Recently, students from Keio University's Graduate School of Media Design transformed a garden of greenery into a multi-player musical instruments. Primarily a party game, the Sound Garden is an interesting non-formal interface that connects technology and nature for participants. It is delightful in its seeming simplicity, easily engaging up to 12 people inviting collaboration on an impromptu musical jam session.
The brief was straight-forward: create an entertaining social interaction for participants of TEDxTokyo. As Jack Shaw, project manager and Masters Student at Keio shared, "It was important to meet their need of a social entertainment experience for the breaks between speakers, and to get far away from any notion of a sterile traditional conference environment."
Using an Adobe Flash demo and a paper mockup with colored circles standing in for living plants, the team built their first 'dirty' prototype. If a user touched a color circle, the tester would initiate a looped sound until the same circle was touched again. Two or more users would work together, turning on and off sounds to create a musical composition.
They then began working on a series of prototypes using living plants and Arduino to attach the game's functions to living plants. Working with programmer Yuki Anai, Shaw explained the innerworkings of Sound Gardening:
by: Environmental Leader, 2012-08-29 13:50:52 UTC The US recycling rate for aluminum beverage containers jumped seven percentage points last year, from 58.1 percent to 65.1 percent, the Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries have announced. That means 61 billion cans were recycled in 2011, and that aluminum cans are recycled at a rate that is more [...]
by: Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit, 2012-08-27 09:10:41 UTC
Starbucks is exploring the possibility of recycling its spent coffee grounds and other food waste to make bioplastics, detergents and other useful products.
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2012-08-27 20:21:08 UTC
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have succeeded in genetically altering Ralstonia eutropha soil bacteria in such a way that they are able to convert carbon into isobutanol, an alcohol that can be blended with or even substituted for gasoline. It is hoped that once developed further, this technology could help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and lessen the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by smoke stacks. .. Continue Reading Bioengineered bacteria could produce fuel from CO2
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2012-08-28 09:46:50 UTC
A Japanese paper-modelling enthusiast has constructed a bipedal “robot” dubbed the “Paper Robot III” (or PR-III). Judging from the intricate nature of the design which is visible in the photos, the PR-III appears to be a labor of love, and has been painstakingly constructed almost entirely from paper, with the addition of a few wooden shafts serving to increase overall and drive the “engine” – a series of paper cogs and elastic bands which are wound up to set the PR-III walking. .. Continue Reading Japanese model enthusiast builds paper robot powered by elastic bands
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2012-08-28 11:50:00 UTC weighing only 96 grams, the miniature digital camera provides 10.1 megapixels of resolution and 7.3 GB of internal memory. read more
If carrying a wet papery packet home puts you off fresh fish from the counter at your local supermarket, London designers PostlerFerguson have designed a series of sleek sleeves to promote the less endangered types. (more…)
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-31 11:02:29 UTC
Each business has its own sustainability challenges. Fabric and garment industries have been active in making their business more sustainable . "Made ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-30 07:28:39 UTC
The Modlet from ThinkEco is a smart outlet that reduces energy waste by monitoring real-time equipment power consumption and creating an automated ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-29 15:46:35 UTC
Softseating is made from heavy weight versions of the same kraft paper and textile materials used in softwall + softblock modular system. Each element ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-28 12:15:44 UTC
The Andeline collection exists of recycled leather veneer made from pulverized leather fibers extracted from car seat and luxurious handbag manufacturers. ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-27 05:47:18 UTC
Indestructible second hand crates get a second life as drawers in a steel cabinet. Since the supply of plastic crates varies continuously your version ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-25 11:12:02 UTC
Traditional composites are very expensive and hard to recycle. Landfilling of a glass fibre polyester sailing boat after the use phase is impossible ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-25 11:02:38 UTC
Chief Financial Officers typical expect energy saving projects to have an average internal rate of return of investment of about 20%. A recent research ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-24 14:25:37 UTC
Initiated by Droog, UP is an investigative economic model that aims to increase the value of dead stock through re-design. An alternative to recycling ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-22 21:48:27 UTC
In the western world, the way we shower is a big emitter of CO2 and pressure on the environment. Not only does it take a lot more water (and energy ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-21 17:07:29 UTC
Design for behaviour change of Marko Goller is one of the German shortlisted concepts in the James Dyson Award 2012.
The entrants were researching ...
A stunning, 3D printed lamp that can be closed tight as a bud, or 'bloomed' open to emit more light.
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