It only takes a few clicks to share information online, but that information may remain available to others for a very long time. Designer Jaap de Maat aims to remind us of this fact with his art project. I Know What You Did Last Summer is an autonomous filing cabinet that follows people around.
The project was conceived as part of de Maat's final year studying for a Master of Arts in Information Experience Design at the London's Royal College of Art.
"In the digital age it has become easier to look back with great accuracy," states de Maat's brief. "But this development contains hidden dangers, as those stored recollections can easily be misinterpreted and manipulated. That sobering thought should rule our online behavior, because the traces we leave behind now will follow us around for ever."
The designer salvaged and modified a standard filing cabinet. Part of an electric wheelchair (plus battery) was then placed inside and given new wheels, along with an Arduino board, a BT2S Bluetooth interface and HC-SR04 distance sensors – plus some "blood, sweat, and tears," as de Maat tells Gizmag.
The cabinet is connected to a webcam via Bluetooth, which scans the room for movement. When the webcam finds a person, it sends the relevant location to the Arduino, which in turn controls the wheelchair motors and directs the cabinet toward that person. The selection can be random and sometimes results in the cabinet switching between people, or knocking into them, despite the distance sensors de Maat installed.
I Know What You Did Last Summer was, until recently, installed at the Royal College of Art's Hockney Gallery. The designer is currently in talks to bring the project to Dubai. The video below shows it in operation.
Source: Royal College of Art
