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Amanda Heighes
Harvard University
Graduate School of Design
48 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617.495.4004 tel

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Mobile information kiosk links Harvard arts events; inspires digital artists

 

 
Photos: Anita Kan    
     

Want to know what’s new at the Sackler Museum or who’s on the boards at the A.R.T.? Passersby will soon be able to access current cultural events at Harvard through the Mobile Information Unit, an innovative, cross-disciplinary research project designed and fabricated by GSD students. Led by Professors Martin Bechthold and Allen Sayegh with support from Professors Dan Schodek and Kostas Terzidis, the project also involved members of the Harvard Art Museum as well as other arts-related groups and initiatives at Harvard. In addition to disseminating information about art events on campus, the kiosk is designed as a resource for digital artists who wish to explore their own work.  As a result of a competition, the winning scheme proposed a large, interactive, fiber-optic display on the exterior, with more targeted displays and touch screens on the interior of the mobile structure. The unit was first presented during the 2008 Open House and will be deployed around the University this summer. Meanwhile, fabrication and prototyping are ongoing in the GSD fabrication labs.