A chalkboard with a robotic arm sketches selfies using Einstein’s handwriting and equations.

National Geographic wanted to develop an engaging and innovative experiential activation that generated buzz around the launch of their new show about Einstein, called Genius. Since the chalkboard is one of the most visually iconic ways that Einstein communicated his ideas with the world, we decided to recreate it and equip it with a robotic arm that turns user-submitted selfies into art using his handwriting and equations. Our robot arm was designed to mimic Einstein’s actual handwriting by using a custom waveform derived from his writing patterns. We also created an algorithm to convert each user-generated selfie (submitted on-site or via hashtag on social media) into a one-of-a-kind chalk portrait.