LACE: An Interactive Cluster of Tablet Computers and Kinetic Sculpture to Educate General Audiences on Distributed Blockchain Technologies

Jones, Eles

LACE: An Interactive Cluster of Tablet Computers and Kinetic Sculpture to Educate General Audiences on Distributed Blockchain Technologies

dc.contributor.author	Jones, Eles	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Cameron, Kirk W.	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Back, Godmar Volker	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Ellis, Margaret O.'Neil	en
dc.contributor.department	Computer Science and Applications	en
dc.date.accessioned	2022-09-21T08:00:28Z	en
dc.date.available	2022-09-21T08:00:28Z	en
dc.date.issued	2022-09-20	en
dc.description.abstract	Blockchain technologies and cryptocurrency have made a significant impact on today's computing and financial sectors, and the use cases for blockchain applications are increasing day by day. However, there is little understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrencies amongst the general public. In this work, we present LACE, a kinetic sculpture and decentralized ledger created to educate audiences on the complexities of cryptocurrency creation through a visual form. We discuss the design and implementation of LACE as a modular system constructed of 10 kinetic units, each unit containing an array of Microsoft Surface tablets and one delta robot arm to perform touch based operations on each tablet with a modified stylus. Through this structure, we establish a distributed computing system in which each tablet represents blockchain nodes that maintain copies of the blockchain, mine for new blocks and process transactions through visual software interfaces. Additionally, we implement an interactive gaming module to help audiences understand the work of blockchain creation and the mining process. Finally, we evaluate the LACE project's effectiveness to teach audiences through a detailed questionnaire at the 2022 Accelerate Festival in Washington, DC. We found that 73% of visitors agreed they were able to learn something new from LACE and 82% enjoyed their interaction with LACE.	en
dc.description.abstractgeneral	Global technology, computing, economic and financial sectors are all increasingly influenced by the use of the relatively new technologies known as blockchain and cryptocurrency. A blockchain is a publicly distributed digital ledger that keeps track of transaction data securely through cryptography. This technology is heavily associated with the global economy, following the introduction of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in 2008. Cryptocurrency has often been compared to fiat currencies which are not backed by a commodity with intrinsic value like gold. Bitcoin is seen as a commodity due to its scarcity, with approximately 19 million bitcoins in existence and can be used as a monetary value to purchase goods and services. Studies have shown that a large segment of the general public has little to no understanding of these concepts, even those who have significant related investments. To help expand the understanding of these topics to general audiences, we present LACE; a kinetic sculpture and digital ledger designed to educate audiences on the complexities of cryptocurrency creation through visual and interactive demonstration. LACE demonstrates the processes of blockchain technologies through physical robotic movement and interactive software visualizations. Consisting of a collection of 10 acrylic hexagon units stacked together like building blocks to mimic a virtual network, each unit interacts with an array of Microsoft Surface tablets through an operating robot arm and modified stylus. These tablets illustrate the work of a blockchain through various visualizations, demonstrating the work of nodes and miners who operate and maintain a blockchain network. To help audiences understand the work of blockchain creation and the mining process, we implement an interactive gaming module where participants can act as a miner within a blockchain network and assist in the process of mining for new blocks, help maintain the blockchain and process transactions. We evaluate the LACE project's effectiveness to teach audiences through a detailed questionnaire at the 2022 Accelerate Festival in Washington, DC. We found that 76% of visitors had a better understanding of blockchain concepts following their interactions with LACE and 82% enjoyed their interaction with the sculpture overall.	en
dc.description.degree	Master of Science	en
dc.format.medium	ETD	en
dc.identifier.other	vt_gsexam:35500	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/111941	en
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	Blockchain	en
dc.subject	Bitcoin Mining	en
dc.subject	Data Visualization	en
dc.subject	Distributed Computing	en
dc.subject	Visual Art	en
dc.subject	Computer Science Education	en
dc.subject	Education	en
dc.title	LACE: An Interactive Cluster of Tablet Computers and Kinetic Sculpture to Educate General Audiences on Distributed Blockchain Technologies	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Computer Science and Applications	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science	en