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這聽起來或許很怪,但我是水泥磚的超級粉絲。第一塊水泥磚製造於1868年,源於一個非常簡單的想法,將水泥製成大小固定、可組裝在一起的磚塊。很快地,水泥磚成了世上最常用的建築元件,它使我們能建造大於人類本身的東西,一磚一瓦地砌成各種建築和橋樑。基本上,水泥磚已成為我們這個時代的積木。
將近一百年後的1947年,樂高為我們帶來了這個,它被稱為自動組裝積木。短短幾年內,樂高積木佔領了每個家庭,據估計,已製造出的樂高積木超過4千億塊,或地球上每個人平均擁有75塊。你不需要是一位工程師,就能建造漂亮的房子、橋樑和建築,樂高使這一切成為可能。基本上,樂高將水泥磚這種現實世界中的積木,變成我們想像世界中的積木。
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
This may sound strange, but I'm a big fan of the concrete block. The first concrete blocks were manufactured in 1868 with a very simple idea: modules made of cement of a fixed measurement that fit together. Very quickly concrete blocks became the most-used construction unit in the world. They enabled us to to build things that were larger than us, buildings, bridges, one brick at a time. Essentially concrete blocks had become the building block of our time.
Almost a hundred years later in 1947, LEGO came up with this. It was called the Automatic Binding Brick. And in a few short years, LEGO bricks took place in every household. It's estimated that over 400 billion bricks have been produced -- or 75 bricks for every person on the planet. You don't have to be an engineer to make beautiful houses, beautiful bridges, beautiful buildings. LEGO made it accessible. LEGO has essentially taken the concrete block, the building block of the world, and made it into the building block of our imagination.
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就在同一年,貝爾實驗室即將發表下一場革命-下一代積木。電晶體是一種小型塑膠元件,將我們從靜態磚塊堆疊而成的世界,帶入一個其中事物均彼此互動的世界。就像水泥磚一樣,電晶體使你可以一磚一瓦地建造出更大、更複雜的電路。
但其中有一個主要區別:電晶體僅設計給專家使用。我本身不願接受我們這個時代的積木竟只有專家才能使用的想法,所以我決定改變這種情況。八年前,當時我在媒體實驗室,我開始著手研究這個想法-如何讓藝術家和設計師也擁有工程師的能力。
幾年前,我開始研發littleBits,我們來看一下它們是如何運作的。LittleBits是一個電子模組,每一塊都有特定功能,它們預先設計成燈光、聲音、馬達或感測器。最棒的是,它們彼此以磁力結合,所以你不可能以錯誤的方式組裝。這些磚塊以顏色區分,綠色代表輸出,藍色代表電源,粉紅色代表輸入,橘色代表電線,因此,你只需要將藍色連上綠色,很快地,你可以開始製造更大型電路。你將藍色與綠色連接,可以製造出一盞燈;你可以將一個旋鈕放在中間,現在你製造出一個小調光器;將旋鈕換成脈衝模組,在這裡…現在你製造出一盞小閃光燈;加上這個蜂鳴器來增加額外效果,就可製造出一台會發出噪音的機器。我得停手了。
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Meanwhile the exact same year, at Bell Labs the next revolution was about to be announced, the next building block. The transistor was a small plastic unit that would take us from a world of static bricks piled on top of each other to a world where everything was interactive. Like the concrete block, the transistor allows you to build much larger, more complex circuits, one brick at a time.
But there's a main difference: The transistor was only for experts. I personally don't accept this, that the building block of our time is reserved for experts, so I decided to change that. Eight years ago when I was at the Media Lab, I started exploring this idea of how to put the power of engineers in the hands of artists and designers.
