"Digital technologies were born out of and have become fundamental to the processes of global capitalism in terms of production, finance, media and entertainment, extracting data and surveying its insatiable technoconsumers whilst simultaneously presenting itself in the guise of augmentation."
(Andre Sampaio Kong)
"At the core of the Soundweaving project is the traditional cross–stitching pattern used in Hungarian folk embroidery transformed into sound by a punch card comb music player. The cross–stitch pattern of holes on the tape in the musical box were punched by the creator, Zsanett Szirmay.
In this case, the punched tape acts as the score. Embroidered shirts and pillows from the Transylvanian Bukovina, and from Kalotaszeg and Hungary served as a basis for the patterns. As part of the transformation, embroidery patterns turned into laser cut textile pieces, and cross–stitched patterns into melodies. Soundweaving equally stimulates all senses, and calls for interaction. The project uses multiple media and communicates on diverse planes, combining the borderlands of folk art, design and music. It belongs to the analogue and digital realms at the same time as the handmade embroidery is translated into laser cut patterns. At the same time, the visual world is presented in audio, or rather the graphic aspect of music gets a role in developing the tunes. Bálint Tárkány–Kovács, folk musician and composer was instrumental in the audio mapping and developing the tunes."
(Rita Mária Halasi, Moholy–Nagy Művészeti Egyetem, 2014)
ActiWait "makes waiting at the crosswalk for the signal to change more fun. The game is played while the light is red for the waiting pedestrians: a touch screen is mounted on two signal posts opposite one another. It is operated with your finger. Modeled after 'Pong', the computer game that has long since become a classic, there are two bars on the display, with which–moved with your finger –a ball can be batted back and forth. You get a point for every time your opponent misses the ball. In other words, this is a classic game with a new look and, perhaps most surprising, in a very different environment. Another charming part of the game: the opponents meet completely spontaneously and randomly, without knowing each other.
The idea for the project was first visualized in 2012 in a short video clip, in which the situation was simulated to look very life–like. In actual fact, the video presentation was a perfectly crafted synthesis of animation and real images. The simulation was developed on the computer and projected onto the traffic–signal buttons filmed with a green screen."
(HAWK Press Office)
"Imagine surfaces start to communicate with you. Your mobile gets goose skin when your lover texts you. Your WiFi controller changes the look and feel of it's surface according to different game situations. Your sofa gives you a short massage as a warm welcome when you return home from a hard day of work. Your laptop feels dried out when battery status is getting low.
.fluid is a concept study of an interacting, changing surface. While getting Input from the hands of its spectators, it's surface changes from liquid to solid, from plain to three–dimensional symmetric patterns. It provokes you to get in touch with it, to play with it's open interface and to collaborate with other people to find out how far you can push it.
This object was the result of the two week project »Talk to me–Form follows mood« supervised by Prof. Andreas Muxel at KISD (Köln International School of Design)."
(Hannes Kalk, 2013)
"For the Ambulance Drone, a new type of frame was developed that is a compact flying toolbox containing essential supplies for (lay–person) advanced life support. Portability and foldability help the drone to be used anywhere, also indoors. The first prototype focuses on the delivery of an Automated Defibrillator (AED). ...
The Ambulance Drone is the result of my Master Graduation thesis research project. It aims to save lives through the delivery of emergency supplies within the first minute after an accident. On the 28th of October [2014] I will be presenting this project and graduate from the TU Delft, after which I will look for funding to continue development of this project."
(Alec Momont, 2014)