Electron Innovations Inc: Much Ado About a Paperweight

Earlier today, I received a press release from Cray Cook promoting the launch of her new company, Electron Innovations, Inc. The company purportedly aims to compete with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) to provide affordable computers to children with their EI2 model. The EI2 team plans on searching for talented individuals to join their team as the development process advances into the production stage. Before you start dusting off your resumes and polishing your cover letters, this appears to be the launch of a new alternate reality game.

Cray Cook and Bertram Bosworth just finished moving into their new offices in Plano, mere miles away from the University of Texas at Dallas. During the moving process, they discovered a strange metal box that was initially mistaken for a paperweight with the letters “MMCLXIX” on one side, and a series of gold dots on another. A crumpled page of schematics seems to indicate that the cube is some form of electrical device. The pair are currently attempting to find some way to interface with the device. Ms. Cook is currently searching for an old Apple II to see if the interface is based on 8-bit MOS 6502 technology.

Although it is a bit early to know for sure, the game appears to be going to considerable lengths to provide an immersive experience. The company’s contact page provides email addresses and phone numbers for both Cray Cook and her co-worker Bertram Bosworth, in addition to a PO Box to use for contacting the company and a link to Cray’s twitter account. Cray has also posted a series of videos on her Vimeo account.

Although I haven’t received confirmation from the development team, this is likely the work of Adam Brackin’s students at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Emerging Media and Communications program. The class has spent the past semester designing an alternate reality game scheduled to launch in early April.

[ipaper docId=14127156 access_key=key-24p6i9s3pi4np3rxt7ou height=600 width=400 /]