Phase 03 Review Images

(Click on the image for a short GIF animation.) Thank-you to our recent reviewers Dean Abernathy from IATH and SARC, David Rifkind from SARC History, and UVa structural engineering professor Kirk Martini.

Phase 03 Presentations April 18

Introducing IRIS, TILT and RAVE: Phase 03 presentations will take place tonight at 7pm in the UVA SARC VisLab Ex. C. The team projects are: I.R.I.S. > Intelligent Responsive Integrated Space (formerly know as the ribbon group), T.I.L.T. > Transformative Intelligent Loop Tower (formerly know as the loop group), R.A.V.E. > Reactive Acoustic Variable Expansive Space (formerly know as the cell group). Safety goggles and ear protection will be provided.

The date for the final release discussion + party will be announced soon! Location: McGuffey Art Center, Downtown Charlottesville. Date, Time: TBA

* Phase 02 Presentations Mar 28

Reciprocity, Feedback, Material Intelligence (or even Personality?): Phase 02 Presentations took place on Wednesday night. Each team presented working robotic prototypes: The Cell Team (see movie above) presented an interactive scissor canopy (link), the Loop Team is developing a responsive heliotropic vertical assembly (link) and the Ribbon Team is working on a suspended intelligent material assembly (link). Luckily we still have 5 weeks to develop and refine the projects. [Special thanks to our "RoboPaparazzi" Tamar Shafrir, also thanks to our recent project reviewers: Profs. Nataly Gattegno, Jenny Lovell, Jeanna Ripple and Anselmo Canfora)

Future Cities Lab Updated

The Future Cities Lab web site has been updated. The full version will be released soon! Here is an an image of our Super Galazy project from 2006.

Crowd (Energy) Farms

MIT Graduate Students James Graham (a former UVA UGrad) and Thaddeus Jusczyk have been getting a lot of press for their Crowd Farms project (link). Quoting a MIT website: "And while the farm is an urban vision, the dynamo-floor principle can also be applied to capturing energy at places like rock concerts, too. "Greater movement of people could make the music louder," suggests Jusczyk." MIT Associate Professor J. Meejin Yoon has been serving as their advisor. We look forward to seeing this project develped further. Yusuke Obuchi's Wave Garden (his Princeton Thesis) also explored piezo-electric energy generation on a massive scale: "Wave Garden situates itself between the dynamic movement of nature and social forces, linking the ebb and flow of the ocean’s waves to the societal wave of fluctuating energy consumption." (link 1)(link 2)

* Phase 01 Presentations Feb 28

Phase 01 presentations are scheduled for Feb 28 at 7pm. Don't forget your safety googles!

Make Controller Kits and MAX/MSP

Info for the Computation and Machine Groups:
I have two more Make Controller Kits for groups to begin testing. I will get them to Alex and Troy today. In the meantime – please make sure that you meet with your Ribbon, Loop or Cell team ASAP to get project ideas rolling. Here are some helpful links specifically for the Computation and Machine Groups:
MakingThings Website (LINK)
Making Things Forum (LINK)
Cycling 74 MAX/MSP/Jitter (LINK) :
MAX/MSP 30-day Trial Download (LINK)
MAX/MSP + Make Controller PATCHES (LINK)
cv.jit for MAX/MSP comp vision (LINK)

Mechanics Video Resources

I found these great Mechatronic videos from the Mech Engineering Dept at CSU:
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/video_demos/mechatronics/
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/high_speed_video/index.html

Sensors: http://www.sensorland.com/ see "how they work" section

Good Books + Good Links

Several of you have asked me about good books to purchase - here are three great ones to get you started > My top choice is: Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers by O’Sullivan, Dan and Igoe, Tom. [Thompson Course Tech Press, 2004], also: Responsive Environments: Architecture, Art and Design by Lucy Bullvant [V+A Contemporary, 2006], The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature by Philip Ball, 2001. All of these are available first or second-hand through Amazon.

Also, here are some of the links to research offices that we have discussed recently in the seminar: The Living run by David Benjamin and Soo-in Yang, Tristan d'Estree Sterk of the The Office For Robotic Architectural Media & The Bureau For Responsive Architecture, Francois Roche of R&Sie and Biothing. Also Peter Yeadon's nanoarchitecture. Enjoy!

Self-Organized Phenomena

Check out this Java Applet Slime Mold Simulation and the StarLogo Simulations of Self-Organized Phenomena. Also, take a look at this "exploring emergent behaviours" interactive essay. The site also includes a great set of links to other Artificial Intelligence sources.