07/03/2025
An amazing day working with the “Summer Yard Crew”, Sohini, Caroline, and Pua at NYU’s Tandon At The (Brooklyn Navy) Yard . From June through August I’m working with this team, all from NYU’s Integrated Design and Media Undergraduate program , on migrating the VR portion of my wwwunderkammer project to more sustainable systems + developing new XR and physical expansions of the project through the speculative LLM C.A.S.S.A.N.D.R.A. (Compassionate and Altruistic Semi-Sentient Assistant and Negotiator of Dreams, Rationality, and Aspiration). Stay tuned for more details on all of the aspects (AI, VR, sculpture, etc...) plus supporters of this project...
And TODAY was something special as we focused on the very hardware used to access the wwwunderkammer. Disassembling my old VR and MR headsets, we began to think *magically* about new form factors for XR headsets. Taking into account that plants can be modified to conduct electricity, (scientists have even developed techniques to integrate electronic components into plants, like roses, to create a system that can both conduct and store electricity, and additionally, some plants naturally generate electrical signals in response to touch or stress), we began creating speculative VR headset models. With planned obsolescence as the rule not the exception, what biodegradable materials can we use for our tech? And is there a way of escaping the homogeneous aesthetics of our hardware? This is just day one of this endeavor, but I never underestimate the importance of creative play 🌺🥽🌿✨
