Carlo Ratti

As your boss transitions to the next point in his speech, the Flyfire pixels behind him transfigure into a new, three-dimensional table that slowly shows the movement of the sales trend line. In the background, you hear the peaceful cascading of the office walls, which are made of running water. Certainly this description of work stems from a futuristic, fantasy world. Yet according to Carlo Ratti, these design technologies already exist. Ratti's TED Talk discussed three main new technologies, all revolving around the idea of intelligent city design. He spoke about the ability of society to track the exact path hundreds of discarded objects, the creation of buildings with water “pixels” serving as walls, and the invention of Flyfire pixels. Though many of these new products seem more fun and less practical, they may be the first step in a chain of extremely beneficial developments.

Ratti gave the example in his speech of an experiment involving several hundred ordinary trash items whose journeys across America were carefully recorded. As people saw exactly where there trash landed, they began to realize that their waste did not just disappear after the trash truck picked it up. Ratti believes that spreading this knowledge of the course of waste could greatly assist in the "green" movement to reduce human impact on the environment. However, the idea of seeing the full effect of our actions could be applied far beyond the purpose of minimizing trash. Imagine the whole world and all of its inhabitants, each with an individual profile, mapped out on one giant, virtual social connector. If all people had access to this social map, they could post their actions and feelings on it. After a while, people would begin to see connections between the actions of some and the feelings of others. If this social map were capable of drawing lines between the people who directly affected each other (in the same way lines were drawn between the different cities the pieces of trash traveled to), people could see the full extent of all of their actions. For example, if Sue had a momentary loss of patience and yelled at Kera for spilling her coffee, then Kera cancelled her date with Tom because she was so flustered with work and had been driven over the top by Sue's comment, and then Tom neglected to call his mom that night because he was so worried about Kera's reasons for cancelling, and so on, wouldn't Sue had thought twice about yelling at Kera if she had realized the chain reaction her words would trigger? If you were able to examine how every action of yours affected the lives of others, wouldn't you take greater care with your actions? Connecting the world and making people aware of the full effects of every move they make could lead to a much more careful and caring population.

The next topic Ratti moved into involved the design of buildings. His buildings, however, were extremely unique; instead of using cement, stone, or brick for the walls, he used water. Essentially, Ratti applied the ability of computer pixels to produce images, to water (using the droplets as pixels), and now has a pavilion built, complete with water walls that spell out words, form shapes, and part to let people jump through. For me, this building causes internal controversy. On the one hand, the structure is better than most because it involves running water, which is relaxing, and incorporates play into work. According to Daniel Pink, both of these attributes will lead to better results from workers inside the building and improve mental health. On the other hand, this building seems hardly practical. It seems as though a sheet of water would do little to protect people inside from the elements. Unless the water droplets are chemically different from ordinary H20, they would cause trouble in any weather other than mild sunshine. A large wind gust would spatter people inside with water, low temperatures would freeze the walls, high temperatures would evaporate the walls, and precipitation on any angle would slice right through the walls. The building can also be lowered into the ground (the only solid parts of it are the roof and the posts holding it up, which evidently collapse). This would be handy in large and landlocked cities, where buildings and entertainment venues compete for land. With this technology, though, the building could ideally be up for daytime use and lowered at night to allow more space for activities. Erecting and lowering the building daily would be a hassle, though, because it would require the building to be empty after use each day. Essentially, a collapsible building with water walls is practical only for certain uses. A train or bus station, which does not need to be multiple stories tall, is not filled with hundreds of desks and machines, and does not necessarily need to shelter inhabitants from the weather, would be a smart use of this technology. An office building would be impractical. Most people can't concentrate on their work with hundreds of kids jumping in and out of their work building and playing with the walls.

