TEDGlobal 2012
Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials
凱特琳娜摩塔：認識智慧型材料
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可以導電的油墨；一個開關就能便不透明的窗戶；能發出聲音的紙。這些玩意兒都真實存在，而凱特琳娜摩塔告訴我們：是時候去認識這些材料了！摩塔將帶領我們了解這些又新奇又酷的材料，並建議我們要認識這些材料最好的方法就是做實驗，並享受其中。
Catarina Mota - Maker
A TEDGlobal Fellow, Catarina Mota plays with "smart materials" -- like shape-memory alloys and piezoelectric structures that react to voltage -- and encourages others to do so too. Full bio
A TEDGlobal Fellow, Catarina Mota plays with "smart materials" -- like shape-memory alloys and piezoelectric structures that react to voltage -- and encourages others to do so too. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
I have a friend in Portugal
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我在葡萄牙有位朋友
00:18
whose grandfather built a vehicle out of a bicycle
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他的祖父將腳踏車和洗衣機改裝成腳踏車
00:21
and a washing machine so he could transport his family.
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以便載送家人
00:24
He did it because he couldn't afford a car,
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他這麼做既是因為沒錢買車
00:26
but also because he knew how to build one.
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也是因為他知道如何改裝
00:29
There was a time when we understood how things worked
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人類曾經知道東西是如何運作的
00:32
and how they were made, so we could build and repair them,
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如何做成的，我們知道如何建造與修理
00:36
or at the very least
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至少
00:37
make informed decisions about what to buy.
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清楚地知道我們要買什麼
00:41
Many of these do-it-yourself practices
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許多DIY的技術
00:43
were lost in the second half of the 20th century.
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自二十世紀下半葉起開始失傳
00:46
But now, the maker community and the open-source model
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但現在，生產社群以及開放模型
00:50
are bringing this kind of knowledge about how things work
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正將東西的運作及其原料等知識
00:53
and what they're made of back into our lives,
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逐漸帶回我們的生活中
00:57
and I believe we need to take them to the next level,
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而我相信我們應該更進一步
01:00
to the components things are made of.
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去認識組成這些東西的零件
01:03
For the most part, we still know
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我們大多還知道
01:05
what traditional materials like paper and textiles are made of
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紙和紡織品等傳統原料是由什麼製成的
01:08
and how they are produced.
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又是如何生產的
01:10
But now we have these amazing, futuristic composites --
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但我們現在有了這些令人驚嘆又有未來感的複合材料
01:14
plastics that change shape,
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像是伸縮自如的塑膠
01:16
paints that conduct electricity,
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能導電的漆料
01:19
pigments that change color, fabrics that light up.
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能變換顏色的顏料，和會發光的布等
01:23
Let me show you some examples.
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我給大家看些例子
01:30
So conductive ink allows us to paint circuits
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導電油墨讓我們不需要用傳統印刷電路或電線
01:33
instead of using the traditional
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用傳統印刷電路或電線
01:35
printed circuit boards or wires.
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而可以直接油漆電路
01:38
In the case of this little example I'm holding,
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以我手上拿著的這個小東西為例
01:40
we used it to create a touch sensor that reacts to my skin
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導電油墨可以製成觸控感應器，當它感應我的皮膚時
01:44
by turning on this little light.
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這盞小燈就會亮起
01:47
Conductive ink has been used by artists,
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藝術家早已在用導電油墨
01:50
but recent developments indicate that we will soon be able
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但最近的研究顯示，不久後
01:53
to use it in laser printers and pens.
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我們將能將它用在雷射印表機和筆上面
01:58
And this is a sheet of acrylic infused
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這塊丙烯酸纖維附滿了
02:00
with colorless light-diffusing particles.
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無色的散光粒子
02:03
What this means is that, while regular acrylic
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意思就是，普通的丙烯酸纖維
02:06
only diffuses light around the edges,
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只會在邊緣散光
02:08
this one illuminates across the entire surface
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但這塊纖維在我開燈的時候
02:11
when I turn on the lights around it.
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整個表面都會發光
02:14
Two of the known applications for this material
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這類材質的應用目前已知有二
02:16
include interior design and multi-touch systems.
