The Medici Effect Blog

Fighter aircrafts and cross-country skiing

Earlier we have seen how advanced technology from NASA and several other sources were used to give Speedo’s LZR Racer swimsuit extraordinary qualities. Considering the outstanding performance of the product it is not surprising that this thinking spreads to other sports. Right now, for instance, there is a cool experiment (Swedish) going on with cross-country skis in Sweden. An interesting difference is that while Speedo’s swimsuit was developed at a deliberate intersection where they harnessed the skills of experts from diverse fields this idea is more coincidental. And it did didn’t come from the sport people.

When some technicians who work with the Swedish combat aircraft Gripen heard that Norwegian skiers had successfully used sandpaper instead of ski wax to prepare cross country skis they got an idea. To make the colour attach well to the surface of the airplane they use an advanced technique where they blast it with minuscule plastic balls. That way they achieve pretty much the same effect as with sandpaper but with much more precision. Basically, they realized that they could do the same thing as the Norwegians – only better. Naturally, they didn’t contact them to tell them this – the Norwegians are annoyingly good as it is. Instead they approached their countryman Oskar Svärd who is one of the top long distance skiers in the world.

The precision with which they can use this technique makes it possible to adjust the surface for different temperatures and snow qualities. They have now made several pairs of skis for Svärd. He has tested them and is really pleased with the result. He will use them this winter and if he is successful it might change the sport as well as attitudes to the Gripen project in Sweden. It is ridiculously advanced and expensive and heavily criticized. But if it can help Svärd beat the Norwegians at cross-country skiing...

/Kristian Ribberström

More Bionics

Well, since it is Youtube week here on The Medici Effect Blog I want to share a video with robots inspired by animals.

The possibilities at this intersection of biology and technology seem limitless and I have written several posts based on bionics earlier. I have a strong feeling that the engineers creating these things are having a very good time and that they regard nature as an endless source of challenges.

/Kristian Ribberström

A truly intersectional creator

I first read about Bertrand Gondouin in a Metro article (Swedish) when he recently presented his electronic jacket at a virtual reality conference in Stockholm. His aim is to explore how computers may be used without the traditional tools – for experimental and artistic purposes. He has used electronic textiles in the jacket (which looks like a perfectly normal jacket) and he controls the computer by waving his arms. With his movements he can navigate through a 3D environment projected on the wall.

Gondouin is a designer in interactive visuals who really exploits the innovative power of intersections of different disciplines. This is how he describes it himself:

"My work combines three disciplines: art direction, software engineering and live performance. This scope of activities enables me to deliver responsive, environmental graphics in real-time, which creates uniquely immersive experiences."

At this intersection he seems to have a lot of fun and apparently barriers don’t exist to this visionary thinker. Considering what he has achieved it is amazing that he has no background in technology but he certainly brings new perspectives into this field since he is educated in art and has been working with live television. Check this crazy video from his first experiments with the jacket where he controls sound with arm movements or this earlier post which also includes electronic textiles.

/Kristian Ribberström

Motion-capture and furniture

When I saw Peter Jackson’s The Two Towers back in 2002 I was amazed, like everybody else, by the digitally animated creature Gollum. The filmmakers had achieved something extraordinary and I realized there and then that I would never again be surprised the possibilities of motion-capture technique. But I was wrong. The designers at Front make everybody surprised with their innovative design method. They make freehand sketches in the air and record the strokes with motion-capture technology. The information is then digitized into 3D models.

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One of the main ideas in The Medici Effect is that if you apply existing concepts in fields where they haven’t been used before it dramatically increases your chances of being innovative. The Front design team is a very good example of that. When they placed themselves at the intersection of 3D animation and furniture design and applied motion-capture where it doesn’t “belong” it gave them originality as well as attention. Arguably, it would take some rather advanced technical breakthrough to revolutionize the way motion-capture is used for 3D animation in films or computer games but all they had to do at Front was to use the technique in a new way.

Naturally, this is not their only design method but all their work is characterized by the same open-mindedness that enables them to break down the associative barriers between fields. When I assumed that I would never again be surprised by the possibilities of motion-capture it was because I didn’t see beyond those barriers.

/Kristian Ribberström

Many intersections behind micro-turbine skin

Check out this nano-vent skin of micro-wind turbines by Augustin Otegui. At the intersection of biology and nano-technology it transforms the energy of sun and wind.

/Kristian Ribberström

IT and playgrounds

Yes, I know, IT can be integrated into anything and the combinations are not automatically intriguing just because they are new and far-fetched. What I do like about Smartus, however, is that it is not just another use of IT for the sake of it. The objective is to explore the pedagogical use of physical play as a method for learning – and IT interactivity happens to be the ideal tool to achieve that.

Smartus collaborates with different providers of content, software, and technology but also with university researchers to study how the IT applications facilitate teaching and learning processes. At this intersection they create playgrounds that are suitable for pre-schools, schools, experience parks, shopping centres and other contexts.

/Kristian Ribberström

Mercedes–Benz and fish

When Mercedez-Benz presented their bionic concept car back in 2005 they showed that they were capable of optimizing aerodynamic form in a very unorthodox way; they used the R&D of nature itself and modelled it after the angular but streamlined boxfish.

   

Even though this example is not new it shows how expertise and open-mindedness can be combined to explore the possibilities of intersectional innovation. Let the images will speak for themselves or follow the link and read more details.

/Kristian Ribberström

Sustainability and creativity

Is the drive for sustainability killing architects´creativity? In this article two architects present two very different analyses on the impact constraints associated with sustainability have on progress in their field. They both have interesting arguments but when I look for examples of intersectional innovation for this blog it is striking that so many brilliant inventions are born from the need to consume less energy.

Limiting yourself is an effective way of stimulating new ideas and I constantly find evidence that the constraints of sustainability catalyses innovation powerfully - not only in architecture but in almost every field. Here are a few examples: Transportation, material, cooking, industrial processes, water supply, architecture and lamps.

/Kristian Ribberström

French Toast and Kabob

Thanks to super-cool Cat Laine, Deputy Director of super-cool AIDG (which I will write a longer and more exhaustive story on soon – their work is remarkably intersectional and very impactful). Anyway – this has nothing to do with development, technology or energy. It is a Martha Stewart recipe… 
French Toast Kabobs. Looks yummy, right? I love food, as readers of my book may have figured out – and brunch rocks.

Drills, clocks and lamps

Here we go again – making smart inventions by combining old and well-known concepts is an extremely productive innovation method. The Greener Gadgets Design Competition 2008, which is arranged by the magazine Core 77, attracted many solutions of this kind. I especially like the two floorlamps Krank by Efrain Velez, and Gravia by Clay Moulton.

The design of Krank is simply a lamp combined with the form and function of an old fashioned mechanical drill. This also makes it obvious how it’s used - when you turn it manually it’s charged through magnetic induction and it lights up your room for 40-60 minutes.

Gravia is also powered by the user but in the form of potential energy. A weight is lifted and as gravity slowly pulls it downwards it powers a mechanism that generates electricity for four hours of light. And here is the intersection: The idea for Gravia comes from the wind-up principle of old clocks.

 

Products like these seem so obvious that you wonder why they haven’t been made before. But they also make you realize that there are still many connections to be made – still many intersections to step into.

/Kristian Ribberström