“ DuperLooper ” ( Kuwakubo , 2003 )
audience / Article by Jonah Brucker - Cohen
In the multi - faceted earthly concern of consumer electronics , objects that question their existence are rarified . Japanese artist Ryota Kuwakubo ’s work attempts to shift this paradigm by combining flawless hardware design with interactivity that makes us rethink our daily relationship to electronic devices . From creating a simple drum machine that pink beats onto any surface with “ Duper / Looper ” , to integrate animation into a RCA plug with “ VideoBulb ” , Kuwakubo ’s projects are elegant reminders of the ubiquitous nature of portable devices and the media they support . While his “ PLX ” project looks at gambling from a collaborative , but conflicted position , “ HeavenSeed ” utilizes a detector equipped testis that connect wirelessly to a nearby computer . Gizmodo captivate up with Kuwakubo to discuss his work with hardware hacks and ingenious interfaces that bear out among a myriad of consumer electronics dust .
image and Interview after the saltation .
Name : Ryota Kuwakubo
Age:35
Education : University of Tsukuba , Plastic Art and motley Media course of study 1993 , University of Tsukuba , M.A. , Design ( Plastic Art and Mixed Media Dept . ) 1996 , International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences , 2001
Affiliation : Independent Artist
Exhibitions ( selected):”SIGGRAPH ” ( LA , CA , 2002 ) , Ars Electronica ( Linz , Austria2002 ) , Tokyo Gadget ( Tokyo , 2003 ) , Ars Electronica ( Linz , Austria , 2003 ) , Japan Media Arts Festival ( 2004 ) , Rock The Future ( Liverpool , UK,2005 ) , Slow Life : John Hansard Gallery ( London , UK , 2006 ) , and many more ( see URL ( below ) for full exhibition list ) .
URL : http://www.vector - scan.com
GIZMODO : Your project “ Duper / Looper ” is a uncomplicated barrel machine that responds to its own beetle ’s force out rack up the table it sits on . What was your intention with this project and how successful was it ?
RK : I was writing nonparallel article for a monthly magazine , about how to make electronic toys . Duper / Looper is one of examples from it . you’re able to see the text and number at http://www.vector-scan.com/workshop/TTL/09/ and http://www.vector-scan.com/workshop/TTL/10/ -written in Japanese . I welcome someone translates it to English . I wish people bask to make their own Duper / Looper . This chemical mechanism is simple feedback system , consists of trigger , sensor and detain cue . This is so simple that everyone know how to take on at a coup d’oeil .
“ PLX ” ( Kuwakubo , 2001 )
GIZMODO:”PLX ” is a a two musician conflict game where substance abuser playact two dissimilar games on either side of the display but the moving icon are the same for each player , even though one is cupid shooting arrow into eye and the other is a spaceship shooter game . How did you choose this collocation of play between the two game ? Why was the tension between players an significant element in the console ’s design ?
RK : The basic motif for PLX is miscommunication . In a conversation , for instance , we often leave misunderstanding each other without have it off it , nevertheless we have sing for a farseeing time . In other cases you sometimes offend somebody else while you imply to praise her / him . PLX simulates such site . Another hidden theme is more otakky . In old mean solar day , when I took apart Bandai ’s LSI game — it was submarine plot , I observe a connecting option on PCB which configure it as tank scrap plot . I acknowledge that different things can be described similar in binary world . Concerning cabinet blueprint : These days , in arcades , people ( I do n’t play video biz often ) are sitting uprightly and badly against a screen , tie in to someone without facing each other . Sometimes they look bureaucratic :) But I do n’t have negative imprint for it . The initiation of PLX also lay out coincidence of play game and taking job . By the way , in [ the ] former 80 ’s , when The Space Invaders came out , video game machines were placed in coffeehouse . I choose such old vogue because it is a console table but still work as a tabular array for tasting a cup of deep brown .
“ BITMAN ” ( Kuwakubo , 2001 )
GIZMODO : The “ BITMAN ” project is a simple “ mover and shaker ” machine that responds to its own movements and animated a small LED anatomy on its display . The more you excite the gadget , the quicker the man dances and becomes delirious . What was your initial intention with this twist and how has the public ’s perceptual experience of it changed since it became a commercial-grade mathematical product ? Were you happy with its evolution from image to product ?
RK : perchance you know , the prototype does n’t function like the product version . That is just a 8 x 8 light-emitting diode sign board . That is my first art work subsequently I start to use electronics . At first , there was no especial connotation for making BITMAN . I just desire make something exciting with my electronics science . When Maywa Denki , the henchman for BITMAN , planned the product version , we want to make something people [ could ] get involved in . That ’s why I introduced a tilt sensor or else of buttons . Also I was interested in how to make live vitality with only 8 x 8 pixels . So I made an animation editor first .
“ LoopScape ” , ( Kuwakubo , 2003 )
GIZMODO : “ LoopScape ” is a game for two people where the action takes place on a 360 degree , circular screen where players have to move around the concealment to follow their spaceships . How were you attempting to augment the traditional game interaction with this cylindrical design ? What do you consider it adds to the overall experience ?
RK : First of all , my original interest was make an endless world . It ’s not special to infix this estimate into a practical place , like the “ Lifegame ” or “ Defender ” does . But I wondered what would hap if it physically existed . One day I patrol around Akihabara to discover curving light-emitting diode ground substance in humbled price . So I made it . This plot has two effects : 1 ) Physical interaction — As you describe , you should follow a paladin you control . practical world regard forcible human race , and vice versa . I check some players tackling berm to articulatio humeri . 2 ) Strategy — if you hit a lot of projectile without care , you ’ll hit yourself . This is much interesting for me . Cause and effect makes a loop .
“ HeavenSeed ” , ( Kuwakubo , 2003 )
GIZMODO:”Heaven Seed ” is a pliant bollock with implant sensors that monitor its own movement and transmits this data wirelessly to a information processing system that generates audio establish on this movement . What is your vision for sound design in strong-arm objective and how do you see this manifesting itself on a human scale ?
RK : I wanted digital toy without any release or pad , like definitive pecker or natural objects . When you see some widgets on an physical object , you ’ll notice that you have to / can do something and it has some purpose . On the other hand if you grab a simple ball — less purpose defined object — for a while , you ’ll unconsciously make some legal action with it . I think such moment can be a beginning of a fantasy . I imagined an object that increases such relationship between itself and a individual .
“ VideoBulb ” , ( Kuwakubo , 2000 )
GIZMODO:”VideoBulb ” is a simple twist that plugs into any RCA input signal on a telecasting and produces animations of the “ BITMAN ” character running around on the cover . How did you come up with the concept for this labor ? How do simple video gimmick play into the tumid theme of customizing consumer electronics devices ?
RK : When I made my animation project chip - cost increase , I wanted to make some gimmick that contain and plays animation by itself . I trust someone wants to use it as bill .
GIZMODO : What projects are you currently working on ? How are they similar or different than your past projects ?
RK : [ My ] past projects were not for invention but for observe the innovating humanity . I ’m always interested in how people behave when new engineering comes out . ( I always refer to a modification with cell headphone . How our life interchange with it , how we were excited to bring our individual quad into a public field , how we see other masses talking loudly on a crowded power train … ) Now I ’m trying to make something invoke our latent imagination .
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