Topobo : a gestural design tool with kinetic memory
Author(s)
Parkes, Amanda Jane
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Alternative title
Gestural design tool with kinetic memory
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Program in Media Arts and Sciences.
Advisor
Hiroshi Ishii.
Terms of use
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Show full item recordAbstract
The modeling of kinetic systems, both in physical materials and virtual simulations, provides a methodology to better understand and explore the forces and dynamics of our physical environment. The need to experiment, prototype and model with programmable kinetic forms is becoming increasingly important as digital technology becomes more readily embedded in physical structures and provides real-time variable data the capacity to transform the structures themselves. This thesis introduces Topobo, a gestural design tool embedded with kinetic memory--the ability to record, playback, and transform physical motion in three dimensional space. As a set of kinetic building blocks, Topobo records and repeats the body's gesture while the system's peer-to-peer networking scheme provides the capability to pass and transform q gesture. This creates a means to represent and understand algorithmic simulations in a physical material, providing a physical demonstration of how a simple set of rules can lead to complex form and behavior. Topobo takes advantage of the editability of computer data combined with the physical immediacy of a tangible model to provide a means for expression and investigation of kinetic patterns and processes not possible with existing materials.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-91). Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2004.
Date issued
2004Department
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Architecture. Program in Media Arts and Sciences.