Ratti expanded upon the idea of interactive buildings by addressing interactive technology in general, and how it could be applied to all architecture. My major concern with this is the effect it will have on human interactions. If inanimate objects are suddenly able to provide us with most of the entertainment we need, will friendly interactions be necessary? Family likely will always be necessary, because (at least for now) no technology can replace the empathy, love, and understanding of parents and siblings. If people never have to leave their house for entertainment, though, will there still be a need for friends? Already, as television, video games, and interactive toys become more entertaining and responsive, kids spend less time outside with other human beings and more time cooped up in their rooms. Society will need to exercise caution to ensure that walls and screens do not replace the company of real humans.

Finally, Ratti addressed the topic of Flyfire. Flyfire is a group of orbs which all have small wings on top of them that enable them to fly around like helicopters. These orbs have been programmed together to form moving, two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. Flyfire could obviously help add to presentations by making them more visual and engaging, but Ratti discussed and even more complex use for them. In an experiment, the movements of a professional dancer were captured on a computer and made into a video of moving pixels. Ratti said that the movement of these computer pixels could be programmed into the Flyfire “pixels,” thereby creating a life-size replication of the dancer, capable of performing the recorded dance. Honestly, this possibility frightens me. Ratti seems to be describing a way science has found to re-create humans. While these "pixel people" are extremely limited in the human functions they can carry out, and have no capacity to think, they could easily replace several jobs. Like robots, they could be programmed to carry out the basic, recordable and repeatable, tasks of humans. The simple, step-by step processes Mr. Pink claims will be lost to outsourcing may instead by lost to flying orbs. Moreover, jobs that Pink believed were safe, such as performing, involve repeating the same movements over and over, and could thus be replaced by the orb robots. Ratti is combining our dimension with the two-dimensional world of computers and pixels, creating pseudo-humans that could very quickly cost hundreds of humans their jobs.

The far-reaching architectural concepts Ratti describes bring with them much awe and wonder. They are but another example of how mankind has managed to achieve the impossible in all aspects of civilization, and how every step we take inevitably leads to many more.


More about Carlo Ratti: http://www.ted.com/speakers/carlo_ratti.html


Ratti's TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/carlo_ratti_architecture_that_senses_and_responds.html

Other Ideas of Ratti's:   http://bigthink.com/carloratti

Digital Tour of Water Pavilion Features:

Video of the Actual Water Pavilion:

Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is bent on improving education. By providing students with one-on-one attention and by incorporating relaxed fun into learning, he has already initiated a movement to change the face of learning. Eggers describes in his TED video the multiple, new-era tutoring facilities that have popped up around the country in response to his original site. These educational building are unique; the front rooms of them contain stores in which fun and comedic items, such as pirate or super hero supplies, are sold. In the back room, several volunteers tutor individual students that arrive after school. Not only do students receive help at these sites, they also have the opportunity to compose their own novels alongside interns and journalists. In my opinion, these new learning facilities should be included in every community nation-wide because they help tackle two of education’s largest challenges today.

