The Good Deed Machine
Interactive Storefront
The Good Deed Machine lived in the window of the Gap store at 54th and 5th for 2 weeks in New York City. Passers by could place their hand on the glass and watch the gears and pistons of the machine startup. The activity of the machine would then produce a good deed, written by online users, for them to carry out this Holiday. The end result was a playful and kinetic way to visualize the flow of goodwill during the Holidays.
The machine combined classic automata techniques with modern technology, incorporating Arduino, stepper motors, and camera tracking. A central Cinder framework coordinated the movements of all components, ensuring seamless interaction. As part of Red Paper Heart’s development team, my contributions included mechanism fabrication and testing, hardware setup and testing, storefront installation, and debugging to ensure a smooth and reliable experience.
