Intro Phys Comp | Journal Entry 9| November 16, 2001

Answering the questions For the Jello Brain

In re: my quandary, I am going with the Jello because I sense that if I don’t do it now I’ll never get around to it. I really want to make just one application for the idea, and I do like how weird and biomorphic jello can be. It’s so... unmechanical. I also have a real sense of the purpose and aesthetics of the Jello brain. While I would enjoy exploring the materials and techniques used in making another furry beastie (and I agree with you about the flock idea -- it's not that effective and I don’t think I’ll get the specific kinds of movement that I want), I think the beastie idea warrants spending more time on it than just a month. I have all these ideas involving rubber tube veins and latex skin -- but they will take more than a month to develop and incorporate into a project. I feel more comfortable giving myself a bit more time to screw around with them before trying to make something that works. I really don’t know how to work with latex yet, much less make it work as circuitry. And since I’m unsure about the materials, I’m also fuzzy on the specific interactions I want - which does not bode well for any potential project.

On the other hand, I can tell you that the project I’ve been seriously considering involves making a pair of fuzzy knitted mittens that have their own ideas about what the wear-er should be doing. But that can wait.

But anyway. Onwards to the Jello Brain. I do like the idea of big heaps of jello that ‘tell your fortune’ – it’s no more absurd than many ‘real’ technological innovations. Think 1950s horror movies and Mrs. Brady’s jello desserts.

1) Who is the audience?
The Jello Brain works best with casual passers-by in a gallery or ITP-like setting. It’s a self-contained, humorous project that doesn’t require any special lighting or environment.

2) What is the mode of interaction?
Uncertainty. The audience first has to accept that manipulating this mass of jello will cause it ‘tell a fortune’ (which is, on first sight, a very dubious proposition), and then has to accept the ridiculously ambiguous fortune the Jello provides. However, the back story is necessary to enjoying the Jello – or at the very least, getting the joke.

3) What is the level of interaction?
The user has a clear effect on the piece (making the jello jiggle or squishing the jello around), but has no real control over the result. Indeed, the lack of control over the final result is one of the key parts of the project. The user has to give up some agency to this ridiculous contraption.

4) What is the goal of the interaction?
At some level, the Jello Brain points out the absurdity of putting our faith in technology - of using mechanical brains as crystal balls. On the most basic level, of course, it should just make people laugh.

5) How would the same interaction be achieved without using the sense of sight?
I would have the mechanism involve physically mushing the Jello around and then use the ‘sound’ of Jello (a series of squishy sucking noises) to represent the process of the ‘brain’ working. That way, you get some sense of the ickiness of the jello and the wobbliness of the fortune.