SXSW 2012

How do we take social media off laptops and phones and create real-world devices that surprise and delight? First, we take the top Arduino hackers around the globe and give them a brief: make SXSW smile. Then we watch them bring their web-connected Dorkbot action to the streets of Austin. The team with the most social interactions on and offline wins. And we get to present the results to you.

What’s this about? We’re excited about the Internet of Things, but we’re also impatient. We won’t wait for R&D. We’re nerds and we want to make a point. We’ll walk the line between integrated experiences being useful tools to make our lives easier, and the ever-looming digital frontier of “over-helpful” electronics that analyze our every move. As we aim to create ever-smaller devices that connect us to our social grid, is it possible we’ll overstep a line? iPhone apps that analyze sleep patterns are great, but would we be intimidated by a bed which analyzed us while we slept?