Play with smart materials – Catarina Mota

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Play with smart materials - Catarina Mota

Ink that conducts electricity; a window that turns from clear to opaque at the flip of a switch; a jelly that makes music. All this stuff exists, and Catarina Mota says: It’s time to play with it. Mota leads us on a tour of surprising and cool new materials, and suggests that the way we’ll figure out what they’re good for is to experiment, tinker and have fun.

00:12
I have a friend in Portugal whose grandfather built a vehicle out of a bicycle and a washing machine so he could transport his family. He did it because he couldn't afford a car, but also because he knew how to build one. There was a time when we understood how things worked and how they were made, so we could build and repair them, or at the very least make informed decisions about what to buy. Many of these do-it-yourself practices were lost in the second half of the 20th century. But now, the maker community and the open-source model are bringing this kind of knowledge about how things work and what they're made of back into our lives, and I believe we need to take them to the next level, to the components things are made of.
我有一位葡萄牙朋友，其祖父用一辆自行车和一台洗衣机改装成一辆汽车供家人乘用。他这样做，一是因为他买不起车，但更重要的是因为他知道如何改装汽车。曾经，我们都懂得一些机械的工作原理，也知道它们是怎么制造出来的，所以我们能够自己制作和维修它们. 或者至少基于我们的了解作出明智的购买决定。但很多诸如此类的动手能力在20世纪的下半叶就流失了。但是现在，制造者们和开放资源模式正在把事物的工作原理和材料构成的知识带回到我们的生活中。而我认为我们需要进行更深层次的挖掘, 去研究和探索其构成的成分。

00:59
For the most part, we still know what traditional materials like paper and textiles are made of and how they are produced. But now we have these amazing, futuristic composites -- plastics that change shape, paints that conduct electricity, pigments that change color, fabrics that light up. Let me show you some examples.
通常来说我们还是知道，像纸和纺织品这样的传统材料是由什么做成的，是如何生产的。但现在我们有了这些充满神奇和未来色彩的复合材料- 如可以变形的塑料、可以导电的油漆、可以变色的颜料和可以发光的织物。让我来给你们展示一些样品。

01:26
So conductive ink allows us to paint circuits instead of using the traditional printed circuit boards or wires. In the case of this little example I'm holding, we used it to create a touch sensor that reacts to my skin by turning on this little light. Conductive ink has been used by artists, but recent developments indicate that we will soon be able to use it in laser printers and pens. And this is a sheet of acrylic infused with colorless light-diffusing particles. What this means is that, while regular acrylic only diffuses light around the edges, this one illuminates across the entire surface when I turn on the lights around it. Two of the known applications for this material include interior design and multi-touch systems. And thermochromic pigments change color at a given temperature. So I'm going to place this on a hot plate that is set to a temperature only slightly higher than ambient and you can see what happens. So one of the principle applications for this material is, amongst other things, in baby bottles, so it indicates when the contents are cool enough to drink.
这种导电墨水可让我们, 抛弃传统的印刷电路板或电线的方法而直接用导电墨水来画电路板。比如我手里拿着的这个小装置，是我们用导电墨水做成一个触摸性的传感器，一旦接触人的皮肤，这个小灯就会亮起。导电墨水已经被艺术家们应用到创作中了, 最新的进展表明我们很快就能把它应用在激光打印机和激光笔中. 这是一张泡浸过无色光漫颗粒丙烯酸的纸. 只浸过普通丙烯酸的纸只在其边缘周围有漫光现象, 而这张浸过无色光漫颗粒丙烯酸的纸，当我们开灯时漫光会照亮整张纸. 就目前所知，这种材料已经被应用到室内设计和多点触控系统两个领域中了。而热变色颜料在特定的温度下会改变颜色。我先把这张东西放到一个电热板上温度设定只要比外界温度稍高一点你就可以看到变化发生除了其它用途，这种材料主要应用于婴儿奶瓶的制造。当瓶内饮料凉到适和饮用的温度时人们就会看得到

02:46
So these are just a few of what are commonly known as smart materials. In a few years, they will be in many of the objects and technologies we use on a daily basis. We may not yet have the flying cars science fiction promised us, but we can have walls that change color depending on temperature, keyboards that roll up, and windows that become opaque at the flick of a switch.
这些只是我们通常所说的 “智能材料”的一部分。几年内，它们将被应用到很多我们日常使用的物件和科技产品上。或许我们还看不到科幻小说内所描述的会飞的汽车，但是我们能看到会随温度变色的墙，可以卷起来的键盘，和一摁开关就变不透明的窗户。

