Interactive techno-social flock of e-Sheep
diplomawork
Manenmane is an interactive, distributed social installation. The organic form of the sculpture is inspired by the peaceful sight of a lone sheep grazing on green grass. While each individual sculpture resides alone in its own city, hundreds are digitally linked to form an internationally distributed flock. Ultimately the goal of the project is to produce meaningful short-term virtual connections between random people located in different cities and countries. Above all, the installation encourages tolerance, allowing connections between different sexes, ages, races, religions and social status.
One side of the sheep is covered by an ellipse-shaped multitouch screen playfully animated by an inviting dynamic visualization. When passersby touch the screen, the animal reacts. Participants are invited to interact with a Dymaxion map, a unique cartographic representation in which the entire planet cannot be seen at once.
When the participant leaves his hand on the screen for a period of time, the local sculpture connects with a random manenmane in another city. On the remove sculpture, the silhouette of a hand appears. To complete the connection, a participant at the remote sculpture must touch the hand silhouette on her local screen. Once the connection is established, the silhouette changes color and a digital photo is taken of the participant of each participant and their cultural surroundings. These background scenes are vital to show the remote city’s characteristics. As the pictures are exchanged and become visible on both screens, the participants and their surroundings are revealed to each other. After a time, the background images in each participants’ photo is replaced by the other’s. This exchange of background context is designed to elevate participants’ awareness of his local surroundings by juxtaposing the familiar local environment and the unknown remote environment. In addition, this exchange emphasizes the ways that individual personalities and cultural behaviors are context-dependent.
Manenmane is up to date in every regard. It uses cutting-edge communication, network and interactive technologies that make it extremely relevant in today’s fast-paced information society. As a commercial platform, Manenmane offers cities a techno-social landmark -- a symbol of the modern city.
Manenmane concept was made by the co-operation of BME Industrial Design faculty and Kitchen Budapest.
