Context

The theme we wanted to explore was the feeling of interconnectedness. Something that is spooky about technology today is its power to enable human interactions that occur through invisible means. For example, remote control allows people to control machines across space by means of invisible signals, Bluetooth allows devices to “talk” with each other without any sort of physical connection, and the internet enables people to share information and experiences across the world while remaining in singular locations. We took inspiration from all these sorts of interactions because they enable things to affect other things through indirect, mysterious, seemingly other-worldly means rather than through direct contact.

For inspiration regarding the physical medium through which we would decide to explore the previously mentioned themes, we looked at mechanical puzzles, escape rooms, kinetic art, and other mechanical systems. We believed that the idea of interconnectedness would better be experienced if people could interact with something and see and feel how it would respond to them. Specifically, we took inspiration from a $30,000 puzzle box designed by Labsterium and various mechanical puzzles designed by local shops.