Bill Hammack makes instructional videos about engineering in everyday life. In this episode he explains why the conflict mineral Tantalum is used to make cell phone capacitors smaller. Even though only 2% of the raw ore Coltan originates in the Congo, it is impossible to trace in its refined form, which means that the 40mg […]
Category Archives: materials
Capacitors from the Congo
Also posted in possessed products, product design, supply chain, traceability
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Bike Brights
Gus writes “Have you made or do you know of something that both of us could wear that would enhance our visibility as bicyclists?” There are a number of ways for us bicyclists to stand out day or night, ranging from the ultra-geeky to the super-fashionable. Here they are in that order: 1. Make your […]
Also posted in augmented reality, conviviality, fashion, lighting, product design, soft/glowing
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3D-Printed Clock
At the Ars Electronica / MIT Media Lab exhibit in Linz, Peter Schmitt presented his work on mechanical systems made by rapid prototyping machines – so-called 3-D printers. He makes the interesting argument that by producing these intricate mechanical devices using a single process, manufacturers could forgo the need for low-cost assembly and instead manufacture […]
Also posted in 3d, environment, fabrication, product design, supply chain
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Electronic Pop-up Book
One of my favorite pieces at this year’s Ars Electronica / MIT Media Lab exhibit is an electronic pop-up book made by Leah Buechley’s student Jie Qi of the High-Low Tech research group. She has layered the traditional materials with copper films, conductive ink and lights and speakers to add a digital dimension to the […]
Also posted in 2d, 3d, fabrication, interaction, open objects, soft/glowing, tangible
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Corrugated Cardboard Cubby
I saw this beautifully crafted electronic parts drawer cubby at Distance Lab the other day – a great example of upcycling old cardboard packaging into a very useful piece of furniture that feels and works much better than the cheap plastic alternative.
Also posted in 2d, 3d, fabrication, furniture, upcycling
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techniques for soft electronics
How to get what you want is a rich resource for anyone working in wearable technology – whether you’re looking to to knit your own stretch sensor,
Also posted in fabrication, fashion, free & open, futurecraft, open objects, soft/glowing
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magnetic chips
Ayah Bdeir launched ‘Little Bits‘ last week at Eyebeam: a kit of magnet-studded circuit components that naturally snap together with the right polarity. The idea is to make prototyping of simple interaction possible for those outside the electrical engineering profession – such as this example of a product designer experimenting with lights on a mock-up […]
Also posted in customization, fabrication, lighting, product design, tangible
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paper 2.0
Humble paper – cheap, flexible, renewable – is becoming a medium of choice for ubiquitous computing through the popularization of augmented reality tags that can be read by cell phone and computer cameras everywhere. Above is a very elaborate simulation software running on a tangible interface – all controlled by printed paper. The videos shows […]
Also posted in animation, augmented reality, interaction, visualization
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