Sex, Circuits, and Deep House - FOSSASIA 2016

Published on: Saturday, 2 April 2016

Speaker: Bunnie Huang (Sutajio Ko-Usagi PTE LTD)

Last year at Burning Man 2015, we demonstrated an open hardware & software, 900 MHz radio-connected platform based on our Orchard IoT platform in the form of a conference badge. The badges bore a circular set of LEDs which would flash in a pattern unique to that badge. Attendees with other badges customized their light patterns by finding badges with patterns they like and "having sex" with them. The description of the light patterns is based on a diploid genome, and the process of breeding lights is modeled after the biological process of having sex. The overall protocol to exchange light genomes was designed to require explicit consent of both parties, thus layering a social experiment on top of a hardware experiment. By requiring explicit consent, the badges also served as an icebreaker and a seed for many fun conversations.

About Bunnie Huang:

bunnie huang is best known for his work hacking the Microsoft Xbox, as well as for his efforts in designing and manufacturing open source hardware, including the chumby (app-playing alarm clock), chibitronics (peel-and-stick electronics for craft), and Novena (DIY laptop). He received his PhD in electrical engineering from MIT in 2002. He currently lives in Singapore, where he runs a private product design studio, Kosagi, and he actively mentors several startups and students of the MIT Media Lab.

Event Page: http://2016.fossasia.org

Produced by Engineers.SG

Help us caption & translate this video!

http://amara.org/v/IIfL/

Organization
Presenter