9/01 (nein binary)

9/01 is a toy to draw pixel art over a 16 slots square grid using nibble dices. It is able to express over 18 quintillions (2^64) different drawings with 16 dices.

So. What's a nibble dice?

A nibble (or nybble) is a unit of measure used in informatics which is equivalent to half byte or 4 bits. It is capable of expressing 16 different combinations basked in binary logic.

Nibble in Wikipedia

A nibble dice is a cube that can represent 4 bits of information in the fisical world by its faces and rotations.

_Nibble dice template_

How do I play with 9/01?

The good news is that it is not necessary to understand what's a nibble, a byte or the most basic binary logic to enjoy it. It can be used to draw without it's binary nature getting in the way to fun.

What's the point in being binary based?

As stated earlier, nibble dices can express 16 different drawings according to their position. In informatics, the most friendly way to represent 16 different values is the hexadecimal system.

Hexadecimal System in Wikipedia

_Hexadecimal encoding table_

By associating each dice position with an hexadecimal digit we can encode a drawing made with 9/01 as a succession of 16 hexadecimal digits instead of 64 zeros or ones.

9/01 logo 230146506e604cc8 hexadecimal or 0100110000001000001001101010000001100111011000000010001100110001 in binary

This encoding comes handy to share drawings in chat or social networks, write them down into a notebook or store them in a computer using only 8 bytes per drawing.

Is it a didactic toy?

Nop. The intention was never that. It emerged of the enjoyment of toying in the physical world with concepts that come from informatics and binary logic.

Does it produce collateral effects?

Yes. Is, in fact, pretty probable that after some time encoding drawings the subject realizes that is naturally counting in binary or wondering about more interesting uses for the dices. There is no need to panic. Some people even consider this strange effect something to wish for.

Don't know why but want it. Where can I buy one?

Let me tell you that there is no hurry to spend money in 9/01. You can easily print, fold and glue the template above to make an almost free one in minutes.

9/01 is not a for profit thing. It's just an idea we like and wanted to share. We may craft a few to sell, exchange or gift in the area but that's something that is not happening yet.

The nibble dice and 9/01 are published under a peer production license so they can be produced by a coo op, a school or ask a fellow carpenter to make one for us.

Peer Production license

9/01 ideogram is sassed on 4x4 ASCII font by simplifyer

https://simplifier.neocities.org/4x4.html

Made with <3 by maleza in the free time resulting of living with less.