03:11
So I'm a social scientist by training, so why am I here today talking about smart materials? Well first of all, because I am a maker. I'm curious about how things work and how they are made, but also because I believe we should have a deeper understanding of the components that make up our world, and right now, we don't know enough about these high-tech composites our future will be made of. Smart materials are hard to obtain in small quantities. There's barely any information available on how to use them, and very little is said about how they are produced. So for now, they exist mostly in this realm of trade secrets and patents only universities and corporations have access to.
我是科班出身的社会学家，那为什么今天我要在这里讲智能材料？首先，因为我是个制造者。我对事物的工作原理和构成成分非常好奇，但我也相信我们应该对构成我们这个世界的各种成分有更深的了解，但现在，我们对于这些构成我们未来的高科技材料了解不够。要获得少量的智能材料是很难的。有关如何使用这些材料的信息也很少，至于它们是如何制造的信息就更加少得可怜。目前，它们绝大多数都存在于贸易机密和专利中，只有一些大学和大公司才能得到。

03:58
So a little over three years ago, Kirsty Boyle and I started a project we called Open Materials. It's a website where we, and anyone else who wants to join us, share experiments, publish information, encourage others to contribute whenever they can, and aggregate resources such as research papers and tutorials by other makers like ourselves. We would like it to become a large, collectively generated database of do-it-yourself information on smart materials.
所以三年多以前，我和Kirsty Boyle 发起了一个叫做Open Materials（“开放材料”）的项目。在那个网站上，我们和志同道合的一些人，分享实验，发布信息，鼓励其他人为此作出力所能及的贡献，并且收集各种资源信息包括其他制作爱好者的研究论文和教程等资源。我们希望做成一个大规模的、集体生成的数据库，储存与智能材料相关的第一手信息。

04:31
But why should we care how smart materials work and what they are made of? First of all, because we can't shape what we don't understand, and what we don't understand and use ends up shaping us. The objects we use, the clothes we wear, the houses we live in, all have a profound impact on our behavior, health and quality of life. So if we are to live in a world made of smart materials, we should know and understand them. Secondly, and just as important, innovation has always been fueled by tinkerers. So many times, amateurs, not experts, have been the inventors and improvers of things ranging from mountain bikes to semiconductors, personal computers, airplanes.
但是我们为什么要关心智能材料的工作原理和构成呢？首先，因为我们无法掌控我们不理解的东西，而那些我们不理解和不会用的东西反过来会掌控我们。我们使用的东西，我们穿的衣服，我们住的房子，都对我们的行为、健康和生活质量有着深远的影响。所以如果我们要生活在一个由智能材料构成的世界中，我们就应该知道并了解它们。其次，同样重要地，创新总是来源于修补匠。很多时候，是业余爱好者而非专家，发明和改进了诸如山地车、半导体、个人电脑、甚至飞机等等。

05:22
The biggest challenge is that material science is complex and requires expensive equipment. But that's not always the case. Two scientists at University of Illinois understood this when they published a paper on a simpler method for making conductive ink. Jordan Bunker, who had had no experience with chemistry until then, read this paper and reproduced the experiment at his maker space using only off-the-shelf substances and tools. He used a toaster oven, and he even made his own vortex mixer, based on a tutorial by another scientist/maker. Jordan then published his results online, including all the things he had tried and didn't work, so others could study and reproduce it. So Jordan's main form of innovation was to take an experiment created in a well-equipped lab at the university and recreate it in a garage in Chicago using only cheap materials and tools he made himself. And now that he published this work, others can pick up where he left and devise even simpler processes and improvements.
材料科学的最大挑战是它的复杂性，以及对昂贵的仪器的需求。但事实并非总是如此。伊利诺伊大学的两名科学家就明白这个道理他们发表一篇论文旨在阐明制作导电墨水的更简便的方法。 Jordan Bunker 在这一实验之前是一个没有任何化学经验的人。但他读了这篇论文后在他的工作间里用现成的物质和工具重复了这个实验。他用了一个烤箱，甚至在另一个科学家/制造者的教程的基础上自制了旋涡混合器。后来，Jordan在网上发表了他的实验结果，包括所有失败的实验结果，这样其他人可以学习然后复制这一实验。所以Jordan主要创新方式是在芝加哥的一个车库里用便宜材料和自制的工具来重复了一个在设施齐全的大学实验室里创造的实验。现在他发表了实验结果，其他人可以在他的基础上接着做下去并且尝试更简单的步骤并加以改进。

