Switched

Debug by EDHV

Dutch design firm EDHV's 'Debug' installation was one of the most popular features of the exhibition (as well as the creative force behind the Bits n' Pieces logo). The 'Debug' contraption utilizes live crickets in conjunction with tracking software, a webcam, some scripting and an oversize printer. The webcam tracks the movement of the bugs within an enclosed glass frame, and translates their movements into lines on the screen. Fast moving bugs produce thin lines, slow ones make thick lines, immobile ones create blobs, and diagonal movement changes the line color. The result is a collaboration between nature and technology to create highly unique -- and visually stunning -- graphic designs.



Brainwave Sofa by Lucas Maassen and Unfold

The 'Brainwave Sofa' by Lucas Maassen and Dries Verbruggen from Unfold immediately evokes the work of topography-loving artist Maya Lin. But instead of delineating earthly contours, 'Brainwave' describes the psychic landscape, as a physical manifestation of Maassen's own neural activity. For three seconds, Maassen closed his eyes while hooked up to a brainwave scanner. The resulting file was sent to a CNC milling machine, which hewed the 3-D shape into soft foam. Maassen's in-joke here is that designers of the future will only have to close their eyes to create a unique piece of furniture. We're laughing with him, but we also want that sofa.





Jointed Pieces by byAMT Studio

byAMT Studio's 'Jointed Pieces' represents the awesome, game-changing capabilities of 3-D printing. Normally, a ball joint is unable to be manufactured in one piece using previous techniques like injection-molded plastics or ceramics (it usually has to be made with separately molded pieces). 'Jointed Pieces' questions that problem, and finds that 3-D printing is the best way to manufacture complex forms. For the exhibition, byAMT displayed some wonderfully simple, organic-looking bracelets formed by powder-based selective laser sintering. "The reason you cannot do this with any other technique is because we cannot create a ball inside a ball with any technique other than 3-D printing," says designer Alissia Melka-Teichroew. "Because of the powder [used in the 3-D printing], we're able to create space between the inner and outer ball." As opposed to the standard use of ball joints -- either in cars or hip replacements -- this application is novel, forward-thinking and beautiful.






Mellitus by Doug Bucci

Doug Bucci's 'Mellitus' bracelets take bespoke jewelry to an entirely new level. Bucci translated the data from his own Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) device -- which Type-1 diabetics use to monitor their real-time blood sugar levels -- into graphical interpretations of blood cells. He then used a 3-D printer to transform those graphics into a stunning personalized piece of jewelery. Look at the display from the exhibition in the gallery below, which shows three different versions of Bucci's bracelet, each corresponding to different levels of his blood-sugar health.



Utanalog by Unfold

In 1975, computer graphics researcher Martin Newell created the Utah teapot, a 3-D computer model that has since become a standard image for 3-D graphic artists and something of in-joke in the graphics community. With sly appearances in 'Toy Story' and even 'The Simpsons' 'Treehouse of Horror' episode where Homer discovers the third dimension, the Utah teapot might even be considered one of the original memes. For Bits 'n Pieces, the designers at Unfold contributed the geometric 'Utanalog' -- the analog, real-world (and fully functional) version of the famous digital rendering. We like it even better than the honored Melitta teapot from which Newell modeled the Utah.






Innovative substances at Material ConneXion

After you see all of the impressive designs up front, check out the Materials Library in the back room. Featuring 4,500 kinds of fascinating, weird, beautiful, and completely inexplicable materials -- with everything from textiles to laser-etched metals to holographic glass -- the Library is a tactile experience all its own.