Being useful doesn't help

the machine is a re-visit of Marvin Minsky and Claude Shannon‘s famous ultimate machine, also known as the useless box. It is currently available in two variants: the Memphis version and the brick version.

Become a friend of the machine

the machine will be available for pre-orders on Kickstarter in 2025, so if you want to be kept informed of the release and developments: become a friend of the machine!


    The team

    Olivier Mével is behind this re-invention. Olivier is the founder of multiplié, a publisher of creative, poetic, living technological objects. He is one of the pioneers of the Internet of Things, co-founder and creator of the Nabaztag, and also created one of the first French digital agencies in 1994 (BaBeL), invented with Marc Chareyron the reaDIYmate and Telesound and co-founded and directed for 10 years a design office specialized in connected objects and environments (Enero).

    The machine was developed by Paul Guyot and Philippe Debadier. Design is by Elium Studio for the Memphis version and Loïc Brun for the brick version, while sound design is by Tapetronic (Alexis Malbert). The website was developed by Pascale Moise.

    Any questions?