ITP Winter Show: Part 1

We visited ITP’s annual Winter Show to check out some of the ingenious art/tech mashups from this year’s students. From bartending pianos to paparazzi purses, there was wall-to-wall ingenuity on display. We had so many favorites that we couldn’t fit them in ten posts, let alone one, but we’ll try it in two. Here’s the first round-up:

Pianocktial
This is a piano that mixes drinks–seriously. The keys correspond to certain liquors, which are dispensed when they are played. So what does Chopsticks taste like? We can’t tell you. But whatever it was we played tasted like grape juice. Awesome project, just need better spirits, and a better name.

Gus
These digital “wind chimes for the urban environment” can sound just for the owner, without annoying the neighbors. They have two versions: one to hang outside (which uses photo interrupters), and one to sit on the windowsill (which uses an accelerometer). Anyone can subscribe to hear the sounds online.

Cosmic Hand Dance Actualization Machine
This is pretty much what it sounds like: trippy. Put your hand inside a bowl and watch your hand make psychedelic swirls and stars. We can see this being a bit at the clubs.

Face of the Nation
The U.S. Presidents’ faces morph into one another in this supremely creepy looped video. It’s amazing how paradigms have slowly shifted over the centuries–our leaders are thinner and happier now–and what this says about culture and society.

Heartbeats Left
Dimitris Makis is shown here measuring the number of heartbeats remaining in his lifetime, as calculated based on actuarial tables. This can be seen as a rather bleek take on “personal infomatics,” or a statement about the temporal nature of the human condition. Just as long as he doesn’t stare at it for the rest of his life…

Crudbox2
This sequencer/drum machine allows users to create and compose rhythmic electroacoustic music by manipulating motors, solenoids, and other physical objects and amplifying their sounds in real time. Just wait till Kanye gets a hold of this…

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming later today….