Mobile kiosk links Harvard arts events; inspires digital artists

Want to know what’s new at the Sackler Museum or who’s on the boards at the American Repertory Theater? Passersby will soon be able to access current cultural events at Harvard through the Mobile Information Unit, an innovative, cross-disciplinary research project designed and fabricated by Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) students. Led by Martin Bechthold and Allen Sayegh with support from Dan Schodek and Kostas Terzidis, the project also involved members of the Harvard Art Museum as well as other arts-related groups and initiatives at Harvard. In addition to disseminating information about arts events on campus, the kiosk is designed as a resource for digital artists who wish to explore their own work. As a result of a competition, the winning scheme proposed a large, interactive, fiber-optic display on the exterior, with more-targeted displays and touch screens on the interior of the mobile structure. The unit will be deployed around the University this summer. Meanwhile, fabrication and prototyping are ongoing in the GSD fabrication labs.