Design Inspiration: Morphs 2.0

Ruairi Glynn is an installation artist who also directs the Interactive Architecture Lab at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.  He and collaborators William Bondin and Francois Mangion have been creating adaptive structures called MORPHs, short for Mobile Reconfigurable Polyhedra. 

Imagine playgrounds where the structures are able to move or rearrange themselves!  These robotic MORPH structures can move from one place to another autonomously or they can be guided towards a specific location through tactile input from users. They can also be controlled wirelessly and onboard GPS modules can be used to define a boundary for the MORPHS to operate in. 

As you can see in the video below, individual MORPH robotic units are currently made of twelve actuated struts, which when extended will shift the center of gravity of the entire structure, leading it to roll over in a specific direction. 



This movement happens relatively slowly, providing enough reaction time for the people around it to stay clear from its path. Each MORPH also has embedded pressure sensors within the rubber joints which provide it with information about its orientation, whether it is about to encounter an obstacle, or if there is someone swinging from it or trying to push it.  

Museum and playground designers could easily take advantage of this sort of emerging technology to create spaces where the physical design elements are changable and adaptable instead of fixed in place.  I love the idea of physical environments that can respond in interesting and unexpected ways to users!

Click on these links to find out more about the MORPH project and Ruairi Glynn.

 
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PO-MOtion Interactive Software and a CONTEST!

I'm a bit of a skeptic in terms of how technology is applied (or more often mis-applied!) in museum exhibitions, as most people who read this blog know.

But occasionally I come across a clever person or company who makes me appreciate more of the possibilities inherent in applying technology in a thoughtful way to museum environments.   So I'm happy to introduce you to just such a person ---  Meghan Athavale, the CEO of PO-MO, a company based in Winnipeg.

Meghan was kind enough to tell me a little about her company's PO-MOtion software which lets even non-tech whizzes create low cost, easy to use interactive floor and/or wall projection environments.  (You can see the software in action by watching the video at the top of this post or by clicking here.)

Better yet, Meghan let this tech skeptic "test drive" the software for myself.  I can say from experience that the software is simple to set up, straightforward to use, and FUN!  The software works with Macs or PCs, and there is even an IR version that interfaces with the X-Box Kinect sensor.  (I was even able to make the PO-MOtion software work with my 5 year old laptop!) 

Two things that set PO-Motion apart from similar projection environments you might have seen are: the low-entry point, price-wise, for creating a complete hardware/software set-up, and the ease of using your own internal staff to put either "prepackaged" scenes, or your own custom scenes, into action.

Now, here's where the CONTEST comes in!

Meghan and PO-MO are offering one grand prize winner a custom designed scene (valued up to $1,000.00!)  Not only can you create a cool tech space in your exhibit halls, but you'll get to create something with Meghan and the PO-MO crew that is unique to your museum.


Anyone can enter in three easy steps:

1) Download the free 30-day trial software and two demo scenes from the PO-MOtion website.

2) Publish a public video of yourself using PO-MOtion on YouTube. The video must have the words PO-MOtion Interactive Floor and Wall Software in the title.

3) Email the YouTube video link to: info@po-motion.com with the subject line I Love PO-MOtion.


Legalistic boilerplate: 

• The contest is open until July 31st, 2012

• The video with the most views by July 31st, 2012 will win a custom designed scene, valued up to $1,000.00

• The contest is open to museums anywhere in the world. Verification will be required prior to issuing any prize.

• The grand prize winner will be announced August 5th, 2012. 


So what are you waiting for?  You've got a month to strut your stuff and have a chance to win a cool prize for your museum!


Thanks again to Meghan and PO-MO for offering this opportunity to ExhibiTricks readers.


Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)