ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Merrill - MIT grad student
David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks (and music).

Why you should listen

David Merrill is currently the VP of Product at 3D Robotics, where he builds new, easy-to-use flying robots. He was formerly president and co-founder of Sifteo, a San Francisco startup spun out of his research at the MIT Media Lab. This research helped build an award-winning physical+digital play system and catalog of unique games. He also directed HW and SW on Sifteo products.

David constantly tinkers with next-generation technologies to make physical+digital tools that give people new powers (for good).

He is a human-computer interaction expert, frequent public speaker and aerial photography enthusiast. David's work has been featured by MoMA, the Disocvery Channel, Popular Science and Wired.

His main interest now is the Siftables project, the subject of his TEDTalk, on which he works with Jeevan Kalanithi. In another field of inquiry, Merrill is looking at ways to access digital information in the wider world, when we are away from a traditional computer.

A musician himself, Merril also has a deep interest in new musical interfaces. His Adaptive Music Controller is an instrument that learns its player (rather than the player learning the instrument). And working musicians should check out his AudioPint, a portable case that consolidates instruments, effects and audio processors into a gig-safe rugged housing.

More profile about the speaker
David Merrill | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

David Merrill: Toy tiles that talk to each other

大卫·梅若(David Merrill):Siftables演示 — 一种会思考的玩具

Filmed:
1,947,080 views

毕业于麻省理工学院的大卫·梅若向我们演示了Siftables--饼干般大小、可以用手随意组合的电脑积木。这款先进的玩具可以算算术、演奏乐曲,还会说话。它会成为新一代的掌上学习机吗?
- MIT grad student
David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks (and music). Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I want to start开始 out by asking you to think back to when you were a kid孩子,
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首先,我想请大家回忆一下你们在孩提时代
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playing播放 with blocks.
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玩过的积木。
00:16
As you figured想通 out how to reach达到 out and grasp把握,
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当你构思着怎么去搭建积木
00:18
pick them up and move移动 them around,
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并且去动手操作的时候,
00:20
you were actually其实 learning学习 how to think and solve解决 problems问题
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其实是你正在学习怎样思考和解决问题。
00:22
by understanding理解 and manipulating操纵 spatial空间的 relationships关系.
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这即是对物体的空间结构的理解和感知。
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Spatial空间的 reasoning推理 is deeply connected连接的
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理解物体的空间结构非常有助于
00:28
to how we understand理解 a lot of the world世界 around us.
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我们对很多周围事物的学习。
00:30
So, as a computer电脑 scientist科学家
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因此,作为一个计算机领域的科学家,
00:32
inspired启发 by this utility效用 of our interactions互动 with physical物理 objects对象 --
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在这种手动思考方式的启发下,
00:35
along沿 with my adviser顾问 Pattie帕蒂, and my collaborator合作者 Jeevan杰文 KalanithiKalanithi --
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以及在我的导师Pattie和我的合作伙伴Jeevan Kalanithi的帮助下,
00:39
I started开始 to wonder奇迹 -- what if when we used a computer电脑,
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我开始思考--要是我们能用一种新型计算机
00:42
instead代替 of having this one mouse老鼠 cursor光标 that was a like a digital数字 fingertip指尖
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来代替鼠标移动光标,就好比一种数字化的手指尖
00:45
moving移动 around a flat平面 desktop桌面,
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在桌面移动--那样会如何呢?
00:47
what if we could reach达到 in with both hands and grasp把握 information信息 physically物理,
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要是我们能用手来直接感知信息,
00:51
arranging整理 it the way we wanted?
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按我们的思路来组合信息--那样会如何呢?
00:53
This question was so compelling引人注目 that we decided决定 to explore探索 the answer回答,
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这样的疑问不断萦绕在我的脑海中,于是我们决定去探寻答案,
00:56
by building建造 SiftablesSiftables.
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所以才有了这款Siftables。
00:58
In a nutshell简而言之, a SiftableSiftable is an interactive互动 computer电脑
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简单地说,Siftable是一款互动计算机,
01:01
the size尺寸 of a cookie曲奇饼.
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体积如饼干般大小。
01:03
They're able能够 to be moved移动 around by hand,
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Siftables可以用手随意移动,
01:05
they can sense each other, they can sense their motion运动,
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每块Siftable可以互相感知彼此的移动,
01:07
and they have a screen屏幕 and a wireless无线 radio无线电.
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每块Siftable还有显示屏和无线电装置。
01:10
Most importantly重要的, they're physical物理,
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最重要的是,每块Siftable都是独立的,
01:12
so like the blocks, you can move移动 them just by reaching到达 out and grasping.
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就像积木一样,可以随意搭配。
01:15
And SiftablesSiftables are an example of a new ecosystem生态系统
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而且Siftables代表了一种新的生态系统
