Electric Donut

an iterative hybrid media artwork that doubles as a multiple camera recording tool that utilizes the tablets' built-in cameras.

The prototype is a 4-foot diameter wooden cable drum with six mobile computing tablets mounted around its hub. The screens of the tablets are programmed using open source software to display audio-visual content that changes and responds to sensors within the tablets.

Subsequent iterations are being built out of used conference tables and office shelving. They are made in a variety of sizes dependent on the dimensions of table tops we find. Each tumbler is designed for 1-6 tablets and features a unique program of sound and image, live video, or generative animation.

The Tablet Tumbler form has many references. The technology of the wheel, the form of a cable drum used to lay communication wires across land and sea. There are cinematic and cyclical references to the zoetrope, the film loop, the animated gif, and the computer routine. Its design further references the Google Street View car, a Katamari ball, and an aging tumble weed of technology. One of the objectives of this project is to present the viewer with alternative viewing experiences. Another is to create interactions with today's technology that go beyond the corporate-branded.