TED2012
Ayah Bdeir: Building blocks that blink, beep and teach
阿雅·布黛尔： 有声有色可教学的积木
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想象一下像乐高玩具一样简单玩耍的电子套件。TED奖学金获得者阿雅·布黛尔向大家介绍了littleBits，一套简单的，可以方便互换的积木。它使得编程电路这样重要的创造性的活动变得像插拔积木一样简单。
Ayah Bdeir - Engineer and artist
Ayah Bdeir is an engineer and artist, and is the founder of littleBits and karaj, an experimental art, architecture and technology lab in Beirut. Full bio
Ayah Bdeir is an engineer and artist, and is the founder of littleBits and karaj, an experimental art, architecture and technology lab in Beirut. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
This may sound strange,
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听起来可能有点怪，
00:17
but I'm a big fan of the concrete block.
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我是个水泥砖的狂热爱好者。
00:19
The first concrete blocks were manufactured in 1868
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第一块水泥砖制造于1868年
00:22
with a very simple idea:
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是源于一个非常简单的想法：
00:24
modules made of cement of a fixed measurement
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把水泥制成的固定大小的块
00:27
that fit together.
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组装到一起。
00:29
Very quickly concrete blocks became
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很快水泥砖就成为了
00:31
the most-used construction unit in the world.
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全世界使用最多的建筑单元，
00:34
They enabled us to to build things that were larger than us,
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它使得我们能制造远大于自身的东西，
00:36
buildings, bridges,
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建筑，桥梁，
00:38
one brick at a time.
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就这样一砖一瓦砌成。
00:40
Essentially concrete blocks had become
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水泥砖实质上已经成为
00:42
the building block of our time.
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我们这个时代的积木。
00:45
Almost a hundred years later in 1947,
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在大约100年后的1947年，
00:47
LEGO came up with this.
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乐高带来了这个
00:49
It was called the Automatic Binding Brick.
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当时被叫做自动组装积木。
00:52
And in a few short years,
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然后在短短几年内，
00:54
LEGO bricks took place in every household.
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乐高积木占领了每个家庭，
00:57
It's estimated that over 400 billion bricks have been produced --
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据估计已经制造出的乐高积木超过4千亿块 --
01:00
or 75 bricks for every person on the planet.
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或者说全球人均75块
01:03
You don't have to be an engineer
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你不必是一个工程师
01:05
to make beautiful houses, beautiful bridges, beautiful buildings.
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也可以建造漂亮的房子，漂亮的桥梁，漂亮的建筑。
01:08
LEGO made it accessible.
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乐高使之成为可能。
01:10
LEGO has essentially taken the concrete block, the building block of the world,
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乐高实质上就是把水泥砖，这种真实世界中的积木，
01:13
and made it into the building block
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运用到建造我们想象中的
01:15
of our imagination.
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建筑积木。
01:17
Meanwhile the exact same year,
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恰恰在同一年，
01:19
at Bell Labs the next revolution was about to be announced,
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在贝尔实验室，一项新的革命即将发布，
01:22
the next building block.
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下一代积木。
01:24
The transistor was a small plastic unit
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晶体管是一个小的塑料元件
01:26
that would take us from a world
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它将把我们从
01:28
of static bricks piled on top of each other
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静态的砖块堆积起来的世界
01:30
to a world where everything was interactive.
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带入到一切都可以交互的新世界。
01:32
Like the concrete block,
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像水泥砖一样，
01:34
the transistor allows you to build
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你可以运用它
01:36
much larger, more complex circuits, one brick at a time.
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一个晶体管一个晶体管地制造出更大的、更复杂的电路。
01:39
But there's a main difference:
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但是有一个主要的区别：
01:41
The transistor was only for experts.
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只有专家才能玩转晶体管。
01:43
I personally don't accept this,
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我个人不能接受
01:45
that the building block of our time
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我们这个时代的积木
01:47
is reserved for experts,
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只有专家才可以玩，
01:49
so I decided to change that.
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所以我决定改变它。
01:52
Eight years ago when I was at the Media Lab,
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8年前当我在媒体实验室的时候，
01:54
I started exploring this idea
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我开始思索
01:56
of how to put the power of engineers
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如何才能把工程师所独有的力量
01:58
in the hands of artists and designers.