01:18
of tools工具 for manipulating操纵 digital数字 information信息.
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--即数字化信息的操作工具。
01:20
And as these tools工具 become成为 more physical物理,
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这种操作工具更加独立,
01:23
more aware知道的 of their motion运动, aware知道的 of each other,
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更加灵敏,能彼此感知,
01:25
and aware知道的 of the nuance细微差别 of how we move移动 them,
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感知任何细微的移动,
01:27
we can start开始 to explore探索 some new and fun开玩笑 interaction相互作用 styles款式.
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所以我们可以使用这种工具尝试一些新的有趣的互动。
01:30
So, I'm going to start开始 with some simple简单 examples例子.
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现在,我就来演示一些简单的。
01:32
This SiftableSiftable is configured配置 to show显示 video视频,
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这块Siftable有映像配置,
01:35
and if I tilt倾斜 it in one direction方向, it'll它会 roll the video视频 this way;
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如果我把它向一侧倾斜,那么它所显示的画面也朝这边倾斜,
01:37
if I tilt倾斜 it the other way it rolls劳斯莱斯 it backwards向后.
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如果我把它朝反方向倾斜,那么图像也朝反方向倾斜。
01:40
And these interactive互动 portraits画像 are aware知道的 of each other.
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而且这些Siftables能互相感知。
01:43
So if I put them next下一个 to each other, they get interested有兴趣.
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如果把它们一个挨一个摆好,有趣的现象就会发生。
01:46
If they get surrounded包围, they notice注意 that too,
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如果把它们随意一堆,他们也会察觉到,
01:50
they might威力 get a little flustered.
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那就会有点儿混乱。
01:52
And they can also sense their motion运动 and tilt倾斜.
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它们还能感知彼此的移动和倾斜。
01:56
One of the interesting有趣 implications启示 on interaction相互作用, we started开始 to realize实现,
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我们发现一个有趣的互动--
02:01
was that we could use everyday每天 gestures手势 on data数据,
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我们可以通过一些常用的手势和Siftables进行互动,
02:03
like pouring浇注 a color颜色 the way we might威力 pour a liquid液体.
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比如象倒液体那样把颜色从一块Siftable倒入另一块Siftable.
02:06
So in this case案件, we've我们已经 got three SiftablesSiftables configured配置 to be paint涂料 buckets水桶
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我们来看这个演示,这有三块设置成油漆桶模式的Siftables,
02:10
and I can use them to pour color颜色 into that central中央 one,
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我们可以把这些桶里的颜色倒入中间的那个,
02:13
where they get mixed.
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把颜色混在一起.
02:15
If we overshoot超调, we can pour a little bit back.
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如果倒多了,可以再倒回去一些。
02:19
There are also some neat整齐 possibilities可能性 for education教育,
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Siftables还有学习机的功能,
02:22
like language语言, math数学 and logic逻辑 games游戏
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可以用来学语言、算算术等--
02:24
where we want to give people the ability能力 to try things quickly很快,
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我们希望通过这些功能让学习变得快捷,
02:26
and view视图 the results结果 immediately立即.
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更快看到结果。
02:29
So here I'm --
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这也是我来这里展示Siftables的原因--
02:31
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
02:33
This is a Fibonacci斐波那契 sequence序列 that I'm making制造 with a simple简单 equation方程 program程序.
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这是我用一个简单方程式做成的斐波那契数列。
02:37
Here we have a word game游戏 that's kind of like a mash-up混搭 between之间 Scrabble乱涂 and Boggle惊奇.
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Siftables还可以玩拼字游戏--一种Scrabble和Boggle混搭的拼字游戏。
02:41
Basically基本上, in every一切 round回合
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这种拼字游戏的玩法大致如下,
02:43
you get a randomly随机 assigned分配 letter on each SiftableSiftable,
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你随意拿一块带有字母的Siftable,
02:45
and as you try to make words it checks检查 against反对 a dictionary字典.
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当你把几块带有字母的Siftables拼在一起组成单词时,Siftables会在字典里自动查找单词。
02:48
Then, after about 30 seconds, it reshuffles改组,
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大约30秒后Siftables会自动根据正确的单词拼写顺序改变原来显示的字母,组成正确的单词,
02:51
and you have a new set of letters and new possibilities可能性 to try.
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你还可以尝试用其他的字母拼出新的单词。
02:54
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
02:55
Thank you.
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谢谢大家。
02:56
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
02:58
So these are some kids孩子 that came来了 on a field领域 trip to the Media媒体 Lab实验室,
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现在,屏幕上显示的是一些孩子正在Media Lab 里参与Siftables的试用体验,
03:00
and I managed管理 to get them to try it out, and shoot射击 a video视频.
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我把孩子们的体验过程拍了下来。
03:10
They really loved喜爱 it.
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孩子们非常喜欢Siftables。
03:12
And, one of the interesting有趣 things about this kind of application应用
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而且有趣的是在玩这个拼字游戏的时候
03:15
is that you don't have to give people many许多 instructions说明.
