Plug Repository.

halloween plug.

usb plug.

ideas: Real time maps are all the rage. The kids are into it. How can we make these maps more closely reflect the human dynamics of a given space? I propose using the plugs to record speech and pull out its affective content. These data can be visualized over time to produce a map of the "emotional" infrastructure of the Media Lab. Let us prove to all that we are VERY HAPPY. Anyways, here is a paper of out Roz's lab that might be a first step: a brief intro into pulling out audio features that correlate with affect in speech. Raul Fernandez in fact devoted his thesis to this topic.

Next step: Now that we can measure the affective currents in a space, assuming all goes well: it's fur time. Does animating the plugs perturb or amuse people? We can use our map to find out.

Finally, perhaps we can use the furry plugs as a way to promote a system of parasitic mobility: if we have a system of lightweight sensors, we may need to move them around for various reasons. Perhaps isolated sensors will need to moved close to a plug "base staion" to offload their data. Plugs could make requests for humans to retrieve these sensors and bring them nearby -- I bet that "critterized" plugs -- if done right -- will be more likely to have those requests honored.