PIE ! A playful approach to invention
PIE is “Playful Invention and Exploration” – or integrating engineering with artistic expression. Their web page is a treasure chest for any maker.
Lightplay. This is one of their awesome art projects. Also try “marble machines”, the animations on the page are a joy to watch.
New Light Traces
Noel came in for a Light Traces session this weekend. After experimenting with light traces for a long time I was excited to work with a POI artist! He is also a math teacher and I learned to know him through our hands-on teacher workshops here at the Explo.
Have a look at the first pictures we did (on flickr). The theme is “geometry” – which is also the topic of the exhibits I am currently working on. Click on the picture to see more samples and instructions:
Want more?
A while ago I did “Light Traces of Baseball” with Amy Snyder, a professional Photographer! Here is another Flickr Set: Light Traces of Baseball. Enjoy.
Infinity – Video Feedback
Have a look at the exhibit I am currently working on. I started to experiment with “video feedback” and soon got fascinated. This video shows an example of the intricate patterns that emerge when you point a camera at it’s own picture. There is really no processing or fancy electronics involved, just feeding the picture back into the camera and watching how it gets replicated over and over again.
Lava Lamp
It looks so cool and it’s so easy to make: The Alca Seltzer Lava Lamp.
It’s got science in it, too! Read more about the Alca Seltzer Lava Lamp
Exploratorium Baseball in SF Chronicle
The Light Traces I did together with Amy Snyder are featured in the San Francisco Chronicle today (06/09/07)! The front page article talks about the science of pitching and has a few cool and definitely funny light traces pictures in it! Here is the link: A neophyte takes on the science of pitching
Have a look at our Light Traces of Baseball featuring Dave Barker (he is my coach).Baseball gallery
Read more: How to make Light Traces
Honeycomb and other patterns
Another exhibit I am prototyping for Geometry Playground. Flowing sand in this exhibit is just a tool to simulate “Voronoi Cell growth”. Believe it or not, hundreds of patterns we find in nature can be constructed using this simple geometric rule. The video shows voronoi cells growing into a honeycomb pattern…
ExNet Tinkering Workshop
That was an awesome workshop with our ExNet partners, I had a lot of fun meeting other museum educators and exhibit developers and learning from their experience. Thanks everyone for taking part and helping to prototype a marble track exhibit!
Summer Institute 2007 Motion-mania
Blinkies in the Physics Summer Institute. Click on the Photos, and the first video(!) of Light Traces or download the Hand-out .
There is also a FLICKR PICTURE GALLERY
Video of backward spinning wheel with two LEDs
Thanks for experimenting with us!
Free fall
Does gravity pull equally on heavy and light objects? – A free fall experiment done with only a camera and a pulsed LED light. How to…
Find more light traces in this gallery:
Exploratorium Quarterly – Baseball
Baseball is the focus of the next Exploratorium Quarterly (July 2007)! Have a look at Light Traces of Baseball featuring Dave Barker (he is the explOratorium’s baseball expert). 
Read more: How to make Light Traces
Flickr Photos
|
