A tiny but powerful microcontroller, Arduino is an open-source, programmable microchip housed on (a circuit board, and a platform for some of the most compelling interdisciplinary design collaborations between science and the humanities happening today. It can be programmed to drive components such as sensors, LEDs, and motors in order to build and develop all kinds of interactive objects. Arduino allows artists, designers, and active maker-culture enthusiasts, as well as children and amateurs, to engage with processes and final products that are usually the domain of electronic engineers. This new building block of design has resulted in applications as diverse as light sculptures, digital pollution detectors, and tools to help people who are unable to use common interfaces such as a computer mouse.
Gallery label from This Is for Everyone: Design Experiments for the Common Good, February 14, 2015–January 31, 2016.