Toot2Gether

Toot2Gether
Virality, Sensuality, and the internet of things

Abstract

In recent years the role social media plays in delivering advertising content to consumers has grown enormously. While user data analysis has become a mainstay for companies trying to target their advertising, self propagating viral content has the power to sway much larger groups at possible fractions of the cost. Many small media groups have attempted to boil down the authenticity and appeal of the independent inventor to package products for social media consumption, and have had a homogenizing effect on the way viral videos are expected to look. For this project my intent was to take this aesthetic and apply it to a supposed invention (Toot2Gether) that has questionable marketability to explore what these narratives of independent invention and authenticity mean without a functional product to back them up. This builds on a product whose purpose hinges on the taboo of discussing bowel movements with other people, and serves as an exploration of what is considered acceptable to discuss through social media that might not be in offline conversations.

Technology

Communication between toilets was handled through an OSC interface connecting both Node MCU’s to a computer running a server on the same wifi network.

When a toilet is in use, the switch (4) tells the node (1) to send an update to the server which in turn alerts the other MCU. When activated, the node sends a signal to the teensy (4) which plays an alert chime, and increases voltage to the power relay (3) allowing current to flow through the nichrome under the toilet seat from the external power supply.

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