ME News
Edition No 79 – August 2011
Innovation Design Engineering Course
Mr Gaetano Ling, a graduate on the Innovation Design Engineering
course has showcased his work recently in an article in the Evening
Standard. Gaetano has developed a suite of interactive tools to make
museums and galleries more fun for children, including magic goggles, a
Harry Potter style map and brushes that make sounds.
Gaetano Ling with the prototype Corbu Goggles
Corbu Goggles
The prototype virtual reality glasses called Corbu Goggles and they
‘magically’ reveal the creative processes behind artwork. He has also
developed a device that enables visually impaired children to hear sounds
linked to a particular painting and a Harry Potter style map that gradually
reveals more of itself to make navigating galleries and museums a more
adventurous experience. Gaetano says: “The inspiration for this
technology came from a trip I had with my eight year old nephew to the
National Gallery in Washington D.C. He actually wanted to go to the Air
and Space Museum because it was more interactive and fun, which got
me thinking about ways of bringing more adventure and fun into art
galleries and museums. The interactive tools that I have developed could
provide a completely new way for young people to view artwork,
empowering them with technology, turning the tables so that they can
teach adults about the masterpieces that they are looking at.”
The Corbu Goggles have a camera inserted in front of the frame, which
can detect what a wearer is looking at in a gallery. He has developed
barcode labels that are positioned next the artwork and when the camera
detects these, visual information stored in a computer is downloaded into
two mini computer screens, positioned in each goggle. The visual
information morphs the artwork for the wearer, peeling back layers to
show the artistic inspiration behind the masterpiece.
Gaetano has developed a number of demonstrations to show the Corbu
Goggles in action. In one of these, the wearer can see the inspiration
behind a copy of a painting created by the Dutch artist Theo van
Doesburg, the original of which is currently on display in the same gallery
that Gaetano took his nephew to. The painting, called “The Cow”, is an
abstract piece consisting of brightly coloured squares. The goggles morph
the painting into the original sketch of a cow that the painting is based on.
This picture then evolves into an abstract painting of the cow, which was
an early version of the artwork, before turning into the final abstract
painting.
The Corbu Goggles were named in honour of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret,
who is better known as Le Corbusier, a famous architect, designer and
urban planner and one of the pioneers of the modernist architecture
movement. He also taught Gaetano’s father an architecture and in
homage to this family connection, Gaetano has styled his prototype Corbu
Goggles on Le Corbusier’s famous round spectacles.
Sound Brush
Gaetano’s ‘Sound Brush’ is designed to enable visually impaired children
to experience artwork. The technology, which resembles a microphone,
works by detecting the barcodes next to each artwork. These prompt a
computer to relay audio information to a processer in the device, so that
the holder can hear this through a speaker.
In one demonstration, pointing the Sound Brush at Theo van Doesburg’s
“The Cow”, the user hears a cow mooing to signify the inspiration behind
the painting. In another, pointing the Sound Brush at a painting by the
artist Jackson Pollock, the holder hears jazz music, as this heavily
influenced the artist’s abstract expressionistic painting style.
Harry Potter-style map
The Harry Potter-style interactive map developed by Gaetano is made
from heat activated material called thermochromatic film. Transistors
embedded inside this film are electronically switched on by a computer
when it senses, via the barcodes, that a user has seen all the artwork in a
space. The transistors then heat up a new section of the thermochromatic
film to reveal another part of the map, providing a pathway to a new
gallery space for the map user to explore.
In the future, Gaetano hopes to develop his technology further. He is
currently looking for an industrial partner to help him to commercialise the
interactive tools. Further information can be found at Gaetano’s web site:
http://www.gaetanoling.com/
Professor Tony Kinloch says: “Gaetano’s technology is just one example
of the outstanding work that has been done by this year’s cohort of IDE
graduates. This innovative course instils confidence in students to follow
their creative instincts and develop the next generation of innovative
technologies, which could one day grow into new products for consumers
and industries for the UK. We wish this year’s graduates all the best as
they begin a new chapter of their careers.”
…..………..
Hello to
Ms Natasha Studinska, Departmental Finance Officer, who started on 1st
August.
Ms Claire Dempster, Undergraduate Office Administrator, who started on
22nd August.
Miss Tatiana Garcia Armingol, Academic Visitor in the Thermofluids
Division, who started on 19th August.
Goodbye to
Dr Chang Ki Min, Academic Visitor in the Tribology Group, who left on 31st
August.
Contributions for future months please to Claire Soulal
Items of interest could include:
Prizes and awards (staff and students)
Forthcoming events, seminars, etc
Information on events that have taken place
Mentions in the media, either College wide or external publications
Short articles on new research interests in the Department