Architec Tradure

Author: Julie Knight

  • 27OctUSB with style

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    Design your own USB blank cassette just like the old mix tapes.

    If you are a little nostalgic of your past, companies are investing solutions. The tech from the past becomes the trend of now. A classic such as these kind-of-cool usb-devices-looking-tapes by Mixa that can be tailored with personal digital stickers, like a day at the beach or your dog with some 80’s hair style.


  • 27OctTypewriter

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    Ambo Dextro
    Reconfigured typewriter, enamel
    2005


  • 26OctA sound machine

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    What could that be? The sound machine project consists of a pneumatic quintet that will be playing at the Hanover Fair, the world’s biggest industrial fair.
    Five automatic sound machines will provide musical accompaniment for the opening celebrations at the Hanover Fair. Pneumatic components and a PLC control system will be applied very differently from the way they are used in industrial automation: They will create a bridge between technology and art.

    21 micro-cylinders are used in each sound machine. The micro-cylinders imitate the mechanical movements of a musician’s left hand on the string instruments, determining the pitch of the tone by changing the length of the strings. Various drumsticks and a jazz brush are moved on the drum by micro-cylinders.

    Enjoy the movie of the sound machine project.

    “The idea of constructing musical robots or music machines is by no means new. The 18th century was the heyday of the machine constructors. However, the technical possibilities of Roland Olbeters sound machines by far transcend those of earlier music-boxes, especially since electronic media open up entirely new realms of sound.” – Festo

    See also the fantastic Chandelier, a large scale robotic musical instrument created by Mike Fabio, Steve Pliam and Tod Machover.

    Video of the Chandelier

    Don’t forget to check Untitled sound objects by Lang + Zimoun that are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you commentator gr Hicham for the link!


    Untitled Sound Objects (Installations 2005-2008) by Pe Lang + Zimoun from Pe Lang + Zimoun on Vimeo.

  • 20OctChrono Shredder

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    The Chrono_Shredder is a device that makes past time tangible. It is a hybrid between calendar, clock and waste producing automaton. It has no on/off-button, thus it is unstoppable, just like time. It features the 365 days of the year represented on a paper-roll. The paper-roll is led through a hacked paper-shredder, which is programmed to use exactly 24 hours to shred one “day”.

    Designed by Susanna Hertrich the Chrono Shredder invents a near-future scenario, in which people have embraced human hibernation as common practice and efficient method to delay their natural ageing. The chrono_shredder is one product from a fictional series of products, which are developed under the umbrella of “memento vivere” (remember that you also have to live your life). Those products target at people with hibernation obsession.


  • 07OctObject Artistically Modified

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    Stéphane Vigny, Mécanique Populaire. For this installation, an electric drill becomes a skipping rope.

    I discovered the work of Stéphane Vigny at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Mixing minimalism to mainstream objects, he produces subversive pieces. I love his work that I find humorous as much as alarming.


  • 02OctSketch furniture

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    Sketch furniture by Front allows sketching onto space to become an object.

    Motion Capture translates motions into 3D-files and are used in this project to simply record the tip of a pen when people draw pieces of furniture in the air. Rapid Prototyping is a technique that materializes 3D-files. A laser beam builds the 3D-file layer by layer within a liquid plastic material. Every 0.1mm the liquid harden by a laser beam. After a few hours, the 3D-files come out as materialized pieces. The Sketch Furniture project in Japan is made in collaboration with Barry Friedman Ltd. Tokyo Wonder Site Aoyama and Crescent.


  • 01OctLifestyle in 2057

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    2057 EP1 The Body featured on Discovery Channel offers mixed information between current research explorations and fictional scenarios of our lifestyle in 2057.

    It is a nice effort in considering what is being done in HCI and medical research which converges into everyday scenarios. Under its over dramatic tone, the examples are sometimes tacky and stereotypical. The show could have incorporated other important issues such as affordable cutting edge technological solutions for the rest of world.

    This video is fun and accessible. I loved the transplantation of a human heart, heart that can be 3d printed! Presenting a vision for a future lifestyle, this video reminds me of the American Look (1958): America lifestyle in the 50’s with its *idealistic* sense for design.


  • 29SepMiniature motion controller

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    A Miniature One-Handed 3D Motion Controller by Kynan Eng that I saw at Interact 2007.

    Abstract Users of three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) and
    gaming applications need to manipulate virtual objects in up to six degrees of
    rotational and translation freedom (DOF). To date, no 3D controller provides
    one-handed 6DOF input with miniature size and low cost. This paper presents
    a prototype of the first one-handed 6DOF motion controller suitable for use in
    portable platforms such as laptop computers, mobile telephones and hand-held
    game consoles. It is based on an optical sensor combined with novel planar
    spring mechanics, and can be easily manufactured using low-cost materials and
    processes.

    Miniature motion controller

    Paper

  • 27SepA stretchy fabric controller

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    Created by Angela Chang, Zstretch is a fabric device that can capture the richness of active touch interactions for controlling music interactions. Much of the prior work on integrating electronics with textiles focused on rigid, exact places for touching the fabric, rather than supporting the many actions our hands and bodies can create. The project explores how to support the large range of forces that people apply when interacting with fabric.

    Paper for Nime 2007


  • 27SepA stretchy fabric controller

    If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive the latest Architectradure’s articles in your reader or via email. Thanks for visiting!

    Created by Angela Chang, Zstretch is a fabric device that can capture the richness of active touch interactions for controlling music interactions. Much of the prior work on integrating electronics with textiles focused on rigid, exact places for touching the fabric, rather than supporting the many actions our hands and bodies can create. The project explores how to support the large range of forces that people apply when interacting with fabric.

    Paper for Nime 2007