Digital Apollo

Man, machine and the dawn of software in the space age
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In Digital Apollo, MIT professor of the history of engineering David Mindell plumbs the archives at the university in order to explore the tenuous relationship between man and machine during the Apollo landings. While machines had long defined human undertakings, it was the rise of software and intelligent machines that caused the most pronounced shift in mechanical interactions. As Mindell puts it, “Astronauts and their spacecraft were but the most visible manifestation of broad changes that raised fundamental questions: in a world of intelligent machines, who is in control?”

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Mindell reveals that in all six Apollo landings, a NASA pilot took control of the landing. Neil Armstrong was the first to do so, responding to an alarm in the guidance software that threatened to abort the mission. Integral to the design of these systems was both the automated and interactive components. Programmers were forced to come to grips with the limits of their own system and those of the pilots. In the end, it was always a synthesis of the two skill sets that resulted in a successful lunar landing.

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The book includes images from the various missions, interviews with NASA personnel, and a wealth of research that even the most informed space fans can enjoy. Mindell avoids the temptation to glorify the space program, instead dealing with the nitty gritty logistics involved in getting a man to the moon. Digital Apollo succeeds in providing an inside track to one of the most difficult technological challenges of the 20th century.

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The recent cancellation of the Constellation program and the uncertain future of space exploration lends special gravity to this volume. The 2008 hardcover of Digital Apollo didn’t get the love it deserved, so we’re letting you in on the new softcover release of this incredible work.

Digital Apollo is available from Amazon for $12.


Marcelo Coelho

Stunning explorations in physical interface design from an MIT Media Lab student

by Meghan Killeen

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Boasting a list of innovations of sci-fi proportions, designer and researcher Marcelo Coelho paints a future that is both accessible and immediate. Referencing daily materials and human behavior, Coelho creates objects that feel technologically tailored and socially integrated. After completing his BFA in Computation Arts at Montreal’s Concordia University, Coelho relocated to Cambridge, MA, where he is currently a PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab as a member of Fluid Interfaces Group. Focused on enhancing the human-computer relationship, Fluid designs interfaces that are as informational as they are experiential by seamlessly integrating digital content with the physical world.

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Projects include luminary technology like Coelho’s magnetic lighting installation, “Six-Forty by Four-Eighty,” created in collaboration with studio partner (and co-creator behind the Rube Goldberg music video for OK Go) Jamie Zigelbaum for the 2010 Design Miami/Basel forum. The 220 pixel-tiles that comprise the installation are modified in color, wall placement and lighting speed, with the human touch serving as an inter-connective conduit between each tile. By bringing the pixels off the screen and on the wall, the focus is on “the materiality of computation itself”—an innovative concentration that earned Zigelbaum + Coelho the 2010 W Hotels Designer of the Future Award.

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Merging the fundamentals of technology with edible essentials, Coelho (in collaboration with Amit Zoran) have pioneered the culinary futurism of “digital gastronomy” with a conceptual design called Cornucopia. Featuring four prototypes, the project examines the fusion of ingredients in harmony with new cooking modalities. “Cornucopia emerged from a desire to imagine what it would be like to cook with the aid of computer-controlled machines, which could not only help with the food manipulation process but also bring in massive amounts of information,” explains Coelho. Ranging from a customizing candy maker (The Digital Chocolatier) to a 3D food printer (The Digital Fabricator), each prototype encourages experimentation with food.

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Coelho proves that the discerning palate isn’t just relegated to cooking with his Art-O-Meter prototype, a device that evaluates the artistic taste of an attending audience at an art exhibition. Using a sensor, the Art-O-Meter records the amount of time that the viewer stands in front of the artwork, which is measured against the total length of time for the exhibition. Despite the ingenuity of the product, Coelho indicates that the response was divided into two camps—”the people who loved it because now they could finally tell the good art from the bad art, and people who hated it because they believed that now science was able to measure the quality of an artwork in a quantitative way.”

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Again mixing organic materials with scientific application, Coelho creates computers out of a substrate of paper and circuit boards using a method dubbed “pulp-based computing” Coelho says this project “shows how we can create artifacts that behave in computational ways but still carry with them the physical and cultural qualities that we normally associate with paper.” He envisions this method as manifesting in the potential forms of self-updating boarding passes or digital newspapers that mimic the texture and behavior of the printed format.

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Coelho continues to explore human interaction with technology through kinetic clothing designs created in conjunction with electronic textile studio, XS Labs. “Developing a new kind of kinetic fabric was a way to create a textile display that looked and felt like fabric, rather than an LED screen,” states Coelho. The designs display anthropomorphic functions like body heat activated coloration and a floral accent that blooms every 15 seconds.

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Looking towards the future, Coelho observes, “Technology plays an incredible role at reconfiguring how we experience the world and the really exciting part is that the human-computer chapter has barely started.”

Coelho’s luminescent installation project, “Six-Forty by Four-Eighty” will be on display at the W Hotels St. Petersburg Premiere Event and then at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. in June 2011.

The Audi Icons series, inspired by the all-new Audi A7, showcases 16 leading figures united by their dedication to innovation and design.


Hello Georgia

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After launching our redesign a few weeks ago we received a lot of feedback about the choice of Courier for our body copy. While we loved how the retro aesthetic provided a nice contrast to the crispness of the layout, many readers felt it was a strain on the eyes. We then posted about this asking for opinions on Courier vs. Georgia vs. Times and based on your feedback combined with our preferences we landed on Georgia which you’ll notice has now replaces Courier throughout the site.

Thanks to all of you who shared your thoughts on this, we really appreciate your feedback!


Announcement: CH Daily, RSS and Courier

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After launching our redesign on Monday we’ve received a ton of great feedback and constructive criticism as well as a few bug reports.

Lagging behind the launch of the site we’ve gotten our CH Daily email newsletter back up and running with our new host and RSS is now fully repaired. You can subscribe to either of those here if you’re not already.

While the overwhelming response to the redesign has been positive, a few of you have voiced your distaste for our new body copy font, Courier. We like that it’s retro and feel strongly about having a different body font from the headers and nav, but understand that a monospace serif is not the easiest on the eyes. So we’re asking you, which you’d prefer, Georgia or Times. Drop us a line and let us know your choice. To help the decision, this post is repeated below in each.

Times

After launching our redesign on Monday we’ve received a ton of great feedback and constructive criticism as well as a few bug reports.

Lagging behind the launch of the site we’ve gotten our CH Daily email newsletter back up and running with our new host and RSS is now fully repaired. You can subscribe to either of those here if you’re not already.

While the overwhelming response to the redesign has been positive, a few of you have voiced your distaste for our new body copy font, Courier. We like that it’s retro and feel strongly about having a different body font from the headers and nav, but understand that a monospace serif is not the easiest on the eyes. So we’re asking you, which you’d prefer, Georgia or Times. Drop us a line and let us know your choice. To help the decision, this post is repeated below in each.

Georgia

After launching our redesign on Monday we’ve received a ton of great feedback and constructive criticism as well as a few bug reports.

Lagging behind the launch of the site we’ve gotten our CH Daily email newsletter back up and running with our new host and RSS is now fully repaired. You can subscribe to either of those here if you’re not already.

While the overwhelming response to the redesign has been positive, a few of you have voiced your distaste for our new body copy font, Courier. We like that it’s retro and feel strongly about having a different body font from the headers and nav, but understand that a monospace serif is not the easiest on the eyes. So we’re asking you, which you’d prefer, Georgia or Times. Drop us a line and let us know your choice. To help the decision, this post is repeated below in each.