Title: World of Awe: mRB > prototyping a super-toyWORLD OF AWE: mRB
The mRB is a prototype of a fictional super-toy in the form of a
ring.
A collaboration between Yael Kanarek and Bnode (Judith Gieseler
and Innes Yates), the project elaborates on Kanarek's ongoing
interdisciplinary project, World of Awe, which is based on an
original narrative that uses the ancient genre of the traveler's
tale to explore the connections between storytelling, travel,
memory, and technology.
The collaborative project investigates the diffusion of
techno-scientific knowledge into popular culture through a
fictional super-toy ‹ the moodRingBaby. According to the
narrative the toy resembles an advanced Tamagotchi. Taking a
hypothetical, reverse-engineering approach, Kanarek and Bnode
began speculating on the origins of this fictional toy. The
process has produced a prototype called the mRB.
THE WEB COMPONENT http://www.worldofawe.net/mRB
The project utilizes a 3D web interface that allows the user to
browse various aspects of the mRB for clues to its origin,
experiences, and character.
An exploratory interface provides access to five different
components of the mRB: Skin, Input, Memory, CPU and Output.
Each component contains experiences which demonstrate function
and process.
THE INSTALLATION AT EYEBEAM http://www.worldofawe.net/mRB/installation/
The mRB installation is on view as part of the Beta-Launch
exhibition at Eyebeam from October 16 through December 1, 2002,
located at 540 W. 21st Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. The
exhibition is open Wednesday-Sunday, 12 - 6 PM.
The installation displays the five different functions of the
ring and multiple rings created with a 3d printer made available
through the R&D residency at Eyebeam.