Project Description
In our research, we noticed that the stroller-- an object for transporting babies-- garners a lot of attention when the baby inside it cries or screams. We questioned how we could use the glances and empathy that crying babies produce. A kind of mobile art installation, the final product uses the sound of a crying baby to cue an LED dot matrix to display a real-time news headline describing a tragedy happening abroad. By juxtaposing global news with the screams of a physically present child, we seek to engage Americans in distant tragedies that we are otherwise unable to see or hear.
photos
Step by Step instructions
- wire the components as seen in the wiring diagram.
- 3d print the clips
- laser cut the sides of the enclosure
- join the sides of the enclosure with acetone
- screw the screen into the front frame of the enclosure
- put all the parts in the box
- hot glue the box to the flat face of the clips
- put the microphone through the hole in the box and into the stroller
- walk your baby and upset people
3d model of clip
Intermediate designs
observational documentation
Our brainstorming process focused on innovations for child transportation. We considered modifying scooters, roller blades, “Big Wheel” tricycles, and other common locomotive toys for children, to create an enhanced socially interactive experience. The gamification of the user experience of riding scooters and similar toys has the added benefit of encouraging physical exercise. Although this project had the potential for real world practical application, we strongly believed that our efforts should be focused on creating a work of artistic expression.
We shifted our attention from modes of transportation designed to encourage play to the stroller. We observed the cumbersome nature of strollers, and their inherent ability to impede the flow of traffic, and saw potential for improving upon this characteristic. Initially, we sought out a solution that would benefit both the parents of the child pushing the stroller, as well as the strangers trying to avoid this obstacle. We explored the option of using sound input in order to trigger a mechanism that would rock and soothe a crying baby. The sound input would also trigger an apologetic message to strangers, which would become increasingly more apologetic the louder the child cries.
After further research, however, we realized that the captivating quality of a baby’s cries and the bulkiness of a stroller could be combined to create an attention-grabbing platform for social change.
demo film
system
wiring diagram
laser files
Arduino Code
Alternative Application
The project's hardware can easily be reprogrammed to elicit a very different effect, and other possible scenarios were explored in the brainstorming process. For instance, instead of playing on emotions of sympathy and compassion in the audience, the text could aim for a more lighthearted or humorous approach. Inspired by the popularity of LOL Cats in which distinctly human expressions are paired with images of felines engaged in various mundane activities, the scrolling text can aim to give a voice to the not yet coherent infant by displaying apologetic, deeply philosophical, or even provocatively political quotations. Similar to the "Drive By" installation in Los Angeles that flashes movie quotes on a billboard-size LED screen (http://segd.org/drive-installation), the project would pair the crying baby with the display of decontextualized expressions to, in the least, ease some of the tension between the distressed audience and infant.
Comments