Caroline Song – Looking Outwards-11

LittleBits was created by Ayah Bdeir in 2010. Specifically, littleBits is a collection of modular electronics that snap together in order to make prototyping more efficient and easy. I admire this project because, being able to work with littleBits in one of my studio classes, I greatly appreciated the ease of being able to create and mimic low-fidelity electronic devices. Not having much knowledge on how certain devices work, I also enjoyed how I did not have to know much in order to work with littleBits, and I was also able to learn more about the general pattern of certain electronic devices along the way, using littleBits. It was a way of learning that is both hands-on and simplified enough as to not overwhelm the user.

Bdeir graduated from the American University of Beirut in 2004 in Computer and Communications Engineering, as well as Sociology. Her work has appeared in The New Museum, the Royal College of Art, and has taught at both NYU and Parsons. She is both an interactive artist and an engineer, founding littleBits, which joined MoMA’s permanent collection and has been partnered with industry companies like Disney, Pearson, and the New York Department of Education. Bdeir has led many initiatives to get young girls involved in STEM, partnering with the White House, and companies such as Disney, in order to do so. While she is originally from Beirut, she now resides in New York City.