This summer I spent a week in Manchester NH attending the Constructing Modern Knowledge Conference. One of the fantastic events that was part of our conference was an evening at the MIT Media Lab (well sort of- they didn't let us into the lab space itself, but we got to peer through windows). We had the opportunity to Video Conference with Neil Gershenfeld who was onsite at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts for collaboration.
Gershenfeld took the opportunity to share with us an overview of the digital revolution in fabrication he sees happening in the world. Part of the Fab Foundation Gershenfeld is also on faculty at MIT in the Center for Bits and Atoms. One of his goals is to create urban self sufficiency through Universal Access to digital fabrication. To help cities all over the world mobilize by creating reconfigurable machines specifically suited to their needs by way of object oriented hardware. Nadya Peek, in her MIT thesis, argues that we should take notes from object oriented computer programming and basically-- use tools to make tools, and allow the generative process to create interchangeable systems.
"I argue that we need to transition from rapid prototyping to rapid prototyping of rapid prototyping. To make diverse goods, we need diverse tools. To develop diversity in digital fabrication tools, we need reconfigurable and extensible infrastructure for machine building.
Using insights from object-oriented programming, end-to-end principles in network design, and the open system interconnection model, I propose a new paradigm for machine building called object-oriented hardware. In this paradigm, software objects and hardware objects are peers that have procedures, methods, ports, and presentations. Machine building modules are available as software libraries are to programmers. A machine instantiation is an assembly of objects situated in a particular context." -Nadya Peek
This model allows people to digitally print their tools by exporting and assembling computer code. This is the Lincoln Logs or Legos of a potential global supply chain where tools (like the 3D printer) are able to build more tools by sharing data. The eventual outcome are components that create and assemble new and better tools.
Taking this idea one step further Gershenfeld argued that this digital fabrication revolution will lead us to creating assemblies of protein structures, and cellular reproduction of carbon fibers will be the eventual tool we use to create more tools. Life's basic 20 amino acids will create a world of "life in inorganic materials"... and at some point, we will have cellular machines reproducing more machines. Minecraft with real physics. This simplifies and minimizes the building blocks needed for a self sustaining civilization.
If my explanation was lacking, here you can listen to Neil himself explain this concept. Code is now being embedded in tools themselves, we are in the moment of "deep machine learning" a transition from segregated design tools to more uniform assemblies.
So, you might ask, what does this mean for me, in my classroom, here at OES?
Gershenfeld, as I mentioned, was teleconferencing with us during his lecture because he was at Haystack. As a ceramic artist, I was already familiar with the place he was speaking from-- it is a well known Arts & Crafts Center that has residencies, workshops, and fantastic facilities. For as complex and abstract as his theories and brilliance are--- Gershenfeld helped set up a Fab Lab at Haystack because "Artists break things". He goes every year for at least a week to see how artists use the Fab Lab in practice at Haystack. He even had four artists teleconference with him to give their perspective on making with digital tools.
He specifically addressed the fact that often the end goals of a designer may push the constraints and abilities of the machines and tools that are being utilized. Seeing the tools in real-world design situations informs the engineering of those tools. User interface is a crucial component to the development of future tools, and future designers.
Allowing our students to design, create and fabricate products and tools gives them not only the voice to create a "painting" but to create a revolutionary "paintbrush".
Gershenfeld took the opportunity to share with us an overview of the digital revolution in fabrication he sees happening in the world. Part of the Fab Foundation Gershenfeld is also on faculty at MIT in the Center for Bits and Atoms. One of his goals is to create urban self sufficiency through Universal Access to digital fabrication. To help cities all over the world mobilize by creating reconfigurable machines specifically suited to their needs by way of object oriented hardware. Nadya Peek, in her MIT thesis, argues that we should take notes from object oriented computer programming and basically-- use tools to make tools, and allow the generative process to create interchangeable systems.
"I argue that we need to transition from rapid prototyping to rapid prototyping of rapid prototyping. To make diverse goods, we need diverse tools. To develop diversity in digital fabrication tools, we need reconfigurable and extensible infrastructure for machine building.
Using insights from object-oriented programming, end-to-end principles in network design, and the open system interconnection model, I propose a new paradigm for machine building called object-oriented hardware. In this paradigm, software objects and hardware objects are peers that have procedures, methods, ports, and presentations. Machine building modules are available as software libraries are to programmers. A machine instantiation is an assembly of objects situated in a particular context." -Nadya Peek
This model allows people to digitally print their tools by exporting and assembling computer code. This is the Lincoln Logs or Legos of a potential global supply chain where tools (like the 3D printer) are able to build more tools by sharing data. The eventual outcome are components that create and assemble new and better tools.
Taking this idea one step further Gershenfeld argued that this digital fabrication revolution will lead us to creating assemblies of protein structures, and cellular reproduction of carbon fibers will be the eventual tool we use to create more tools. Life's basic 20 amino acids will create a world of "life in inorganic materials"... and at some point, we will have cellular machines reproducing more machines. Minecraft with real physics. This simplifies and minimizes the building blocks needed for a self sustaining civilization.
If my explanation was lacking, here you can listen to Neil himself explain this concept. Code is now being embedded in tools themselves, we are in the moment of "deep machine learning" a transition from segregated design tools to more uniform assemblies.
So, you might ask, what does this mean for me, in my classroom, here at OES?
Gershenfeld, as I mentioned, was teleconferencing with us during his lecture because he was at Haystack. As a ceramic artist, I was already familiar with the place he was speaking from-- it is a well known Arts & Crafts Center that has residencies, workshops, and fantastic facilities. For as complex and abstract as his theories and brilliance are--- Gershenfeld helped set up a Fab Lab at Haystack because "Artists break things". He goes every year for at least a week to see how artists use the Fab Lab in practice at Haystack. He even had four artists teleconference with him to give their perspective on making with digital tools.
He specifically addressed the fact that often the end goals of a designer may push the constraints and abilities of the machines and tools that are being utilized. Seeing the tools in real-world design situations informs the engineering of those tools. User interface is a crucial component to the development of future tools, and future designers.
Allowing our students to design, create and fabricate products and tools gives them not only the voice to create a "painting" but to create a revolutionary "paintbrush".
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