pervasive media studio

Capturing Tweeture #1

Tweeture at SXSW - photo by BBC Digital Planet

1

This year we again wanted to commission something that would become a talking point at SXSW. Something that would act as a calling card for The Umbrella Group and promote UK creativity. With support from Arts Council England, we began to throw around ideas as a group and settled on SlingShot's Tweeture. The thinking was to design something that would encourage interaction between delegates, a kind of conch that gave people permission, a reason/excuse, to speak to a stranger. Tweeture also explores notions of caring at a Festival where much of the talk and interaction is around technology.

The Tweeture has already been a great success. He has featured in a BBC's Digital Planet video for the World Service, in numerous twitters and photos, but more than that he has become a talking point, a recognised figure at the Festival. Even the first night when the technology wasn't switched on, his presence was enough to stop people who wanted to know what he was, could they get one and could they hold him.

So, some Tweeture moments (some I saw, some i have heard about) before they are forgotten:

• " Look its the Tweeture" "Wow its Tweeture" one the first night walking passed a queue for a restaurant
• "Can he see that we are black?" from a group of Austin boys on 6th Street
• "He was here but I think he left about an hour ago" to Simon Johnson enquiring whether anyone had seen him at a party.
• "Is that the twitter critter?" shouted to me on the street
• " Can i buy one?" a senior manager of Adobe

I find my own reaction to Tweeture curious. On first hearing the idea, I mostly loved it, but struggled with the vision of a cute Teddy Ruxpin type character (which is not what we have), which seemed twee and certainly not something I would want to carry around. And yet (like Heart Robot which was also made by Green Ginger), i feel strangely maternal towards him. And last night, feeling slightly isolated from days of screens, updates and a lack of human touch, Tweeture (the craft robot) was a reassuring cuddle.