Interactive Prayer Rug Features at New York Museum of Modern Art's New Exhibition

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - An Islamic prayer rug that lights up when facing Mecca is one of among a hundred items on display at the Museum of Modern Art's new exhibition which takes a closer look at how people communicate with machines.

 "Talk To Me: Design And The Communication Between People And Objects" is the title of the interactive exhibition which runs until 11 November 2011. The exhibition focuses on objects that involve a direct interaction, such as interfaces, information systems, visualization design, and communication devices, and on projects that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users.

 "Our favorite objects actually are the ones that use the most advanced technology to enhance and respect the most ancient rituals or the human habits that are most embedded in us," says Museum of Modern Art curator Paola Antonelli.

 Apart from the prayer rug, which was designed by Soner Ozenc, other exhibits include a news ticker tape that gives cloistered nuns topics to pray about in a timely fashion, and a pair of robotic shoes designed to raise a person many inches with the touch of an app.

 According to Antonelli, communication is everywhere and with just about everything. Even an MTA MetroCard vending machine, she says, dispenses dialogue by virtue of its design.

 Removed from the subway and placed inside a gallery, the MetroCard vending machine has been made part of MoMA's new interactive exhibition.

 Antonelli says she was inspired to organize the show after observing the curious hands of children.

 "Even if they have an object like an inanimate object, they're immediately looking for buttons or a switch. So I was looking at them and understanding that we do expect objects to talk to us, to communicate with us," she says. "And that's when I started to look at all the design examples that would support this idea."

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