Month: January 2011

Make: Projects – Kinect privacy shield from Kinect packing foam

My new Kinect is a very cool toy, but it was not lost on me, as I was plugging it in, that I’d given the Microsoft hive-mind a pretty sophisticated set of eyes and ears onto my living room. Sure, I suppose I could only plug it in when I’m using it, but I’m kind of a neat freak about my entertainment center wiring and I don’t want to be digging the Xbox out every time I decide I want certain privacy. Some kind of lens-cap arrangement seemed the easiest solution, and making it out of the foam that the Kinect came packed in avoids the danger of picking some material that might scratch the device or otherwise be incompatible with it over the long term.

Math Monday: Temari balls

Math Monday: Temari balls

By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics Temari balls are a traditional Japanese craft in which colored thread is applied to a sphere in a geometric pattern. This is a modern example, given to me by the Japanese master Kiyoko Urata. There has been a repopularization of temari recently by people such as Carolyn […]

Digital message in a bottle

Digital message in a bottle

In this interactive narrative piece by a group of ITP students, Message in a Bottle uses a creative method of engaging the viewer: The viewer is presented with a simple glass bottle and a plank of wood. Five distinct quotes surround five separate areas of the wooden platform. Upon being picked up and moved across […]