The aesthetic fingerprint of designer Karim Rashid is all over this trio of lifestyle devices previewed under the bewildering branding of Wisdom Truffle. Even so, the design provocateur’s prolific output of “more than 4000 designs in production” has never been quite as curious as these psychedelics-inspired smart home and health devices designed for Red Light Holland imagined to push the boundaries of AR and VR technologies based upon “the latest neuroscience research.”
If this still seems all perplexingly nebulous, you’re not alone in your confusion. Beyond the fluorescent pink mushroom-shaped silhouette, how Wisdom Truffle intends to deliver the promise of “mental clarity” to “encourages a lifestyle of healthy daily habits” isn’t quite clear. Best to let Red Light Holland and Rashid themselves explain the details:
Moon: Outfitted with a pulse sensor, multi-color LEDs, Bluetooth connectivity, the smallest of the trio of mushroom shaped devices is imagined as a meditation aid and biorhythm communication device.
“This Wisdom Truffle shows insights into the autonomic nervous system as the lights respond to the person’s heartbeat. Heart rate data can be added to the iMicro Journal app to keep track of physiological changes correlated to microdosing or meditation. Supports multiplayer mode allowing for a unique form of group meditation or connection.”
Star: a tabletop-sized “lamp size figurine” with a built-in Qi-enabled wireless phone charger in its top center cap, the mushroom also operate as a Bluetooth wireless speaker. This Wisdom Truffle also is engineered to work alongside the iMicro journal app to help track phone usage, with the goals of reminding users to take a break from their mobile devices.
SuperNova: the largest of the three Wisdom Truffles, the meter tall SuperNova houses a mini computer inside its mycelium network inspired design, running Tensorflow – a free and open-source software library for machine learning and artificial intelligence. There’s also a built-in camera to help track user movements, multicolor LEDs, and a Bluetooth speaker – an interactive audio-visual sculpture of sorts intended for “galleries, conventions, stores,” and other public/social events.
Even with these explanations, it’s all a bit perplexing (and remarkably interesting) imagining the who, what, when, where, how, and why behind these strange technological art pieces that do live up to their trippy moniker.
