The homespun museum: computers, fabrication, and the design of personalized exhibits

The traditional view of the “home computer” is as a selfcontained appliance: computation, on this view, is something that takes place within a desktop box, and that produces interesting visual effects only on a screen. In this paper, we argue that one can alternatively view “the computer” through its tangible effects on larger settings: that is, the computer can be imagined as the heart of a creative workshop centered within the home or classroom. The advent of accessible fabrication devices, as well as small computers that can be embedded in craft items, permits users to think of the room at large as a place in which computationally-enriched or computationally-designed "exhibits" of various types may be displayed. We illustrate this idea with a variety of projects undertaken within our laboratory. Author Keywords Computational crafts, fabrication devices, embedded computation. ACM Classification Keywords H5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI): Mis...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: CANDC
• Authors: Michael Eisenberg, Nwanua Elumeze, Leah Buechley, Glenn Blauvelt, Sue Hendrix, Ann Eisenberg
• Keywords: Accessible Fabrication Devices, CANDC 2005, Emerging Technology, Fabrication Devices, Interesting Visual Effects