Robot illustrator creates personalized wall art on any surface

This connected robot illustrator draws and erases content allowing for continually personalized artworks.

Designed by Italian architect Carlo Ratti, the Scribit Robot is small, unobtrusive and takes only five minutes to install. Suspended from two cables hung from any vertical surface, the robot takes its instruction from uploaded content. Scribit can reproduce any written or drawn material, from happy birthday messages to Renaissance masters and personal drawings. Using erasable markers, the robot can delete artwork by following the exact steps it took to create the piece but in reverse.

The robot will debut in April 2018 as part of this year’s Milan design week installation. Scribit will work with a wide variety of apps, allowing users to access an incredible library of images. Furthermore, the robot can be loaded with regular (ie non-erasable) markers. The design team hopes the robot could help people alleviate their addiction to screens by making visual content available in places other than smartphones and other devices. The robot follows on from another “writing machine” Carlo Ratti’s firm is producing. Moreover, Scribit is the Latin term for “she/he writes.”

Making art accessible by putting old or disused spaces and buildings to full use is helping transform cities around the world. In Abu Dhabi, the launch of a new museum was accompanied by a partnership between radio stations and a main thoroughfare. Nine-meter high replicas of some of the museum’s most important pieces were positioned alongside one of the country’s main highways. Local radio stations provided 30-second explanations that included the title of the piece, the artist and its historical context. In the Netherlands, a historic dike used wind and passing cars to light up the structure and create shareable power. How else might art experiences be personalized and brought into the home, as well as work and public spaces?