Zero / wiki

In order to help documenting how people learn, we imagine minimalist infrastructure such as paper notebooks or very simple computers to record ideas, read, think, communicate between peers using minimal energy & program from the ground up.

The idea is not to solve poverty, ecological crisis or political inequity with technology (solutionism) but to recognize how these challenges might also be addressed from the perspective of minimal yet powerful technical infrastructures at human scale, which are understandable, buildable and also controllable (to put limit to them) by anyone.

These are propositions ( a complex puzzle needs a picture on the box ):

Zero poster

A digital & printed synthetic view of zero approach with activity starters and documentation steps. Foldable.

Zero notebook

A documentation-oriented paper notebook. Digital (pdf) and physical.

Zero analogue

Minimal analogue electronic board externally flashed via Jack cable

Zero digital

Minimal digital electronic board externally flashed via Jack cable

Zero ministick

Bootable Zero digital in a rugged usb form factor, with TF storage preloaded with Debian live.

Zero stick

A sub-dollar concatenative (forth/fonc) self-programmable chip in a rugged USB key form factor, with micro-screen, GPIO, battery, network, radio, text-only shell, remote terminal & TF storage preloaded with Sugar on a stick & live Debian

Zero host

Zero Stick inserted in host keyboard + display OLED/TFT + outputs :ntsc ::vga :::videoproj

Zero cam

Zero Stick with a small camera

Zero hub

A few dollars linux box with big storage (offline versions of wikipedia, wikimed, stackoverflow, hacker news…), high-speed networking and graphics.

Sugar, Proce55ing, ShaderToys, Squeak, eToys, Sugar, Scratch, Python/MicroPython, Forth, Smalltalk, C for children … (non-exhaustive list)

Zero peripherals

1. Low-tech Videoprojectors (e.g. DIY I/O Bulb).
2. PSU (power supply unit), Solar.
3. Low Tech screens
4. Input devices (e-textile / e-paper diy keyboards).
5. Radio (LoRa, Sdr, Synth/Oscillo).
6. Simple breakout boards (sensors, actuators)
7. Fabrication devices (CNC, Lasercutter, …)
8. Tangible Interfaces for children (remake of TMG classics, URP, InTouch, CurlyBot ), Turtle that produce its own code while moving physically
9. Internet0 Router

Zero atom

Programmable matter module composed of active biopolymers or other future active biomaterials.

→ towards a programmable matter kindergarten (softmatter loose parts)

Tangible Asynchronous / Mesh programming (e.g. think of RALA / FLEET for non-electronic substrate).

Digital simulation in an asynchronous chip (e.g GA144) bootstrappable by children.