Live snails vstryali in electronic mail

"Snail Mail" is a joke called the delivery of letters to the Post Office paper : namely, mail than e-mail works at the speed of snails. Now, with the phrase "Snail Mail" has a new meaning-enthusiasts use live snails for the delivery of electronic correspondence.

"This ulitochnaya mail (RealSnailMail) - The new British draft. Its authors, researchers from the Computer Animation Bournemouth University (NCCA), calling its work "boring" (boredomresearch), and activists from the organization Space Media Arts. About essence project later. First, the principle of action.

It all starts with a site that is short (maximum 100 characters) reports from Internet users. Filing asked to take into account that in the process of delivering letters involved the tiny mussel : "Appreciate it work and not send bad, but it will be important messages," the authors stressed RealSnailMail.

Yet they warn the sender that the letter might not get to the addressee. But few if that can happen with snails in the way : for example, meet carnivore and perehvatit message. "

In any case, with a letter arrived at the site RealSnailMail server, which is in turn wait in the slow-postman.

Now officials describe ulitochnoy mail. They live in a fish bowl, in a nursery or maybe even in the water. In general, mollyuskov- messenger for a comfortable environment in which there are two points A and B.


In both installed scanners for reading data from chip Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) that each snail is at its sink. Such chips are introduced into the skin, as originally intended for "marking" pets, and the creators of unusual mail chose these microchips because they are small, light and waterproof and work on 125-134,2 kilohertz frequencies.

When the snail with the chip is in the range of the RFID scanner (point A), its check-it is not already carries a different message. If the mussel is free, it has become a virtual party and sent to the user. "Virtual" because the entire body of the message could not be placed in the chip-only ID letter.

This is the number snail-certainly not aware of itself, as postman walks sent in paragraph B. understood that although snail and Donlon in the technological wasteland "(definition sponsors), sooner or later it will reach a scanner at the point B, and then mail server RealSnailMail be good at sending a message recipient. Indeed, that was all.

Oh yes. Just remember to tell about the message. The authors' ulitochnoy mail saying that they "physical and biological interrupt the flow of continuous digital transmission", so users are accustomed to the e-mail.

This is the era of inanimate Internet, and developers RealSnailMail hope that the short break will help us better understand the characteristics of modern communications, think that they are instant and virtually invisible. And that in the face of increasing the speed and efficiency of investing in the messages less sense.

In turn, "ulitochnaya mail, the low rate of opposing artificial world RFID technology and the Internet natural world, could in theory make a difference in respect to the communication. , Or may not? This, among other things, identify and meet the creators RealSnailMail.