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一是內部設計，一是多點觸控系統
02:21
And thermochromic pigments
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熱變色顏料
02:23
change color at a given temperature.
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則會在特定溫度下變色
02:26
So I'm going to place this on a hot plate
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所以我現在把這個東西放在熱的盤子上
02:29
that is set to a temperature only slightly higher than ambient
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這個盤子的溫度比室溫稍微高一點
02:32
and you can see what happens.
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你們馬上就能看到結果了
02:38
So one of the principle applications for this material
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這項材料主要的應用
02:41
is, amongst other things, in baby bottles,
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是在嬰兒奶瓶上
02:44
so it indicates when the contents are cool enough to drink.
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它能顯示內容物是否涼了可以喝了
02:50
So these are just a few of what are commonly known
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以上只是一些我們俗稱為
02:52
as smart materials.
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智慧型材料的例子
02:54
In a few years, they will be in many of the objects
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再過幾年，這些材料就會成為我們日常生活中
02:57
and technologies we use on a daily basis.
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常用物品和科技的基本要素
03:01
We may not yet have the flying cars science fiction promised us,
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我們可能還沒辦法擁有科幻小說中會出現的飛天汽車
03:05
but we can have walls that change color
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但我們會有能隨著溫度改變顏色的
03:07
depending on temperature,
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牆壁
03:09
keyboards that roll up,
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可以捲起來的鍵盤
03:11
and windows that become opaque at the flick of a switch.
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一關就能變不透明的窗戶
03:15
So I'm a social scientist by training,
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我本身是社會科學家
03:18
so why am I here today talking about smart materials?
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所以我到底為什麼要來這裡講智慧型材料呢？
03:22
Well first of all, because I am a maker.
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首先，因為我是個製造者
03:24
I'm curious about how things work
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我對東西的運作感到好奇
03:27
and how they are made,
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想知道它們是如何製成的
03:28
but also because I believe we should have a deeper understanding
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但同時也是因為我相信我們應該要更了解
03:32
of the components that make up our world,
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建構出我們這個世界的一切
03:34
and right now, we don't know enough about
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而現今，我們對這些將建構我們未來的
03:37
these high-tech composites our future will be made of.
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高科技的複合材料不夠瞭解
03:41
Smart materials are hard to obtain in small quantities.
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智慧型材料難以在少量下取得
03:44
There's barely any information available on how to use them,
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而目前也幾乎沒有任何有關如何使用這些材料的資料
03:48
and very little is said about how they are produced.
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它們是如何製成的資訊更是少之又少
03:52
So for now, they exist mostly in this realm
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所以目前，它們幾乎都是
03:55
of trade secrets and patents
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商業機密或是有專利保護
03:57
only universities and corporations have access to.
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只有大學和公司能夠取得
04:02
So a little over three years ago, Kirsty Boyle and I
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因此在大約三年多前，我和克絲蒂
04:04
started a project we called Open Materials.
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著手進行一項我們稱之為材料公開化的計劃
04:08
It's a website where we,
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在這個網站中，我們
04:09
and anyone else who wants to join us,
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以及任何想要加入的人
04:12
share experiments, publish information,
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都可以分享實驗成果，發表資料
04:15
encourage others to contribute whenever they can,
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希望能鼓勵大家隨時分享所長
04:18
and aggregate resources such as research papers
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並收集一些資源，像是其他像我們一樣身為製作者的
04:22
and tutorials by other makers like ourselves.
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研究報告或是使用說明書
04:26
We would like it to become a large,
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我們期望這個網站能發展成為一個
04:28
collectively generated database
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以智慧型材料DIY資訊為主題的
04:31
of do-it-yourself information on smart materials.
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集體創作大型資料庫
04:35
But why should we care
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不過為什麼我們應該要關心
04:37
how smart materials work and what they are made of?
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智慧型材料的運作方式以及組成呢？
04:41
First of all, because we can't shape what we don't understand,
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首先，因為我們不能控制自己不了解的東西
04:45
and what we don't understand and use
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而我們不了解卻在使用的東西
04:48
ends up shaping us.
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常反而控制了我們
04:50
The objects we use, the clothes we wear,
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我們用的物品，穿的衣服
04:52
the houses we live in, all have a profound impact
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住的房子，全都會對我們的行為
04:56
on our behavior, health and quality of life.
