Sketch Chair is probably the most complete application I´ve  seen so far compared with some other similar tools featured here, created by Greg Saul an industrial design graduate  Sketch Chair is a very complete interface that allow users quickly design furniture by simply drawing some lines, one of the most remarkable things I see is the implementation of a physics library normally used for video games, to test the stability of the pieces and also make some basic ergonomic studies.

If you want to try out the application and see more content and images please visit Greg Saul’s website.
Description (from the site)

“Sketch Chair” is a exploration in using computation and rapid manufacturing techniques to allow users to design and build their own products or in this case their own chairs.

The Sketch Chair software allows a novice users to take part in the entire process of designing and building their own chairs. Chairs are designed using a simple 2D sketch-based interface and design validation tools. Thereafter chairs are fabricated from sheet materials cut by a laser cutter, CNC milling machine or papercutters.

A collaboration with JST ERATO Design UI Project in Tokyo.

tools used:
- Processing (Eclipse)
- jBullet Physics

SketchChair from Greg Saul on Vimeo.

What would it be like to reach into a screen and manipulate virtual objects as in real world, that is something that Jinha Lee an interaction designer and computer scientist working at MIT Media Lab has been working on.

Beyond, a novel collapsible input device for direct 3D manipulation. When pressed against a screen, Beyond collapses in the physical world and extends into the digital space of the screen, such that users can have an illusion that they are inserting the tool into the virtual space. Beyond allows users to directly interact with 3D media, avoiding inconsistencies of input and output without having to wear special glasses. Users can select, draw, and sculpt in 3D virtual space and seam- lessly transition between 2D and 3D manipulation. We de- scribe detailed interaction techniques, implementation and application scenarios focused on geometric design and pro- totyping.

Beyond – Collapsible Input Device for Direct 3D Manipulation beyond the Screen from Jinha Lee on Vimeo.

Apparently as their thesis year has come to an end some of the members of the group will be looking to undertake personal projects while others continue with the project by founding a company with all the potentials developed during his years of thesis, let’s hope they continue to particpate together collaboratively since they are a great team.

DESCRIPTION (from the site)
Radiance covers a standalone brick fireplace in a mid century ranch home in Broad Ripple, Indiana. The clients rarely used their existing wood-burning fireplace and wanted to change its function. We proposed an ambient lighting piece that still hosts traditional qualities of the hearth. As an artist and an architect, the clients’ liberal and eclectic design aesthetic allowed for a great degree of freedom and risk-taking during development. They considered this project as commissioned artwork rather than a client-based architectural intervention, adding to their collection in the home. Radiance is intended to exploit the qualities of the hearth by re-centering the focus of the home and providing an ambient environmental effect.

DESIGN:
Radiance was inspired by various shelf mushrooms, based on their form, organizational structure, and component geometry. The mushroom has a distinguishing set of gills that alternate in lengths from the stem’s center point. The lengths of these gills forms a repetitive pattern intended to cover the largest surface area under each mushroom cap. This pattern has been abstracted into our system to arrange each pod, defined as a radial set of 16 plastic components with an LED placed directly behind each. The wiring for the LEDs is embedded within the surface of milled MDF, further expressing the pod’s organizational system. A Passive Infrared Sensor is located at the centroid of each pod, acting as the trigger for the parts around it.

INTERACTION:
There are two pulses that occur after triggering a pod’s sensor. A primary ‘pulse’, that fades to full intensity and quickly fades off, followed by a secondary ‘pulse’ which fades on quickly but dims slowly over nearly a minute. This pattern can be interrupted as new users trigger a pulse creating the dynamic lighting affect seen in our video.

Similar to the lighting effects of fire, Radiance creates dynamic changes in intensities across it surface. This makes the piece enticing to watch and because the pulses fade in and out so smoothly the lighting is not overbearing. There is a distinct difference in the lighting qualities throughout the day and into the night as the piece becomes more and more the central component bringing warmth and light into the home.

Radiance from PROJECTiONE on Vimeo.

Among his collection of works I found two I liked the most the first one is called Daily Stack ,  I really need to get one of these organizing my work flow has become a bit difficult with so many distractions and activities to do and this seems to be a fun and effective way to solve this situation.

Daily Stack is a playful tool that helps you become more aware of your daily work-flow and time management. By creating a physical representation of your tasks, Daily Stack speaks subtly to your conscience and helps you manage your time through unobtrusive ambient feedback.
It consists of a base device and a collection of wooden bricks in different shapes and colours. The bricks represent different kinds of tasks and time-intervals. By adding a brick to the base you commit yourself to the task and time span that the selected brick represents. Daily Stack communicates with an desktop widget on your computer that enables you to keep track of your time and tasks in progress. It also enables you to browse through your past and and compare your days in a colourful informative pattern.

