openMaterials

SMART TEXTILES SALON September 25, 2009, Ghent, Belgium The programme is organised together with 80th Anniversary of the Department of Textiles at Ghent University and 6th International Conference on Textile and Polymer Biotechnology. The exhibition introduces the latest demonstrator and prototype developments in the field of smart textiles and intelligent wearable systems. The displayed items will [...]

Interactivos?’09: Garage Science was an intensive project development workshop (January 28 through February 14, 2009) and a seminar that explored practices where art, science and technology meet. Participants were invited to turn the Medialab Prado, Madrid into a garage laboratory where low-cost, accessible materials were used to develop objects and installations that combine software, hardware [...]

Researchers at Europe’s Atomic Energy Commission, in France, have shown that vibrations from raindrops can generate enough energy to operate certain low power wireless sensors. The findings could help improve networks of wireless sensors that measure conditions like temperature, pressure, or the presence of pollutants. These networks provide early warning systems for dangerous air [...]

UK based company Polymertronics are developing band aids incorporating light-emitting diodes that can be used to treat skin cancer in combination with light-sensitive drugs. The band aids contain organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and when used in conjunction with light-sensitive drugs (which are applied to the skin as a cream) the light activates the drugs, destroying the [...]

This year for the first time there was a workshop at CHI in conjunction with Dorkbot: DIY for CHI Methods, Communities, and Values of Reuse and Customization. The workshop coincided with the 27th annual conference on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI) ACM SIGCHI 2009 held in Boston, USA this year 4-9 April. The workshop seemed like a [...]

Philip Ball in an interview with Jennifer Leonard (for the book Massive Change): “It’s about moving away from the classical idea of materials – inert stuff that serves a structural role – toward the more contemporary notion of materials. More and more, materials are active and respond to stimuli in their environment. Materials can light [...]