Designer Jaap de Maat of London’s Royal College of Art recently debuted an exhibit titled “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
As GizMag’s Adam Williams reports, the exhibit is essentially an autonomous filing cabinet designed to follow people around.
“In the digital age it has become easier to look back with great accuracy,” de Maat explained in a project description.
“But this development contains hidden dangers, as those stored recollections can easily be misinterpreted and manipulated. That sobering thought should rule our online behavior, because the traces we leave behind now will follow us around for ever.”
According to Williams, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” is built around a modded filing cabinet fitted with an electric wheelchair (+ battery), an Atmel-based Arduino board, a BT2S Bluetooth interface and HC-SR04 distance sensors.
So, how does it work? Well, the cabinet is linked to a webcam via Bluetooth, which scans the room for movement.
“When the webcam finds a person, it sends the relevant location to the Arduino, which in turn controls the wheelchair motors and directs the cabinet toward that person,” Williams added.
Interested in learning more? You can check out the project’s official page here.
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