Topobo : a gestural design tool with kinetic memory

Abstract

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.