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, 2012-08-13 11:05:11 UTC
OLEDs – how do they work?
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are semiconductors made of layers of thin organic materials only a few nanometers ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-10 15:28:26 UTC
After Walmart introduced the Packaging scorecard, to get its suppliers to reduce the use of packaging material, several of its suppliers realized a ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-10 06:57:59 UTC
Loop By the Yard is a reversible, textile-like material for a myriad of do-it-yourself projects. Available in 44 inch (112 cm) wide continuous yardage ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-09 10:06:06 UTC
Given their experience in packaging technology it is practically inevitable that at FLEX/ the INNOVATIONLAB® novel ideas arise daily that do nót necessarily ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-08 13:18:31 UTC
The world's first high pressure laminate free of formaldehyde and phenols.
These green-laminate boards have a formaldehyde emission of < 0.01 PPM ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-07 16:49:39 UTC
Lyocell is a fabric most know better by its brand name Tencel®. It has a soft finish, packs light and is made from cellulose (vegetable matter), or ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-06 07:42:51 UTC
This streamer is only 3" x 3" tall (10cm x 10cm). A great sample of minimization and integration as ecodesign strategies.
Barely larger than a ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-06 07:17:35 UTC
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the commonly accepted methodology to systematically assess the environmental impact of a product or material over the ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-03 13:23:01 UTC
The Delft University of Technology shares some of the courses via Open Course Ware. Among which Cradle to Cradle.
This module is the colloquium of ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-08-02 07:44:02 UTC
Condensed from Nike's sustainability chapter in their corporate responsibility report.
THE SUSTAINABILITY DRIVERS
* Competition for scarce natural ...
A stunning, 3D printed lamp that can be closed tight as a bud, or 'bloomed' open to emit more light.
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