Daily Stack from Anders Højmose on Vimeo.

The other project would be Pong that Beat wich is a project made in collaboration with Sebastian Thielke and Jonas Maanson ,it is an interactive Pong table that when you play , the camera register where the ball is when it hits the table, and a new sound is added to that location. While playing the step sequencer is continuously running. In that way you create a beat while playing. If you drop the ball on the floor, you are game over.

PongThatBeat! from Sebastian Thielke on Vimeo.

I have been playing around with processing for a  year now and I thought it would be nice to post some of the best libraries I have  used for my experimental projects , for those who don´t know processing is a programming environment for designing generative graphics , animation, games and complex interactive applications. Processing comes already  integrated with several libraries  that extend the power  of  processing beyond working simply  with graphics and images , However, the ever-growing community  of processing has created libraries that allow you to use audio, video, and connect processing with other technologies and devices which allow the creation of practically anything you can imagine.

Here´s a list of the best libraries I have tried out and that you definitevately have to take a look at , I also would  like to thank everyone who takes the time to create this libraries that makes the life of people like me so much easier and fun.

Traer Physics : A simple particle system physics engine for processing. I’ve designed this to be application / domain agnostic. All this is supposed to do is let you make particles, apply forces and calculate the positions of particles over time in real-time. Anything else you need to handle yourself.

JMyron: Myron is the cross-platform, cross-language, open source, video capture and computer vision plugin. One core C++ object gets cross-compiled as a handful of high level language “wrapper” libraries. The wrapper for Java and Processing is called JMyron. The wrapper for Macromedia Director is called WebCamXtra. The aim of the project is to keep computer vision free and easy for the new media education and arts community.

PeasyCam: PeasyCam provides a dead-simple mouse-driven camera for Processing.

ControlP5: ControlP5 is a GUI and controller library for processing that can be used in authoring, application, and applet mode. controllers are easily added to a processing sketch, can be arranged in separate control windows, and can be organized in tabs or group.

Anar: A cadKIT™ for Processing (v1.0) for Object Oriented Geometry. Based on (anar+) parametric modeling scheme is a KIT of libraries.

Toxiclibs: An independent, open source library collection for computational design tasks with Java & Processing developed by Karsten “toxi” Schmidt (thus far). The classes are purposefully kept fairly generic in order to maximize re-use in different contexts ranging from generative design, animation, interaction/interface design, data visualization to architecture and digital fabrication, use as teaching tool and more.

NextText: A port of the library for the Processing development environment. Keeping in mind the goals of  Processing, the library includes greatly simplified syntax and allows the creation of interesting sketches with very few lines of code.   And for programmers who want to push the envelope further, all functionality of the Java version of the library is maintained, so it is still possible to create intricate and more complex applications.

Hemesh: An imple­men­ta­tion of a half-edge datas­truc­ture for manip­u­lat­ing 3D meshes in Pro­cess­ing.

P5Sunflow: An easy way to make your Processing sketches look sexy as hell. Well, only three-dimensional ones, but whatever. Sunflow is a ray tracer written in Java. It’s pretty awesome.

I f you know of  another cool library please let me know on the comments below so we can add it to the list.

Facadeprinter is a new communication tool created by product designers Martin Fussenegger , Michael Sebastian and engineer Julian Adenauer , as part of their search for new aesthetics and ways of communications they have created an interesting an  fun product with lots of potential and application fields, the one that most calls my attention could be about using the facadeprinter in case of disaster situations where it can be easily integrated in the efforts  to communicate messages like pointing out danger zones or medical facilities.

About the Facade Printer
The Facadeprinter is a simple, software controlled robot. The printer shoots the artwork from a distanced position dot by dot onto the chosen area. The Facade Printer has the capability of print on inaccessible an uneven surfaces.
The maximum print distance is 12 meters, the maximum print height is around 8 meters. The shooting frequency is up to 5 dots per second.

facadeprinter.org – three stones from Facadeprinter on Vimeo.

Some Applications for Facade Printer

- Large Scale Distance Printing: From a distance of up to 12 meters, the artwork is applied shot by shot onto the surface — this allows printing on targets which are typically inaccessible.

- Live Performance : The Facadeprinter in action is a great spectacle – as with a ‘magic pen’ the image gradually appears on the wall, making the process of marking and drawing by the machine a visually striking performance and display for the viewer.

