Fortuna
Fortuna
Role
Role
Physical Computing, Physical Prototyping, Artificial Intelligence Integration
Physical Computing, Physical Prototyping, Artificial Intelligence Integration
Course
Course
Tangible User Interface
3 Weeks, Jan 2025
Tangible User Interface
3 Weeks, Jan 2025
Tools
Tools
Arduino, Llama, Laser Cutting Machine
Arduino, Llama, Laser Cutting Machine
What is Fortuna?
What is Fortuna?
Fortuna Was a three- Week Project in Tangible User Interface Design Course Led By Jose Chavarría, Massimo Banzi and Pierluigi Dalla rosa. It is a playful, slot-machine-inspired food suggestion system that brings a bit of luck into your kitchen. Instead of choosing what to cook, you spin the machine and let chance decide your ingredients. Once you pull the lever on the right side, the slot wheels shuffle and stop to reveal a set of ingredients. If you like what you see, you can press the “Print Recipe” button to get a cooking suggestion based on those ingredients.
Fortuna Was a three- Week Project in Tangible User Interface Design Course Led By Jose Chavarría, Massimo Banzi and Pierluigi Dalla rosa. It is a playful, slot-machine-inspired food suggestion system that brings a bit of luck into your kitchen. Instead of choosing what to cook, you spin the machine and let chance decide your ingredients. Once you pull the lever on the right side, the slot wheels shuffle and stop to reveal a set of ingredients. If you like what you see, you can press the “Print Recipe” button to get a cooking suggestion based on those ingredients.
We added a handle attached with a rubber band to give it a pull effect to trigger the rotation.
Initial exploration with brushless motors. We put together a simple frame to hang the slot machine rod on and test the rotation.
We added a handle attached with a rubber band to give it a pull effect to trigger the rotation.
Initial exploration with brushless motors. We put together a simple frame to hang the slot machine rod on and test the rotation.
All the components of our prototype.
Behind the scene of our prototype
Initial exploration with brushless motors. We put together a simple frame to hang the slot machine rod on and test the rotation.
We added a handle attached with a rubber band to give it a pull effect to trigger the rotation.
How it was Made?
How it was Made?
We designed Fortuna as a physical installation using Arduino. The machine’s body was crafted from acrylic for a clean, modern look, while a 3D-printed lever added a tactile, arcade-style interaction. To create a warmer and more sustainable feel, we used wooden buttons, and each slot reel was covered with printed images of food ingredients for a more visual and engaging experience. A brushless motor powered the reel spins, and a thermal printer printed out the final recipe. Behind the scenes, a large language model (LLM) received the selected ingredients and instantly generated a personalized recipe. LED strips animated different machine states—spinning, selection, and printing—bringing the whole interaction to life.
We designed Fortuna as a physical installation using Arduino. The machine’s body was crafted from acrylic for a clean, modern look, while a 3D-printed lever added a tactile, arcade-style interaction. To create a warmer and more sustainable feel, we used wooden buttons, and each slot reel was covered with printed images of food ingredients for a more visual and engaging experience. A brushless motor powered the reel spins, and a thermal printer printed out the final recipe. Behind the scenes, a large language model (LLM) received the selected ingredients and instantly generated a personalized recipe. LED strips animated different machine states—spinning, selection, and printing—bringing the whole interaction to life.
All the components of our prototype.
Behind the scene of our prototype
We tested out a tiny adafruit receipt printer separately and connected it to an arduino with serial commincation and a script which used chatgpt's API to produce a unique recipe with any ingredients being the input.
We made a final casing using a shiny acrylic to give it an arcade vibe.
Behind the scene of our prototype
All the components of our prototype.
Key Learnings
Key Learnings
Building Fortuna taught us how to blend physical computing, AI, and tangible design into one cohesive interactive product. We learned how to bring hardware elements—like motors, printers, and LED strips—together with intelligent software to create real-time, personalized experiences. Using materials like wood, acrylic, and 3D-printed components gave us a deeper understanding of how physical form affects user interaction and perception. Most importantly, this project showed us how playful design and technology can work hand-in-hand to turn everyday choices—like what to eat—into something delightful and surprising.
Building Fortuna taught us how to blend physical computing, AI, and tangible design into one cohesive interactive product. We learned how to bring hardware elements—like motors, printers, and LED strips—together with intelligent software to create real-time, personalized experiences. Using materials like wood, acrylic, and 3D-printed components gave us a deeper understanding of how physical form affects user interaction and perception. Most importantly, this project showed us how playful design and technology can work hand-in-hand to turn everyday choices—like what to eat—into something delightful and surprising.
We made a final casing using a shiny acrylic to give it an arcade vibe.
We tested out a tiny adafruit receipt printer separately and connected it to an arduino with serial commincation and a script which used chatgpt's API to produce a unique recipe with any ingredients being the input.
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We tested out a tiny adafruit receipt printer separately and connected it to an arduino with serial commincation and a script which used chatgpt's API to produce a unique recipe with any ingredients being the input.
We made a final casing using a shiny acrylic to give it an arcade vibe.
A real-life simulation of our product Fortuna: you pull the lever, the ingredients spin, and if you like the combination, you press Print Recipe. The recipe LLM then generates a suitable recipe from the ingredients and prints it instantly on a mini thermal receipt printer.
A real-life simulation of our product Fortuna: you pull the lever, the ingredients spin, and if you like the combination, you press Print Recipe. The recipe LLM then generates a suitable recipe from the ingredients and prints it instantly on a mini thermal receipt printer.