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我们并不需要向他们解释什么。
03:18
All you have to say is, "Make words,"
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只要跟他们说这是个“拼字”游戏时,
03:20
and they know exactly究竟 what to do.
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他们就知道该怎么做了。
03:22
So here's这里的 another另一个 few少数 people trying it out.
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现在屏幕上显示的是另一些人在体验Siftables。
03:31
That's our youngest最年轻的 beta公测 tester测试仪, down there on the right.
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右下角这位是年龄最小的体验者。
03:36
Turns out, all he wanted to do was to stack the SiftablesSiftables up.
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他只是想把Siftables堆在一起。
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So to him, they were just blocks.
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在他看来,Siftables只是积木。
03:46
Now, this is an interactive互动 cartoon动画片 application应用.
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现在屏幕上显示的是一种动画功能的互动尝试。
03:49
And we wanted to build建立 a learning学习 tool工具 for language语言 learners学习者.
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我们希望Siftables能成为学习语言的帮手。
03:54
And this is Felix费利克斯, actually其实.
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画面上的这个孩子叫Felix。
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And he can bring带来 new characters人物 into the scene现场,
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他能把一些新元素添加到动画图像上,
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just by lifting吊装 the SiftablesSiftables off the table that have that character字符 shown显示 on them.
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他所做的就是把桌上的Siftables拿起来朝着动画图像投一下影,就可以把这些新元素加到动画上了。
04:03
Here, he's bringing使 the sun太阳 out.
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看,他把太阳加上去了。
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Video视频: The sun太阳 is rising升起.
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视频:太阳升起来了。
04:09
David大卫 Merrill美林: Now he's brought a tractor拖拉机 into the scene现场.
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大卫·梅若:现在他把拖拉机加上去了。
04:13
Video视频: The orange橙子 tractor拖拉机.
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视频:橙色的拖拉机。
04:15
Good job工作! Yeah!
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做的不错!
04:18
DMDM: So by shaking发抖 the SiftablesSiftables and putting them next下一个 to each other
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把Siftables朝动画图像晃一下就可以把新元素加到画面上
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he can make the characters人物 interact相互作用 --
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他把新元素加上去了--
04:23
Video视频: Woof!
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视频:狗吠声
04:24
DMDM: inventing发明了 his own拥有 narrative叙述.
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梅若:他在编写属于他的动画故事。
04:26
Video视频: Hello你好!
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视频:你好!
04:27
DMDM: It's an open-ended打开端 story故事,
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梅若:这是个开放式结局的故事,
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and he gets得到 to decide决定 how it unfolds展开.
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他在计划怎样展开故事情节。.
04:34
Video视频: Fly away, cat.
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视频:猫坐着热气球飞走了。
04:42
DMDM: So, the last example I have time to show显示 you today今天
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梅若:下面我要给大家进行最后一个展示
04:45
is a music音乐 sequencing测序 and live生活 performance性能 tool工具
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这个功能可以编排、演奏音乐
04:47
that we've我们已经 built内置 recently最近,
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是我们最近研发的,
04:49
in which哪一个 SiftablesSiftables act法案 as sounds声音
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Siftables的这种功能体现在声音方面,
04:52
like lead, bass低音 and drums.
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能发出像超载音、贝斯及鼓的声音。
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Each of these has four different不同 variations变化,
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每个模块有四档可供调节,
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you get to choose选择 which哪一个 one you want to use.
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任君选择。
04:58
And you can inject注入 these sounds声音 into a sequence序列
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你可以把声音模块的Siftable里的声音加入编辑模块的Siftable
05:01
that you can assemble集合 into the pattern模式 that you want.
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按你喜欢的方式。
05:04
And you inject注入 it by just bumping碰撞 up the sound声音 SiftableSiftable against反对 a sequence序列 SiftableSiftable.
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加入声音只需把声音模块靠近编辑模块。
05:08
There are effects效果 that you can control控制 live生活, like reverb混响 and filter过滤.
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还有类似混响器、滤声器作用的Siftable模块。
05:12
You attach连接 it to a particular特定 sound声音 and then tilt倾斜 to adjust调整 it.
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把这类模块靠近声音模块就可以调整声音了。
05:15
And then, overall总体 effects效果 like tempo速度 and volume
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接下来,可以用控制总体节奏和音量的Siftable模块
05:18
that apply应用 to the entire整个 sequence序列.
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靠近编辑模块的Siftable来调整节奏和音量。
05:20
So let's have a look.
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我们来看一下。
05:22
Video视频: (Music音乐)
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视频:(音乐)
05:24
DMDM: We'll start开始 by putting a lead
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梅若:开始先把超载音
