Collaborate Disseminate
This generator sources random GIFs to create a 21st century take on the classic film by Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass about modern life. Continue reading This ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ Generator Captures Modern Life and the Unbearability of Being a GIF
From the banks of levers and steam gauges of 1927’s Metropolis to the multicolored jewels that the crew would knowingly tap on in the original Star Trek, the entertainment industry has always struggled with producing imagery of advanced technology. Whether constrained by budget or imagination, portrayals usually go in one of two directions: they either rely too heavily on contemporary technology, or else they go so far in the opposite direction that it borders on comical.
But it doesn’t always have to be that way. In fact, when technology is shown properly in film it often serves as inspiration …read more
Continue reading Seth Molson is Designing the Future, One Show at a Time
We all know how important it is to achieve balance in life, or at least so the self-help industry tells us. How exactly to achieve balance is generally left as an exercise to the individual, however, with varying results. But what about our machines? Will there come a day when artificial intelligences and their robotic bodies become so stressed that they too will search for an elusive and ill-defined sense of balance?
We kid, but only a little; who knows what the future field of machine psychology will discover? Until then, this kinetic sculpture that achieves literal balance might hold …read more
Continue reading Kinetic Sculpture Achieves Balance Through Machine Learning
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union decided to dig a hole for science. Not just any hole, the Kola Superdeep Borehole reached a depth of over 12 kilometers, the deepest at the time and the second deepest today by just a few meters. Since this was one of the few holes dug this deep that wasn’t being drilled for oil, the project was eventually abandoned. [Dmitry] was able to find some core samples from the project though, and he headed up to the ruins of the scientific site with his latest project which produces musical sounds from the core samples. …read more
Continue reading Superdeep Borehole Samples Create Non-boring Music
The Triforium is a public art installation in Los Angeles, weighing 60 tons and standing six stories tall. Built in 1975, it was designed to combine light and sound, all under the control of computer hardware of the era.
Sadly, it was plagued with technical problems from the start, and over the years, became an object of ridicule. However, this “polyphonoptic” masterpiece will live once again, thanks to the dedicated effort of The Triforium Project. The Triforium Project are hosting a series of free public performances on Friday nights in October and November, so if you’re in the area, be …read more
If you were a youth in the 90s, odds are good that you were a part of the virtual pet fad and had your very own beeping Tamagotchi to take care of, much to the chagrin of your parents. Without the appropriate amout of attention each day, the pets could become sick or die, and the only way to prevent this was to sneak the toy into class and hope it didn’t make too much noise. A more responsible solution to this problem would have been to build something to take care of your virtual pet for you.
An art …read more
The patience and precision involved with drawing geometric patterns in sand is right up a robot’s alley, and demonstrating this is [rob dobson]’s SandBot, a robot that draws patterns thanks to an arm with a magnetically coupled ball.
SandBot is not a cartesian XY design. An XY frame would need to be at least as big as the sand table itself, but a SCARA arm can be much more compact. Sandbot also makes heavy use of 3D printing and laser-cut acrylic pieces, with no need of an external frame.
[rob]’s writeup is chock full of excellent detail and illustrations, …read more
Continue reading SandBot Happily And Tirelessly Rolls Patterns In Sand
[Dave Buchanan] is giving the world his own take on the now famous shredding Banksy frame. This version has a few extra features though – like reverse shredding and printing money! Like many of us, [David] was impressed with the Banksy art auction shredding last week. We’re still not sure how he pulled it off, and the jury is still out if it was real, or all some sort of stunt involving the auction house.
[David] took his inspiration straight to CAD software, and designed a miniature version of the frame. A quick trip to the 3D printer and he …read more
Continue reading Life Imitates Art: 3D Printed Banksy Frame “Shreds” Oeuvre, Prints Money
[Dave Buchanan] is giving the world his own take on the now famous shredding Banksy frame. This version has a few extra features though – like reverse shredding and printing money! Like many of us, [David] was impressed with the Banksy art auction shredding last week. We’re still not sure how he pulled it off, and the jury is still out if it was real, or all some sort of stunt involving the auction house.
[David] took his inspiration straight to CAD software, and designed a miniature version of the frame. A quick trip to the 3D printer and he …read more
Continue reading Life Imitates Art: 3D Printed Banksy Frame “Shreds” Oeuvre, Prints Money
There’s something about art. Cavemen drew on walls. People keep programming drawing robots. One we’ve seen recently is [Andy’s] Drawbot that uses WiFi and WebSockets to draw on just about any flat surface. What’s more, the Johnson County Library has a great write-up about how they built one and if you want a go at it, you’ll find their instructions very helpful. The video below is pretty inspirational, too.
What makes this build especially interesting is that it uses a drive system with two fixed points attached with suction cups. There are a variety of 3D printed parts — some …read more