Many students struggle through their curriculum simply because they cannot remain engaged in their studies. After all, with all of the information teachers drill into students’ heads, it becomes hard to avoid a loss of interest. By the time high school, and even middle school, rolls around, kids’ views of school have switched from an engaging, learning experience, to a chore. One hundred years ago, society would have deemed children crazy for not valuing their educations and feeling grateful for every minute they spent in school. Back then, an education was a luxury that spelled out certain success for those lucky enough to receive one. Education has developed, however, to become commonplace; an education does not guarantee success, nor does a college degree. Instead of ensuring future prosperity, these accomplishments are merely the baseline requirements to even open the doors to success. Thus, students no longer are able to see the direct effect their learning will have on their futures. Kids today may understand that in the long run a better education equals greater prosperity; yet in the classroom, each day of note-taking and memorizing equations seems hardly relevant. For example, I eventually hope to enter into medical school, and thus my main concerns lie in science and mathematics. However, in order to graduate from my high school, I must obtain over twice as many credits in English as I must in math. To me, this means that I must waste my time studying a subject that I will not need extensive knowledge of. The tutoring/teaching style Eggers has set up is the first step towards solving this problem. Students in his original facility learn next to magazine writers and interns, who both help and inspire them. While in the facility, kids also have the opportunity to write and publish their own books with the help of editors. Instructors speak to the kids individually and concentrate directly on their needs, allowing students to concentrate their efforts on the subjects they are most concerned with and focus on the assignments that will benefit them personally. These methods display for kids exactly how their day-to-day work, especially in English, will apply to their futures.  Since the kids also learn in a fun, friendly, environment, the drudgery associated with schoolwork disappears. Instead of trudging home to independently complete tedious homework, kids travel to a club filled with people willing to help them and wanting to discuss. Students are released, often with their homework completed, by 5:30 pm. This accomplishment solves the largest issue I personally have with education.  At times, it completely consumes my life. One quarter may be peaceful and result in at most two hours of homework each night. The next quarter usually then explodes, and my minimum nightly homework requirement shifts to at least three hours, normally four or five (plus around ten hours on the weekends). With the amount of time my classes demand I dedicate to homework, I must sacrifice several things I enjoy in life to meet my teacher’s expectations. If I could accomplish everything I need for school and still have three to four hours remaining every night to pursue whatever passion I choose, undoubtedly I would enjoy and appreciate my education much more.

Egger’s talk about the buildings in which he holds his tutoring sessions in reminded of Daniel Pink’s words on the importance of design. Eggers’ facilities are a prime example of the benefits of good design. When Eggers first advertized for his tutoring studio, he placed a sandwich sign outside of his shop announcing free tutoring inside. Unsurprisingly, he had no business the first few weeks. His sign appeared unprofessional and sloppy, eliminating all chance of parents trusting him to teach their children. Also, the initial sight people saw upon entering his facility was a shop selling pirate paraphernalia. People who did not already know who Eggers was or what he was trying to accomplish would immediately dismiss him as a joker or a loon. If Eggers had placed his teaching workshop or magazine offices in front, or set out a professional advertisement, he would have attracted much more business. Eggers did succeed with design, however, in a few ways with his building. As I mentioned in the paragraph above, the pirate shop adds and air goofiness and play to the tutoring workshop, allowing kids to escape the mentality of being trapped in a schoolroom. The room in which students learn is further visible to parents and other people as they enter the store, creating a feel of openness, community, and faith in the honesty of what Egger is doing.

Eggers finally made a point that students produce their best work when they know it will be published for the world to see. When Eggers made this point, he was referring to the novels several classes had composed together in his shop. This idea of publishing could be made accessible to all classrooms, however, without a publishing facility. Technology has opened the door for all of us to let our voices be heard, independent of assistance from others. If teachers want to encourage students to always produce their best quality work, all they need to do is have students create blogs and websites and post their assignments on them. Once information is on the web, anyone in the world can read it. Essentially, it is published. The more well-known the website, the more pressure students will feel to post quality work. While publishing work online is a terrific idea for ensuring effort is put into important assignments, having students publish everything they write often overwhelms them. When students are asked to publish too much, they give up after realizing they cannot possibly make every piece of work their best quality.  Thus, using the internet as a medium for publication is an effective trigger of instrinsic motivation when used in moderation.

Education truly should learn from the expeditions of Dave Egger, and bring more fun, individualized attention, good design, and publishing into its curriculum.

More about the author: http://www.ted.com/speakers/dave_eggers.html  or  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1101630/bio

More about the tutoring shops: http://826valencia.org/

Dave Egger's TED Talk:

More about the advantage of individualized learning: http://ezinearticles.com/?Students-Learn-Best-With-One-on-One-Instruction&id=1619854

“I wish that you — you personally and every creative individual and organization you know — will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area, and that you’ll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,000 examples of innovative public-private partnerships.”

--Dave Eggers