines still lack autonomous behaviours. To ease in the users, a friendly hand-drawn animation was created to give a face and expressions to the actions of the computer.
- Integration with Arduino: Finally, the team united the Processing sketches with the Arduino devices and housed them in a single object. A fixed stand in front and a cube that guided all of Dumbputers instructions and interactions.
The result? A compelling artefact that challenges the audience to consider the implications of autonomous machines wielding unchecked power, with a humorous and thought-provoking twist.