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健康和生活品質有著深遠的影響
05:00
So if we are to live in a world made of smart materials,
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所以如果我們身處的世界充滿了智慧型材料
05:03
we should know and understand them.
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我們就該去認識且了解它們
05:06
Secondly, and just as important,
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第二點
05:08
innovation has always been fueled by tinkerers.
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創新總是在不起眼的改造中誕生
05:12
So many times, amateurs, not experts,
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很多時候，是外行人而非專家
05:15
have been the inventors and improvers
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成了發明者或是改進者
05:18
of things ranging from mountain bikes
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越野腳踏車
05:20
to semiconductors, personal computers,
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半導體、個人電腦
05:23
airplanes.
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飛機等都是如此
05:26
The biggest challenge is that material science is complex
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最大的困難通常在於材料科學很複雜
05:30
and requires expensive equipment.
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且需要昂貴的設備
05:33
But that's not always the case.
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但也不總是如此
05:35
Two scientists at University of Illinois understood this
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伊利諾大學有兩名科學家便深諳此道理
05:39
when they published a paper on a simpler method
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他們發表的論文是關於如何用較簡單的方法
05:41
for making conductive ink.
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製作導電油墨
05:44
Jordan Bunker, who had had
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喬登邦克
05:45
no experience with chemistry until then,
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在讀論文前完全沒有相關化學經驗
05:48
read this paper and reproduced the experiment
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他試著跟著論文步驟做實驗
05:51
at his maker space using only off-the-shelf substances
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並用現成原料及工具
05:56
and tools.
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製作
05:57
He used a toaster oven,
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他用烤箱
05:59
and he even made his own vortex mixer,
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甚至根據其他科學家的說明書
06:02
based on a tutorial by another scientist/maker.
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自製試管震盪器
06:06
Jordan then published his results online,
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喬登後來將自己的成果放上網
06:09
including all the things he had tried and didn't work,
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裡面包括他做的所有嘗試，以及失敗的案例
06:12
so others could study and reproduce it.
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這樣其他人就可以效法
06:15
So Jordan's main form of innovation
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喬登創新的地方
06:18
was to take an experiment created in a well-equipped lab
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是將原本需要在設備精密的
06:22
at the university
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大學實驗室才能完成的實驗
06:23
and recreate it in a garage in Chicago
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在他在芝加哥家中的車庫
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using only cheap materials and tools he made himself.
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只用便宜的材料和用具就自己完成了
06:31
And now that he published this work,
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而在他發表這項成果後
06:33
others can pick up where he left
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其他人就可以接續研究
06:35
and devise even simpler processes and improvements.
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想出更簡單的方法或是改進步驟
06:39
Another example I'd like to mention
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我想分享的另一個例子
06:41
is Hannah Perner-Wilson's Kit-of-No-Parts.
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是漢娜威爾森的無零件工具
06:45
Her project's goal is to highlight
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她想要強調
06:48
the expressive qualities of materials
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材料的質性
06:50
while focusing on the creativity and skills of the builder.
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以及創造者的創造力和技術
06:55
Electronics kits are very powerful
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電子零件在教導我們認識東西的運作上
06:58
in that they teach us how things work,
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非常有用
07:00
but the constraints inherent in their design
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但這卻有侷限性：實驗本身的設計方式
07:03
influence the way we learn.
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會影響到我們學習的方式
07:06
So Hannah's approach, on the other hand,
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因此漢娜的辦法
07:08
is to formulate a series of techniques
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是發想出一系列的技術
07:11
for creating unusual objects
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來創造特殊物品
07:14
that free us from pre-designed constraints
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以使我們能不受限於設計上的侷限
07:17
by teaching us about the materials themselves.
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真正去認識材料本身
07:20
So amongst Hannah's many impressive experiments,
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漢娜眾多令人印象深刻的實驗裡
07:23
this is one of my favorites.
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這是我最喜歡的一樣
07:25
["Paper speakers"]
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[紙喇叭]
07:28
What we're seeing here is just a piece of paper
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我們現在看到的只是一張紙
07:32
with some copper tape on it connected to an mp3 player
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上面貼了一些銅線，且連到MP3
07:36
and a magnet.
