(Not) Jammed - Scott the dot matrix printer that listens to you

What if machines could think or experience emotions? Observing anachronistic machines has prompted us to wonder whether we truly comprehend these human creations. They often act out, get stubborn and defensive, take their time, or start wailing when you ask them to work. As a collective, our intention is to foster an appreciation for these machines and involve them in our design process and production by giving them the space to express their personality.

Project description:
‘(Not) Jammed’ is an interactive installation through which we try to break free from the notion of carefulness around technology and give an opportunity to ourselves and the viewers to explore what can be done with a printer outside the constraints of its intended use. The work invites the visitor to engage with a dot matrix printer named Scott and in this way to actively participate in the production process behind printmaking. The installation facilitates a dialogue between people and a mischievous machine, in which the viewer is granted the role of a content provider, while the printer intervenes in the process of printing and acts as the layout designer.

Visitors can enter a “Scott’s Listening” zone, where they can talk directly to him, share a secret, read a poem or sing a song, where Scott will detect the speech and print out his own interpretation of it. Similar to how people sometimes misinterpret others’ words or drift off during a conversation, Scott is not entirely precise in translating human input, mishearing sentences and twisting their original meaning. Further along he selects the font, size, leading and composition of the printed speech based on the pitch of his own distinctive printing sounds.

The work is produced using Google API speech to text recognition and sending the text file for print at a certain time period. For changing the layout we use a servo motor that manually presses the font and size menu of the dot matrix printer, while the paper is manually rolled by a stepper motor. Both motors use the same principle of operation, rotating based on the sound pitch of the printing process.

(Not) Jammed publication

'Not (Jammed)' is a handmade publication based on the interactive installation with the same name, shown during the 3-day exhibition 'Not Just A Fair' at Platform POST Arnhem. It captures the dialogue between people and a mischievous printer named Scott, granting the viewer the role of the content provider and designer while also allowing the machine to intervene. The content is a real-time documentation of the passing-by visitors and their interactions with Scott, his own interpretation of the conversation he unintentionally overheard, intertwined with a visualization of his printing sounds.

The book was designed by our dear friend Doğa Gönüllü.

Printed in a limited edition of 40 copies
74 p, b&w, 15x26 cm, Softcover, Swiss binding with staple, Japanese fold, English, 2023


You can find our publication in the bookshop below, or contact us directly to make a purchase.

Amsterdam - Boekie Woekie
Amsterdam - BYOB event at Enter Enter(Sep 15th 2023 - Oct 15th 2023)
Arnhem - Not Just A Collective
Arnhem - Wolf Books & Printed Matter
Maastricht - Limestone Books
Rotterdam - PrintRoom

Christopher

Meet Christopher. Christopher is a polite watering can that greets your plants when you water them. Say ‘Hi’ to Christopher. Christopher says ‘Hi’ back.

Project description:
Developments in robotics, aside from being welcomed with excitement by many, are often conceived with mistrust and somewhat of a fear from the general public. They are a perfected reiteration of us humans, able to replace us effortlessly in any task we have learned for years to become skilled at. In that sense they are the clear depiction of human advancement while setting a treat for humanity itself. However, we see past those preconceptions and think robots can be friendly, caring and polite. We want to introduce robots who are here to co-exist with us humans in a peaceful manner.

#DuctTape
#MachineManner
#Christopher
#MachinesCanBeFriendly

Laicos 42 (The Anti-Social Chat bot that is not so ready to help you out)

This is Laicos 42. Laicos was always a shy and anxious bot, at school he preferred procrastinating on work and staying away from other bots because they required too much effort and uncertainty. Now Laicos is employed as a chat bot, but he is not so chatty in his job.

Project description:
Humans experience feelings of distraction, exhaustion, boredom and lack of motivation daily. We even created machines, algorithms and mechanical parts that cannot get tired so that they help us with our human responsibilities. We, as designers however, want to give space to machines to experience those human emotions, be tired, anxious, unmotivated, unproductive, and just say ‘No.’ to humans.

Laicos ’s responses are based on an open database, available for participation from anybody. We give you the opportunity to project your anti-social manifestation onto the Laicos. Help us figure out more sentences to reject more people with.

#NewYearNoFriends
#No
#LeaveBotAlone