e-xchange

e-xchange uses PIR sensors and Arduino microcontrollers to simulate a form of artificial intelligence. Unlike the human brain, which can process and respond to unscripted situations in a fraction of a second, microcontrollers rely on pre-programmed information. However, like microcontrollers, our thought processes and emotions can also be limited to scenarios that are replayed, over and over again, across time.

In e-xchange a series of messages are sent between pairs of wooden heads, which are connected to one another by electrical wiring. There are seven heads in all, six connected in pairs and one which is singular. The short conversations that take place are rudimentary in nature, limited to four lines per LED display, the number of messages the units can store. When PIR sensors are activated one head asks a question and the other responds. The questions and answers are randomized, so that for each pair of heads, one out of sixteen possible verbal interacts will occur each time the sensor is activated.