Mud Computer: Even Your Keyboard Isn’t This Dirty

Tom Gerdhardt’s computer is disgusting. I found it by following the squishing noises at NYU’s ITP spring show. The entire UI and display is basically a giant pile of wet dirt. That’s right. Mud.

By sloshing, squishing, pulling, punching, etc…users control games, simulators, and expressive tools; interacting with a computer in a new, completely organic, way. Born out of a motivation to close the gap between our bodies and the digital world, the Mud Tub frees the traditional computer interaction model of it’s rigidity, allowing humans to use their highly developed sense of touch, and creative thinking skills in a more natural way.

I can’t for the life of me think of a way that this UI becomes anything other than an interactive mutation of the same sort of fun we’d have as children helping mum in the garden, playing on the beach as the tide rolled in high or sitting in a sandbox a little too soon after a heavy spring rain. And that’s ok with me.

Imagine using it to model roughs of buildings, the fender of a new car design or any other number of physical representations previously requiring CAD expertise. No longer. Just fire up a mud UI. And start shopping for hand wipes at costco. [Tom Gerhardt at ITP]