Bringing Together Little Sun and Scribit: A Collaboration of Design Brands

Artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Carlo Ratti have joined forces to create a celestial mapping robot that combines their renowned design brands, Little Sun and Scribit.

The result of this collaboration is a compact robotic device that generates sketches inspired by Eliasson’s social enterprise, Little Sun. Scribit, the robot, has the ability to write and erase on any wall, maneuvering effortlessly on vertical surfaces to draw images based on digital instructions.

Developed by Carlo Ratti Associati, Scribit is not only a flexible drawing robot but also one of Kickstarter’s most successful crowdfunding projects. It raised over US$2.4 million in funding.

Little Sun, created by Danish artist Eliasson, is a long-standing social enterprise that brings solar lights to those in need, including refugees and individuals affected by natural disasters.

With the accompanying Scribit app, users can select a precise location, date, and time to capture the position of the sun. They can continuously update this information to track the sun’s movements.

Eliasson views this partnership as an extension of his company’s mission to spark conversations about energy access and climate change. It aims to address the issues surrounding energy scarcity and the unequal distribution of resources.

“It is becoming increasingly crucial to reevaluate our energy systems due to the lack of energy and the need for fair distribution,” Eliasson emphasized. “Little Sun serves as a catalyst for initiating this urgent discussion from an artistic perspective.”

“We are thrilled about our collaboration with Scribit because it presents an entirely new way to connect communities worldwide and make solar power tangible for everyone,” added Mr. Felix Hallwachs, CEO of Little Sun Foundation.

The Little Sun illustration marks the beginning of a series called Scribit Originals. In the future, it will include works by renowned artists, poets, and designers, specially created for robots.

Designed primarily for home and office environments, Scribit allows users to generate visual representations from internet content or their own artwork.

This collaboration represents one of several groundbreaking inventions by Carlo Ratti Associati, in addition to the research conducted at MIT’s Senseable City Lab, which Ratti led with the assistance of his roboticist colleague, Makr Shakr.