Computational Design Lab

Recent Projects

Glass Pixels Glass Pixels Glass Pixels This prototype demonstrates the possiblity of using switchable “smart glass” to create a low resolution, ambient display. This matrix of six panes of switchable glass was designed to display simple, one-dimensional data in a user’s periphery. In this iteration, users can control the content of the display by tweeting a keyword to […]
Row House Marquee Row House Marquee Row House Marquee The two hundred and fifty individually controlled LED light bulbs embedded in the ceiling of the marquee create a constantly changing, interactive light installation. Permanently installed at the Row House Cinema in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA, the installation forms blobs of light over pedestrians as they pass underneath. The effect […]
Traffic Lights Traffic Lights Traffic Lights Traffic Lights extracts abstract patterns from live public video feeds and translates those patterns to light. Custom software allows users to draw polygons on top of live video. Each polygon measures the amount of change in the section of video directly beneath it. The software then translates that value to the […]
Note Cubes Note Cubes Note Cubes The initial idea was to create a touchable and interactive experience to connect the sense of space with the sense of sound/time to aid young child to build curiosity and interest in music. Note Cubes is a toy, which is a set of high-tech interactive blocks for children to explore sound, notes and rhythms […]
Reverberating Across the Divide Reverberating Across the Divide Reverberating Across the Divide Reverberating Across the Divide reconnects digital and physical contexts through a custom chronomorphologic modeling environment. This modeling interface uses a three phase workflow (3D scanning, 3D modeling, and 3D printing) to enable a designer to craft intricate digital geometries around pre-existing physical contexts. Reverberating Across the Divide: Digital Design Meets […]
Bio-inspired Fabrication Bio-inspired Fabrication Bio-inspired Fabrication This work aims to use inflatable materials and pneumatics as an approach to bring organic properties to machines and to facilitate a safe man-machine interaction with its elasticity. It is designed to achieve a multi-directional locomotion. The fabrication technique was studied from Multigait Soft Robot by Robert F. Shepherd. More on Man via Machine.  

Recent Work In Progress

Interactive Tube Wall Interactive Tube Wall Interactive Tube Wall EXPLORATION OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THREE KINDS OF SPACES:  First, there is the virtual space of dynamic software.  Second there is the physical space of dynamic hardware.  Third there is the ‘inner’ space of human experience in real time. I think of this as a form of choreography.   For this […]
Invent-abling in the works Invent-abling in the works Invent-abling in the works Deren’s project Invent-abling, a materials construction kit, is in development. She will be piloting the first version of her kit with a group of girls in January and February. Check out updates at invent-abling.com
Tracelet Tracelet Tracelet Tracelet is a bracelet that helps you track where you leave things throughout the day. An accelerometer detects the motion of putting something down and triggers a JPEG camera to take a picture and store in on a microSD card. You can then look at these pictures via a USB […]
Cut back Cut back Cut back This interactive cutting board responds to the force of you cutting on it. There are force sensors embedded within the cutting board that trigger different sounds depending on where and how you cut across the surface. The sounds: The cutting board was programmed to make a few different noises. Originally […]
Draw-o-lin: A Music Visualizer for Violin Draw-o-lin: A Music Visualizer for Violin Draw-o-lin: A Music Visualizer for Violin What does music look like? Let Draw-o-lin show you a new way to visualize the music. You can play violin this way. Higher Pitches -> Draw Lines When performer plays a higher pitch compared to the previous one, Draw-o-lin goes forward and backward to draw lines. Lower Pitches -> Draw […]
4Data 4Data 4Data One of the big attractions to MTID was the space it would afford me to continue exploring the potential of 4D objects as data visualizers.  While work has been done on various forms of shape-changing surfaces that update corresponding to data, a tool has yet to be made that is […]

Recent News

CodeLab hosts Little Printer Hackday 13 April 2013 CodeLab hosts Little Printer Hackday 13 April 2013 CodeLab hosts Little Printer Hackday 13 April 2013
Magnetic Appcessories (ACM TEI 2013) Magnetic Appcessories (ACM TEI 2013) Magnetic Appcessories (ACM TEI 2013) Tangible interface designer and inventor Andrea Bianchi, along with his colleague, Ian Oakley (University of Madeira / Carnegie Mellon Europe), have come with a novel approach to interacting with a mobile device. Using the magnetometer built into most modern smartphones, Bianchi and Oakley have created a series of tangible user […]
CoDe Lab projects at 2012 Maker Carnival Beijing CoDe Lab projects at 2012 Maker Carnival Beijing CoDe Lab projects at 2012 Maker Carnival Beijing Posey, Sketchchair, Piccolo, Speakerwire and Algo.Rhythm, five projects designed and developed by CoDe Lab alumnus and current student Michael Philetus Weller, Greg Saul, Tiago Rorke, Cheng Xu and Huaishu Peng, demonstrated at the very first Maker event in Beijing, the 2012 Beijing Maker Carnival. Algo.Rhythm got reported by a local newspaper.
Piccolo at E.G 6 Conference Piccolo at E.G 6 Conference Piccolo at E.G 6 Conference Recognized for it’s unique design and great potential, Piccolo, the tiny CNC robot (invented by CoDeLab alumni and current student), got invited for a demonstration at the E.G. Conference, an interdisciplinary conference gathering innovators in media, technology, entertainment and education.
Help vote for CoDe labber Deren Guler’s project Inventabling! Help vote for CoDe labber Deren Guler’s project Inventabling! Help vote for CoDe labber Deren Guler’s project Inventabling! Deren and her friend Anya are finalists for the Children’s Museum Makeshop wearables grants! That means we need YOUR vote!! There’s only one week to vote – it will only take 2 seconds of your time. Click this link: http://makeshop.pghvoicesofyouth.org/vote-2000 and vote for INVENT-A-BLING! If we win, we get 2,000$ to design […]
CoDe lab student at the Children’s Museum Makeshop CoDe lab student at the Children’s Museum Makeshop CoDe lab student at the Children’s Museum Makeshop Deren Guler an mTID student at the CoDe lab recently completed a 3 week FINE Art Residency at the Children’s Museum in Pittsburgh on the subject of activating origami. She worked with kids and adults of all ages to create interactive and robotic paper sculptures. IMG_0210IMG_0232