06:35
Another example I'd like to mention is Hannah Perner-Wilson's Kit-of-No-Parts. Her project's goal is to highlight the expressive qualities of materials while focusing on the creativity and skills of the builder. Electronics kits are very powerful in that they teach us how things work, but the constraints inherent in their design influence the way we learn. So Hannah's approach, on the other hand, is to formulate a series of techniques for creating unusual objects that free us from pre-designed constraints by teaching us about the materials themselves. So amongst Hannah's many impressive experiments, this is one of my favorites. ["Paper speakers"] What we're seeing here is just a piece of paper with some copper tape on it connected to an mp3 player and a magnet. (Music: "Happy Together") So based on the research by Marcelo Coelho from MIT, Hannah created a series of paper speakers out of a wide range of materials from simple copper tape to conductive fabric and ink. Just like Jordan and so many other makers, Hannah published her recipes and allows anyone to copy and reproduce them.
我想分享的另外一个例子是Hannah Perner-Wilson的Kit-of-No-Parts. 她项目的目标是在强调材料丰富的表现力的同时专注于制造者的创造力和制造技巧。电子元件非常有地向我们展示了事物的工作原理但其本身所固有的限制性约束了我们学习的方式。所以Hannah的方法，在另一方面，就是创制一系列的技术，来创造非常规的东西，通过展示材料的本质，把我们从预先设定的约束中解放出来。在Hannah众多令人钦佩的试验中，这个是我的最爱之一。 ["纸质扬声器"] 我们在这里看到的只不过是一张纸上面的铜带连接着一个mp3播放器和一块磁铁。（音乐："Happy Together"）在麻省理工学院教授Marcelo Coelho研究的基础上， Hannah使用各种材料包括普通的铜带、导电的纺织品和墨水等，创造了一系列纸质扬声器。就像Jordan和其他很多制造者一样， Hannah公开了他的秘诀使得任何人可以模仿或重复这些实验。

08:07
But paper electronics is one of the most promising branches of material science in that it allows us to create cheaper and flexible electronics. So Hannah's artisanal work, and the fact that she shared her findings, opens the doors to a series of new possibilities that are both aesthetically appealing and innovative.
但是纸上电子是材料科学中最有前景的分支之一，因为它让我们能创造出便宜又灵活的电子产品。所以Hannah的手工作品，以及她分享了她的发现这个事实，为我们打开了一扇，通向兼具美学和创新的无限可能的大门。

08:31
So the interesting thing about makers is that we create out of passion and curiosity, and we are not afraid to fail. We often tackle problems from unconventional angles, and, in the process, end up discovering alternatives or even better ways to do things. So the more people experiment with materials, the more researchers are willing to share their research, and manufacturers their knowledge, the better chances we have to create technologies that truly serve us all.
制造者的有趣之处在于我们创造是出于热情和好奇，并且我们不害怕失败。我们通常从非传统的角度处理问题，并且，在这个过程中，发现其他方案或者更好的方法。所以当更多的人愿意用新材料做试验的时候，更多的研究者就会愿意分享他们的研究成果；有更多的制造商分享他们的知识，我们就更有可能创造出造福我们所有人的科技。

09:03
So I feel a bit as Ted Nelson must have when, in the early 1970s, he wrote, "You must understand computers now." Back then, computers were these large mainframes only scientists cared about, and no one dreamed of even having one at home. So it's a little strange that I'm standing here and saying, "You must understand smart materials now." Just keep in mind that acquiring preemptive knowledge about emerging technologies is the best way to ensure that we have a say in the making of our future.
所以我的感觉有一点像Ted Nelson 在70年代初期的感觉一样，他写道，“你们现在必需懂电脑。”那个时候，电脑是只有科学家关心的大型机器，没有人会想到能够在家拥有一台。所以我今天站在这里说 “你们现在必需懂智能材料”有一点奇怪。请记住先发制人去获取新兴科技的知识是确保我们在对未来的创造中有发言权的最好方式。