Commissioned Project

🖥️ Post Anthropocene Learning Device

An interactive art installation with kiosk application and networked thermal printing service

🖥️ Post Anthropocene Learning Device

❓About

What if, we pick an alternative narrative to understand plants and nature, such as the perspective of the plant, will it deconstruct our established ideology of nature? And develop a diverse and empathetic way to understand nature and the world?

In this natural history display case like learning device, participants can search for the botanical drawings of 20 kinds of vegetables. Yet it is not going to show the images that you’re familiar with, it will only present the minor and neglected narratives of the plants. Moreover, the participants can print out receipts of their chosen vegetables, with drawings from the learning device, and there is a QR code for them to access online Post Anthropocene Botanical Encyclopedia.

Post Anthropocene Learning Device was a collaborated work with Hong Kong artist Benjamin Hao Lap yan. My role is a creative technologist / new media artist who is responsible to develop the networked receipt printing device with a touch-screen kiosk application and an online Post Anthropocene Botanical Encyclopedia. It was a commissioned project in ARCH “Arts X Tech” Exhibition invited by the 13th Arts Ambassadors-in-School Scheme organised by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC).

🔨Technologies

JavaScript
Vue.js
Raspberry Pi
Python
Flask
Bootstrap 5
Sass/SCSS

🔗Link(s) to the project

Online Encyclopedia Live Site
GitHub

🌟Features

Kiosk Desktop Application

A kiosk with a touch-screen for receipt printing service

  • The application is developed with Vue.js as frontend and Python Flask Framework as backend
  • Users can select the plants on the touch-screen device, a print request will be sent to the thermal printer through the Raspberry Pi

Networked receipt printing service

A printed thermal receipt holding by a hand

  • A 5V thermal printer is connected to the Raspberry Pi for the printing service
  • The print function is developed using CUPS

Online Post Anthropocene Botanical Encyclopedia

A touch screen for an online Post Anthropocene Botanical Encyclopedia

  • A QR code corresponding to each plant is printed on the receipt with the networked thermal printer. Users can access the online Post Anthropocene Botanical Encyclopedia using the QR code or the Desktop application in the exhibition venue
  • The desktop application is developed with Electron Framework and Vue.js

Image Upload function

The project is planned to expand with a series of workshops for learning the local botanical culture. The Image upload function is developed for future workshop participants.

  • The future participants can upload the drawings of their interpretations of local plants.
  • The images are uploaded to Cloudinary with Cloudinary Upload Widget

A screen capture of the image upload platform

Screen capture of the image upload platform - 1

Screen capture of the image upload platform - 2

Cloudinary Upload Widget

Image Optimization

Deployment

  • Online Post Anthropocene Botanical Encyclopedia: Automatic deployment on Netlify with a GitHub repository, and images are hosted on Cloudinary
  • Kiosk Desktop Application and Networked receipt printing service: local-hosted

👏Acknowledgements

  • The networked receipt printing feature is inspired by this tutorial on Hackster.io

📄License

CC BY-NC-ND