O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s
O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s is an interactive video installation that is a cross between an ant farm and a software development company.
Dimensions: 22 in x 14 in x 20 in
Materials: wood, Lexan, computer with custom software, LCD monitor
Showings:
The Game’s Afoot: Video Game Art, Boston Cyberarts Gallery, Boston, MA, Mar 02 to Apr 14, 2013
COLLISIONtwelve: mini, MIT Stata Center Gallery, Cambridge, MA, Nov 30 to Dec 16, 2007
The title, O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s, is a ten-letter acronym for Organized, Fast, Frantic, Intelligent, Corporate Entities Acting in a Novel Technology Simulation.
Viewers can watch and interact with one hundred tiny developers working around the clock to meet their deadlines and ship their virtual products. The installation consists of a display case for the simulated office and food for the developers.
You can interact with the O.f.f.i.c.e A.n.t.s. by using the canister of developer nourishment. Shaking the canister over the slot at the top of the display case will cause virtual food and drink to fall into the cafeteria. The developers frequent the cafeteria, foraging for sustenance between meetings. If the developers are not fed often, productivity will lag.
In this updated version of O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s, the developers use the Agile Scrum process. You can see the workers attend their 30-second scrum meetings before returning to their cubes.
The software uses OpenFrameworks, an open-source C++ library for creative coding.
I want to thank Jennifer Lim for her help with this installation.