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和磁鐵上
07:38
(Music: "Happy Together")
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（音樂：快樂愛相隨）
07:48
So based on the research by Marcelo Coelho from MIT,
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根據麻省理工柯爾賀先生的研究
07:52
Hannah created a series of paper speakers
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漢娜用許多不同的材料
07:55
out of a wide range of materials
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銅膠帶，導電布和油墨等
07:57
from simple copper tape to conductive fabric and ink.
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製作出一系列的紙喇叭
08:02
Just like Jordan and so many other makers,
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而就像喬登以及許多其它的製作者
08:04
Hannah published her recipes
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漢娜將方法公開
08:06
and allows anyone to copy and reproduce them.
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讓大家可以複製或轉載
08:11
But paper electronics is one of the most promising branches
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但紙電子只是現在前景最被看好的
08:14
of material science
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材料科學其中一個分支罷了
08:16
in that it allows us to create cheaper and flexible electronics.
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紙電子讓我們能創造出較便宜且有彈性的電子
08:20
So Hannah's artisanal work,
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漢娜的手工藝成品
08:23
and the fact that she shared her findings,
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加上她的願意分享發現
08:25
opens the doors to a series of new possibilities
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使得一連串極具美感以及創新的
08:29
that are both aesthetically appealing and innovative.
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新發現有了可能
08:34
So the interesting thing about makers
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製造者有趣的地方在於
08:37
is that we create out of passion and curiosity,
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我們本著熱忱與好奇創造
08:40
and we are not afraid to fail.
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且我們不怕失敗
08:42
We often tackle problems from unconventional angles,
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我們常從獨特的角度解決問題
08:46
and, in the process, end up discovering alternatives
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並在過程中發現
08:49
or even better ways to do things.
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其他的甚至更好的方法
08:52
So the more people experiment with materials,
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所以越多人在材料上做實驗
08:56
the more researchers are willing to share their research,
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越多研究人員願意分享研究
08:59
and manufacturers their knowledge,
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散播知識
09:01
the better chances we have to create technologies
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我們就有越大的機會創造出
09:04
that truly serve us all.
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服務眾人的科技
09:07
So I feel a bit as Ted Nelson must have
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我現在的感覺有點像泰德尼爾森
09:10
when, in the early 1970s, he wrote,
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在一九七零年代早期寫下
09:13
"You must understand computers now."
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「你們現在應該要了解電腦」時的心情
09:16
Back then, computers were these large mainframes
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當時，電腦是只有科學家在關心的
09:20
only scientists cared about,
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大型計算機
09:22
and no one dreamed of even having one at home.
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根本沒人料的到以後會人人一台
09:25
So it's a little strange that I'm standing here and saying,
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所以也許你們會覺得我現在站在這裡和大家說
09:28
"You must understand smart materials now."
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「你們現在必須要了解智慧型材料」很奇怪
09:31
Just keep in mind that acquiring preemptive knowledge
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但謹記
09:35
about emerging technologies
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搶先擁有新興科技的知識
09:37
is the best way to ensure that we have a say
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是確保我們能對於自己的未來
09:40
in the making of our future.
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仍有發言權最好的方式
09:42
Thank you.
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謝謝
09:44
(Applause)
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（掌聲）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Catarina Mota - MakerA TEDGlobal Fellow, Catarina Mota plays with "smart materials" -- like shape-memory alloys and piezoelectric structures that react to voltage -- and encourages others to do so too.
Why you should listen
A maker of things and open-source advocate, Catarina Mota is co-founder of openMaterials.org, a collaborative project dedicated to do-it-yourself experimentation with smart materials. This is a new class of materials that change in response to stimuli: conductive ink, shape-memory plastics, etc. Her goal is to encourage the making of things; to that end, she teaches hands-on workshops on high-tech materials and simple circuitry for both young people and adults--with a side benefit of encouraging interest in science, technology and knowledge-sharing. She's working on her PhD researching the social impact of open and collaborative practices for the development of technologies. In other words: Do we make better stuff when we work together? She is also a co-founder of Lisbon's hackerspace altLab.
Catarina Mota | Speaker | TED.com