- Outlook | Communication in a Crisis: The Facadeprinter can be integrated into efforts of post disaster relief. The machine’s printing process allows the quick installation of new visual communications, for example medical facilities, sources of fresh water supply, danger zones or collection points can be communicated effectively.

If you likethis post please retweet it , would be very apreciated !!

About BreadedEscalope (from the site)
Sascha Mikel, Martin Schnabl and Michael Tatschl finished their education with a Masters degree in product & spatial design in London 2007.
After eight years in common design related education, they established a synergetic way of working and developed >breadedEscalope<, their studio.

bE creates socially sustaining artifacts and systems that raise questions and challenge  common meanings & general perceptions.
The outcome is poetic, functional and communicative, full of meaning and character.

“Objects or systems are never just aesthetic; we understand design to be more than beautification.  We create, to open versatile channels of experiencing environments, objects, or products. ”

The “statements”-their results of artistic product research, get manifested in small series, manufactured or commissioned by bE.
These approaches and experiments define the further treatment in applied work, regarding projects and services upon third parties.

bE is a fraction of the platform GOTO.
GOTO holds an international body of artists from various fields and professions and works as an extended network of creative resources.

To create this piece they inspired in the Flip-dots which were conventionally used in the 70s st signs in train-stations and airports. The sounds of the flipping dots as well as the animations created with silver and black dots creates really beautiful and mesmerizing patterns across the whole surface.

CLOUD by TROIKA from Troika on Vimeo.

Additional Information (from the site)

The sculpture is located in Terminal 5 in the atrium hall that leads to the British Airways First Class Lounges. The brief from British Airways was open and simple: create a signature piece that marks the entrance to the First Class Lounges and signifies the transition between the busy shopping floor and the calm and serenity of the lounges. Working from the idea of clouds and the contrast between the busy, hectic airport experience and the calm, luminous and ethereal world that we discover as we fly through this dense layer we came up with the basic metaphor, atmosphere and form of the installation.

Besides this functionality I wanted to find a way for using Grasshopper data and integrate it with Tsplines to create a single an smooth skin so I configured the definition to create meshed structures besides the normal Nurbs surfaces , so I can convert this mesh structure into a T Spline,for being able to do this this I had to bake separately each part of the mesh structure , and join them on the Rhino environment, I also had to use the Mesh Repair Plugin to get a final Mesh without errors so I can then transform it to TSplines and smooth it.

Hope you find it useful I´ll keep working with this one , got some ideas for implementing it on a product design lets see where it goes.

The mesh obtained from the Grasshopper definition for convert it to TSplines

Screenshot from the Mesh already converted to TSplines for organic surfacing

Responsive Skin Rhino #GH3D from Rodrigo Medina on Vimeo.

Preparing the model .stl file for print it with ZCorp technology

Applying resin to the printed Model

3d printed test model
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File Name:ResponsiveHoneycombPanels.ghx

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Philip is also associated with the University of Waterloo, were he is a professor of architecture and shares responsibility for the Integrated Centre for Visualization, Design and Manufacturing, a high-performance computer and rapid-prototyping facility.

Hylosoic Soil
The glass-like fragility of this artificial forest, built of an intricate lattice of small transparent acrylic tiles, is visually breathtaking. Its frond extremities arch uncannily towards those who venture into its midst, reaching out to stroke and be stroked like the feather or fur or hair of some mysterious animal. In keeping with Beesley’s own description, his enchanted environment complies with the laws and cycles that determine the millennial assembly of a coral reef, with its cycles of opening, clamping, filtering and digesting. Capacitance-sensing whiskers and shape-memory alloy actuators create a diffuse peristaltic pumping motion, luring visitors in to the every  shimmering depths of a forest of light. Hylozoic Soil implements a distributed sensor network driven by dozens of microprocessors, generating waves of reflexive responses to those drawn into its vast array of acrylic fern stalagmites. Different levels of programmed activity encourage the emergence of coordinated spatial behavior: thirty-eight controller boards produce specific responses to local action, while a bus controller uses sensor activity collated from all the boards to command an additional “global” level of behaviour. The forest thus manifests a haunting, breathing organicity, as it stirs to envelop and charm its human explorers. In keeping with the tradition of biologist artist Ernst Haeckel’s Riddle of the Universe (1899), which traced actions of organic and inorganic nature alike back to natural causes and laws, Beesley’s Hylozoic Soil stands as a magically moving contemporary symbol of our aptitude for empathy and the creative projection of living systems.

The Roadshow interview with Philip Beesley from The Roadshow on Vimeo.

Hylozoic Soil from Karen Siemers on Vimeo.