A few years ago I started developing littleBits. Let me show you how they work. LittleBits are electronic modules with each one specific function. They're pre-engineered to be light, sound, motors and sensors. And the best part about it is they snap together with magnets. So you can't put them the wrong way. The bricks are color-coded. Green is output, blue is power, pink is input and orange is wire. So all you need to do is snap a blue to a green and very quickly you can start making larger circuits. You put a blue to a green, you can make light. You can put a knob in between and now you've made a little dimmer. Switch out the knob for a pulse module, which is here, and now you've made a little blinker. Add this buzzer for some extra punch and you've created a noise machine. I'm going to stop that.
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因此,除了單純的玩樂之外,事實上littleBits的功能相當強大。不需編寫程式、接線、焊接,littleBits 讓你用簡單而直覺的手勢完成組裝設計。想要使這個光閃爍得快或慢一點,你只需要轉動這個旋鈕,基本上,它會使這個脈衝變快或變慢。隱藏在littleBits背後的想法是,它是一個有無限可能的資料庫,我們希望將世上每一種互動功能做成現成的積木。燈光、聲音、太陽能電池板、馬達-一切都能隨手取用。
我們曾經觀察孩子們玩littleBits的情形,這是一種不可思議的體驗,最棒的是,他們開始瞭解日常生活中使用的電子設備,這是他們在學校無法學習到的。例如夜燈如何運作,或為什麼電梯門能保持開啟狀態,或iPod如何對觸碰產生反應。我們也曾將littleBits帶進設計學校,因此,例如,我們讓對電子完全沒有概念的設計師開始將littleBits當作設計材料使用。你們可以看到,用毛氈和紙瓶,Geordie做出了…
(叮噹)
(嗡嗡聲)
幾星期前,我們將littleBits帶進羅德島設計學院,將它交給一些沒有任何工程經驗的設計師,只給他們一些紙板、木頭和紙-對他們說,「隨便做點什麼。」這是他們完成的一個項目,一個以動作感應的五彩碎紙加農砲。(笑聲)但別急,這其實是我最喜歡的項目-用黏土做的龍蝦,它很怕黑。
(笑聲)
對這些非工程師的人們來說,littleBits成了另一種材料,電子元件也成了另一種材料。我們希望人人都能使用這種材料,所以littleBits是開放源碼的,你可以上網下載所有設計檔,自行製造。我們希望鼓勵這個世界充滿創造者、發明者和貢獻者,因為我們生活的這個世界,這個互動的世界,屬於我們大家。所以,勇往直前,開始發明吧!
謝謝。
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So beyond simple play, littleBits are actually pretty powerful. Instead of having to program, to wire, to solder, littleBits allow you to program using very simple intuitive gestures. So to make this blink faster or slower, you would just turn this knob and basically make it pulse faster or slower. The idea behind littleBits is that it's a growing library. We want to make every single interaction in the world into a ready-to-use brick. Lights, sounds, solar panels, motors -- everything should be accessible.
We've been giving littleBits to kids and seeing them play with them. And it's been an incredible experience. The nicest thing is how they start to understand the electronics around them from everyday that they don't learn at schools. For example, how a nightlight works, or why an elevator door stays open, or how an iPod responds to touch. We've also been taking littleBits to design schools. So for example, we've had designers with no experience with electronics whatsoever start to play with littleBits as a material. Here you see, with felt and paper water bottles, we have Geordie making ...
(Clanging)
(Buzzing)
A few weeks ago we took littleBits to RISD and gave them to some designers with no experience in engineering whatsoever -- just cardboard, wood and paper -- and told them "Make something." Here's an example of a project they made, a motion-activated confetti canon ball. (Laughter) But wait, this is actually my favorite project. It's a lobster made of playdough that's afraid of the dark.
(Laughter)
To these non-engineers, littleBits became another material, electronics became just another material. And we want to make this material accessible to everyone. So littleBits is open-source. You can go on the website, download all the design files, make them yourself. We want to encourage a world of creators, of inventors, of contributors, because this world that we live in, this interactive world, is ours. So go ahead and start inventing.
Thank you.