Wizkid is part of MoMA's Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit, running from February 24 to May 12, 2008. This unusual device is the result of a collaboration between an engineer, Fréderic Kaplan and an industrial designer, Martino d'Esposito. Kaplan, a researcher at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne), worked ten years for Sony, creating "brains" for entertainment robots. Wizkid looks like a computer with a neck. But there the similarities with the familiar personal computer end. Wizkid isn't static. The screen on the mobile neck moves about like a head, and it's trained to hone in on human faces. Once it sees you, Wizkid focuses on you and follows your movement. Unlike a computer, which requires you to stop what you're doing and adapt your behavior and social interactions in order to use it, Wizkid blends into human space. There's no mouse and no keyboard. You don't touch anything. There's no language getting in the way.
On Wizkid's screen you see yourself surrounded by a "halo" of interactive elements that you can simply select by waving your hands. If you move away or to one side, Wizkid adapts itself to you, not the other way around. If you're with a friend, Wizkid finds and tracks both of you and tries to figure out your relationship, expressing surprise, confusion or enjoyment when it gets your response. Wizkid's inventors see their creation as playing a new and important role in the transitional world we currently inhabit. Unlike a real kid, whose learning curve can be frustratingly hard to influence, Wizkid learns as much as you want it to about you and your world, and interacts with you at a level that you define. Want to use this device simply as a tool" Adjust a slider on its side and Wizkid will follow you without making any suggestions.
More information:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080219093019.htm
More information:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080219093019.htm