It was too hot in our apartment yesterday to do anything complicated, so I threw together this quick hello to some far away friends. It came together in under an hour, using just iMovie and iMotion HD on the iPad. Working with the pared down capabilities of these tools was really fun and easy. I even enjoyed editing the sound, which is usually one of my least favorite digital tasks. Sometimes constraints are more inspiring than a sophisticated tool kit.

MakerBot Thing-O-Matic

I introduced ITP’s resident MakerBots, the Cupcake CNC and Thing-O-Matic at an ITP Camp session last week. Adi Marom and I have been assembling and getting to know the ‘Bots over the course of the Spring semester. We’re still having some problems with the Thing-O-Matic, but the Cupcake is running smoothly. During the session we discussed the differences between the machines, their strengths and weaknesses, and projects they might be well-suited for. We also discussed other available 3D printing options and ran off a fun test print. Here are a few links to things I covered during the session:

The MakerBot Wiki is where you’ll find information on the machines, assembly, operation, and troubleshooting tips.

Thingiverse has files for making all sorts of digital/physical objects and is a great source for 3D printables.

NYU’s Advanced Media Studio provides beautifully refined and multicolor 3D printing services.

Ponoko and Shapeways both offer 3D printing and other small batch fabrication services. They both also have lots of tutorials and great blogs to mine for inspiration.

Bestiary

We’ll be showing Bestiary during an evening of “Extended Cinemas” at Exploratorium After Dark on May 5th. There will be lots of intriguing work by other folks, too:

Miwa Matreyek

Tracey Snelling

Nate Boyce

Paul Clipson

The Three-Minute Picture Show

Circadian Sea is an interactive display of bioluminescent algae. Cultures of Pyrocystis fusiformis are enclosed in a structure of transparent acrylic spheres, inviting users to manipulate and inspect the algae on a range of scales, from small groups of individually discernable plankton to the illumination of the entire structure. As users move their hands across the face of the construction, the spheres spin in place, agitating the algae and causing it to glow. Visitors may choose to focus on a single sphere of algae or use the length of their arms to spin all of the spheres at once.

Here is the video documentation of Circadian Sea that was included in the presentation:

In order to document my thesis work, I’ve been struggling to shoot photos and video of bioluminescent algae as it glows. The challenge stems from the fact that the algae only glows when it’s agitated, and it can only be seen in the dark. Last night I took a few pictures and shot some video with a Canon 5D Mark II and a 35mm lens; the results were much better than anything else I’d tried for these conditions. The video above isn’t perfect, but at least the algae is visible! I enclosed it in an acrylic sphere similar to the units that will make up the structure for Circadian Sea. Next step: set up a structure to hold it in place while it spins so the video’s not so jumpy.

Worm #1

I’m making four new worms/snakes/tubes to keep Worm#1 company. Two worms will incorporate magnets, so that they can be combined to create sculptural shapes, one worm will be extremely silky and scrunchable to encourage squishing and wrapping, and the fourth will incorporate one of Lara’s experimental felted stretch sensors to trigger sound and invite (you guessed it) stretching.

Bestiary

We’ll be showing Bestiary at the MoCCA Festival this weekend. Come visit us and see some great comics-related work by other ITP students, faculty, and alumni.

Rough sketch for a solar powered chapel

A couple of weeks ago a visitor from Konarka came to speak to our Design Frontiers in Biology and Materiality class about their flexible and printable solar panels. The panels are extremely thin, bendable, and semi-transparent. They can be printed in different colors and patterns. I worked with Jill Haeffle and Elizabeth Fuller to develop a proposal for the use of the panels as a stained glass analog. Elizabeth focused on leveraging the classic form of the rose window to accommodate the patterning and wiring needed to draw power from the panels. Jill developed a plan for an allegorical image for a science center or museum, and I sketched out a plan for a memorial or nondenominational chapel. I proposed a tessellated pattern based on Penrose tiling for the window, and an array of LED lighting inside the building. A soft light would shine through the solar window during daylight hours (similar to the light through a traditional stained glass window), but enough energy could be drawn and stored from the solar panels to power soft lighting indoors throughout the evening, as well. Take a look at our slides or read a summary of the project on Elizabeth’s blog.

Treehouse Museum Presentation Slides.

During Cabinets of Wonder, a course on design for museums, we were asked us to present a pitch for our “dream museum.” We were to assume we had a massive budget, and that any barriers could be overcome; if it was physically possible, we could propose it. I chose to focus on treehouses in part because I’ve always been fascinated by them, but also because of their ability to appeal to so many human desires and interests.

Before I started my slides or told anyone what I would be proposing, I asked everyone in the room to close their eyes, and then I asked them to use their imaginations:

Take a deep breath. Now take another deep breath, but this time imagine the smell of the woods when you inhale. Whatever kind of woods you like– oak forest, redwood, pines– imagine somewhere you are surrounded by trees, and try to get that smell into your memory and hold it. You’re walking through the woods. You might feel a faint breeze or hear some birds, you feel the ground under your feet. You come to a particularly large tree, and you reach out to touch its bark. Consider how it feels under your fingertips, whether parts are rough or smooth, if it’s sticky from sap.  Walk around to the other side of the tree and see that there’s a rope ladder hanging there. As you begin to climb the ladder, feel the texture of the rope under your hands, notice the creaking of the branches around you. You can smell the scent of the tree change as you move away from the floor of the forest. The ladder sways just the slightest bit; you can look down if you want, or just look ahead and notice the patterns of the tree’s bark and any little insects you pass as you climb. Soon you see a structure above you, several smooth planks laying across the branches. Your ladder ends at a trap door. You reach up and stretch to push it open. You feel your arms tense as you hoist yourself inside. You’re in a magnificent treehouse, looking out on the forest canopy around you. Take a second to look around…

My classmates agreed that their imagined treehouses, although radically different (some were sprawling, deluxe tree mansions and some were ramshackle lookouts), shared a few traits that make them so appealing.

Part of what makes treehouses so appealing to so many people is that they incorporate opportunities for all sorts of interests and talents. They allow interests in design and engineering to flourish, they provide opportunities for observation of the natural world, they offer secret hideaways, and they offer us an opportunity to exercise our capabilities for climbing and movement. In some instances, they even serve practical purposes such as hunting lookouts or escape from predators.

The idea behind the treehouse museum is that it would use these strengths to engage visitors of all types, interests, and abilities. You’ll see a slide in the middle of the presentation that says, “I can create a life in which I am more cognizant of the natural world around me.” This is a “takeaway statement,” what I would hope visitors would say upon leaving the museum. Of course, a variant of that might just be, “Can we build one?”

Thesis Midterm Presentation Slides

We had a few visitors in class last week, and I really enjoyed hearing their feedback on my thesis. In developing my presentation, I realized that I have several unanswered questions that I’m grappling with, outside of the technical challenges of developing a rewarding way for people to interact with bioluminescent algae. We had a great conversation about my reasons for mediating this experience at all. In other words, why am I building this display, instead of organizing walking tours to a beach? Why do I want to bring this natural material into a cultural environment? I still don’t have clear answers to these questions, but I’m getting there.

I’ve decided to let the display rely on the movements of people to agitate and light the algae, rather than using electronics. My classmate, Marco, had a great suggestion to use spheres or ball bearings to allow for movement of the algae. I’m excited about this idea, as it brings me back to my interest in physical interactions and kinesthetic learning, which brought me to ITP in the first place.