05:26
into two sequence序列 SiftablesSiftables, arrange安排 them into a series系列,
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注入两个编辑模块,
05:31
extend延伸 it, add a little more lead.
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再加一些超载音。
05:34
Now I put a bass低音 line线 in.
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现在加入贝斯音。
05:36
Video视频: (Music音乐)
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视频:(音乐)
05:41
DMDM: Now I'll put some percussion打击乐器 in.
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梅若:现在加入一些打击乐器的声音。
05:43
Video视频: (Music音乐)
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视频:(音乐)
05:48
DMDM: And now I'll attach连接 the filter过滤 to the drums, so I can control控制 the effect影响 live生活.
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梅若:现在把滤声模块靠近鼓声模块,这样可以调整声音。
05:51
Video视频: (Music音乐)
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视频:(音乐)
05:53
DMDM: I can speed速度 up the whole整个 sequence序列
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梅若:我来把节奏加快些
05:55
by tilting倾斜 the tempo速度 one way or the other.
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只需把节奏模块靠近编辑模块。
05:58
Video视频: (Music音乐)
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视频:(音乐)
06:00
DMDM: And now I'll attach连接 the filter过滤 to the bass低音 for some more expression表达.
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梅若:现在再把滤声模块靠近贝斯模块滤声。
06:03
Video视频: (Music音乐)
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视频:(音乐)
06:08
DMDM: I can rearrange改编 the sequence序列 while it plays播放.
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梅若:在音乐演奏的过程中还可以重新编排。
06:11
So I don't have to plan计划 it out in advance提前, but I can improvise凑合,
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所以并不需要提前编排,而是在演奏时随时改编,
06:13
making制造 it longer or shorter as I go.
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可长可短。
06:16
And now, finally最后, I can fade褪色 the whole整个 sequence序列 out
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最后,我来结束整个演奏,
06:19
using运用 the volume SiftableSiftable, tilted to the left.
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用音量模块靠近编辑模块,用左边这个档。
06:22
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
06:27
Thank you.
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谢谢大家。
06:29
So, as you can see,
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正如大家看到的,
06:32
my passion is for making制造 new human-computer人机 interfaces接口
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我的理想就是研发一款新型的能够人机互动的媒介
06:35
that are a better match比赛 to the ways方法 our brains大脑 and bodies身体 work.
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更好地配合人体大脑的运作。
06:38
And today今天, I had time to show显示 you one point in this new design设计 space空间,
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今天,我在这给大家展示了Siftable,
06:42
and a few少数 of the possibilities可能性 that we're working加工 to bring带来 out of the laboratory实验室.
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我们的后续研究正在实验室中进行。
06:45
So the thought I want to leave离开 you with
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我想跟大家交流的想法就是
06:47
is that we're on the cusp风口浪尖 of this new generation of tools工具
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我们在研发新一代尖端科技产品
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for interacting互动 with digital数字 media媒体
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--可以和数字媒体接轨的科技产品,
06:53
that are going to bring带来 information信息 into our world世界
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它将给世界带来变化
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on our terms条款.
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这样的革新在我们这一代就会看到。
06:58
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢大家。
06:59
I look forward前锋 to talking with all of you.
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我期待着和大家共同探讨。
07:01
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by han congmei
Reviewed by Chaoran Yu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Merrill - MIT grad student
David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks (and music).

Why you should listen

David Merrill is currently the VP of Product at 3D Robotics, where he builds new, easy-to-use flying robots. He was formerly president and co-founder of Sifteo, a San Francisco startup spun out of his research at the MIT Media Lab. This research helped build an award-winning physical+digital play system and catalog of unique games. He also directed HW and SW on Sifteo products.

David constantly tinkers with next-generation technologies to make physical+digital tools that give people new powers (for good).

He is a human-computer interaction expert, frequent public speaker and aerial photography enthusiast. David's work has been featured by MoMA, the Disocvery Channel, Popular Science and Wired.

His main interest now is the Siftables project, the subject of his TEDTalk, on which he works with Jeevan Kalanithi. In another field of inquiry, Merrill is looking at ways to access digital information in the wider world, when we are away from a traditional computer.

A musician himself, Merril also has a deep interest in new musical interfaces. His Adaptive Music Controller is an instrument that learns its player (rather than the player learning the instrument). And working musicians should check out his AudioPint, a portable case that consolidates instruments, effects and audio processors into a gig-safe rugged housing.

More profile about the speaker
David Merrill | Speaker | TED.com