So... what is the Crypto Lotus?
The Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), is a beautiful plant and the touch point of a number of eastern religions. It also possesses a very remarkable ability, it can regulate its own temperature to within a few degrees Celsius. It does this to attract the insects that pollinate it.
This complex symbiosis is a very interesting to us and we've been thinking of how it could be incorporated into interactive artwork. The Crypto Lotus is the result.
The seed of the Crypto Lotus is an idea.
The idea is that math is beautiful.
Like all plants, the Crypto Lotus wishes to spread it's seed.
The Crypto Lotus will consist of a 6' tall animatronic lotus with thousands of digitally addressable RGB LEDs built into the petals. It will be surrounded with 6 pressure sensitive lilly pads. The lotus will present non-linguistic puzzles based on color and time. Participants will have to work together to solve the puzzles and as they do so the lotus will open step by step, until it fully blooms and displays a wild flurry of color and sound.
I'm just getting started on all of the electronics and petal designs now. Rather than spamming the board with my progress, I'll keep the day-to-day stuff on the project's facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/TheCryptoLotus
However, this isn't going to be a cheap project and depending on how the various art grants go I may be doing various fund raising efforts. I'll report back here as major mile stones happy and to answer any questions.
I can't wait to see you all out on the playa playing with the Crypto Lotus!
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