Playing with Light April 19, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in exhibitions, light, making the invisible visible, physical interaction design.add a comment
The former RCA-students Ortkrass, Wood and Koch – working together under the lable Random International – have been playing around with light for quite a while (the pixelroller in all its forms is well known to all of us): their latest devlopment – just presented at the Salone di Mobile in Milan – is a more poetic peace of art, again related to light and "leaving traces": the Pendant Lights
More on Random Internation at the Salone on one of my favorite blogs: WMMNA
Light Switches March 16, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in light, physical interaction design.add a comment
Prof. M. Rauterberg from the Technical University of Eindhoven has in his lecture “Interaction Design – Buttons” a nice comparison between a problematic light switch panel (right) and one possible solution (left). The problem is that there is no direct mapping between switches and corresponing lamps.
Another solution to this problem has been proposed by Neil Gershenfeld from the MIT Media Lab: he is suggesting the “internet zero“, an internet of objects, for example in the Media House in Barcelona:
“Computers were embedded in lights and switches, giving them each an Internet address so that their relationships could be dynamically programmed rather than fixed by a wiring diagram. Each device contained the data and procedures for its control functions, allowing them to operate as a distributed system without relying on central servers. And physical programming interfaces were provided so that, for example, installing a light and then operating a switch could associate them over the network without requiring commands from another computer to configure them.”
The intersting aspect of this approach is that with a flexible system similar to the ERCO rails, one could take away a switch from a certain location and mount it somewhere else. Or have multiple switche controlling one or various lamps…
Pouring Light March 16, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in light, physical interaction design.add a comment
A nice physical interface to dimming light, done by Chris Noessel et.a. in the first year at the Interaction Design Institute in Ivrea.
Glowing Fabric February 27, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in light, prototyping tools.1 comment so far
Luminex is a new kind of fabric from Italy -a fabric that glows. A piece 35 X 50 cm costs in the online shop 50 Euro, not including the battery. They also sell glowing bras…
A Candle as an Interface February 27, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in innovative interfaces, light, physical interaction design.1 comment so far
The Candle Dimmer by Belmer Negrillo, a project of the Interaction Design Institute in Ivrea, is a candle holder, which controls the light in the room: if the candle is lit, then the light is dimmed down. Additionally the user can control the light through touch-based interaction with the object.
Lightable – It’s enlighted February 27, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in light, physical interaction design.1 comment so far
A light table, designed by the German designers Julian Appelius and Markus Altmann, based on the principle of “total reflection”: The light of the LEDs, which are inside the table, becomes only visible in the moment, where a light.
LightTalk – Scanner und Winker in einem January 9, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in gadgets, light.3 comments
Ein schönes Gadget, das ich von meiner letzte Japan mitgebracht habe: der LightTalk, ein Handscanner, mit dem man das gescannte Bild anschliessend winkend zeigen kann. Nicht schlecht, vielleicht hackbar…
“Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht” am ZKM January 6, 2006
Posted by reto wettach in exhibitions, light, media art.add a comment
Während der Weihnachtsferien habe ich die inspirierende Ausstellung Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht am ZKM besucht, kuratiert von ZKM-Leiter Peter Weibel und von Gregor Jansen. Diese Ausstellung zeigt eine beeindruckende Vielfalt von Lichtkunstwerken.
Es gab wenig, aber spannende Geschichten auch zu Interaktivem Licht, wie z.B. die Light-Graffiti-Box von PIPS:Lab, wo der Nutzer mit verschieden Leuchtobjekten (Taschenlampen, Lichtschwert etc.) ein Bild kreieren und in Internet stellen kann. Interessant fand ich auch die LED-Installationen von Ruth Schnell, die ein neues Sehen erfordern: eine Reihe von LEDs “blinkt” hochfrequent einzelne Worte (“schnell” und “quick”), die nur lesbar werden mit “frei schwebendem Blick, gleichsam eine Betrachtung am Objekt vorbei”. Fabrizio Plessi (siehe Bild) zeigt eine Arbeit, die sich mit dem Übergang von realer zu digitalen Welt auseinandersetzt. Schön waren auch die Schattenspiele von Joachim Fleischer (gibt nicht viel online über ihn, nur sein Buch), der die Lichtquelle bewegt und dadurch dynamische und überraschende Schattenbilder generiert.
In der Ausstellung sind eine Vielzahl von Klassikern und neueren Arbeiten, die auch ausserhalb des Kontexted “Interaction Design” spannend sind. Ausserdem finde ich das Thema “Licht als Interface” nicht unspannend und auch in diesem Sinne lohnt sich der Besuch! Wie fühlt man sich beispielsweise in einem Raum mit 12 Diskokugeln und sonst nichts…?
