Category Archives: physical computing
Blender Defender
Thanks to Jeff Gray for this most excellent link to a project describing how to attach your blender to a motion sensor to scare yoru cat off the counter. On the one hand: gratuitous use of technology, anyone? On the … Continue reading
Maker Faire Austin 2008
This weekend I went down to Austin, Texas for Maker Faire Austin, the 2008 edition. ITP resident researchers Rory Nugent and Hyeki Min went with me, as did recent alums So-Young Park and Young-Hyun Chung.  Between us, we took eight … Continue reading
Lumens
This summer I got to assist on a project by artists Matthew Belanger, Sean Riley, Ven Voisey, and producer Marianne Petit on a neat project called Lumens. Actually, they did all the work, I just offered a little guidance to … Continue reading
The wind-up bird project
HC Gilje’s wind-up bird(s) is an environmental sound work installed in a forest in Lillehammer, Norway. It’s a flock of mechanical woodpeckers that communicate via XBee radios, spread out through the forest. I love this line in the description: “Initial … Continue reading
Emotional Design
Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things Donald A. Norman. Basic books, ©2005. ISBN: 0465051367. In this book, Norman counters some of the points he makes in his first book, The Design of Everyday Things, by pointing out … Continue reading
Fashioning Technology
Fashioning Technology: a DIY Intro to Smart Crafting Syuzi Pakhchyan. Make books, ©2008. ISBN: 0596514379. This is a really great book for anyone interested in physical computing. It includes a nice introduction to basic electronics and a number of construction … Continue reading
Michihito Mizutani
Michihito Mizutani is a researcher at School of Design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland. His interaction design work is worth checking out…
Open Source Multitouch Kit
Nortd have released TouchKit, an open source toolkit for making your own multitouch screen in OpenFrameworks. It looks pretty good, and fairly easy to set up. For people interested in experimenting with multitouch surfaces, this seems like a good place … Continue reading
Physical Computing’s Greatest Hits (and misses)
There are certain project themes that recur every year in physical computing classes. What follows is a review of some of the themes I see frequently. Continue reading
Wordle
Wordle is awesome. I want a poster of this.Thanks, Clay for the link.