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也赋予艺术家和设计师。
02:00
A few years ago I started developing littleBits.
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几年前我开始开发littleBits。
02:03
Let me show you how they work.
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我给大家演示一下是怎么玩的。
02:07
LittleBits are electronic modules
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LittleBits是电子的模块
02:10
with each one specific function.
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每一块都有特定的功能。
02:13
They're pre-engineered
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它们都预先设定好
02:15
to be light, sound,
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作为光的，声音的，
02:18
motors and sensors.
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马达或者传感器。
02:20
And the best part about it
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最棒的就是
02:22
is they snap together with magnets.
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它们是用磁力吸合在一起的
02:25
So you can't put them the wrong way.
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所以就不可能组装错
02:28
The bricks are color-coded.
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这些小块是按颜色分类的。
02:30
Green is output, blue is power,
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绿色是输出，蓝色是电源，
02:33
pink is input and orange is wire.
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粉色是输入，橙色是连接线。
02:35
So all you need to do is snap a blue to a green
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因此你所需要做的就是把蓝色接到绿色上
02:38
and very quickly you can start making larger circuits.
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然后很快你就能开始制造更大的电路了
02:41
You put a blue to a green,
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把蓝的接到绿的，
02:43
you can make light.
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你就做了一个灯
02:45
You can put a knob in between
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你可以在中间放一个旋钮
02:49
and now you've made a little dimmer.
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你就做成了一个小调光器。
02:52
Switch out the knob
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拿掉旋钮
02:55
for a pulse module,
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换上脉冲模块，
02:57
which is here,
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在这儿，
03:00
and now you've made a little blinker.
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现在你就创造出了一个小信号灯。
03:04
Add this buzzer
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加入这个蜂鸣器
03:06
for some extra punch
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来增加点效果
03:08
and you've created a noise machine.
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你就创造出了一台噪音机。
03:10
I'm going to stop that.
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我得收手了。
03:12
So beyond simple play,
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除了简单地玩，
03:15
littleBits are actually pretty powerful.
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实际上littleBits 的功能很强劲。
03:17
Instead of having to program, to wire, to solder,
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不需要编程、接线、焊接，
03:20
littleBits allow you to program
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littleBits可以让你
03:22
using very simple intuitive gestures.
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用简单的直觉动作完成编程。
03:24
So to make this blink faster or slower,
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比如要把这个闪烁调快或者调慢一点，
03:26
you would just turn this knob
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你只需要转这个旋钮
03:28
and basically make it pulse faster or slower.
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实际上是让它脉冲得快或者慢一点。
03:31
The idea behind littleBits
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隐藏在littleBits之后的想法是
03:33
is that it's a growing library.
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这是一个可成长的资料库。
03:35
We want to make every single interaction in the world
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我们想把世界上的每一个单独的交互功能
03:37
into a ready-to-use brick.
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做成一个随手可用的积木。
03:39
Lights, sounds, solar panels, motors --
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光，声音，太阳能板，马达 --
03:41
everything should be accessible.
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一切都应该触手可得。
03:43
We've been giving littleBits to kids and seeing them play with them.
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我们曾经把littleBits给孩子们并看他们玩。
03:46
And it's been an incredible experience.
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那是一种不可思议的体验。
03:48
The nicest thing is how they start to understand
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最棒的就是他们开始理解
03:50
the electronics around them from everyday
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他们日常身边的电器
03:52
that they don't learn at schools.
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这些学校里是学不到的。
03:54
For example, how a nightlight works,
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比如，夜灯是如何工作的
03:56
or why an elevator door stays open,
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或者为什么电梯门能一直开着，
03:58
or how an iPod responds to touch.
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再或者iPod对触摸是怎么反应的。
04:01
We've also been taking littleBits to design schools.
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我们也曾经把littleBits带到设计学校。
04:03
So for example, we've had designers
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比如说，我们曾经让设计师
04:06
with no experience with electronics whatsoever
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完全没有电子相关经验的设计师
04:08
start to play with littleBits as a material.
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用littleBits做素材开始玩。
04:11
Here you see, with felt and paper water bottles,
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大家可以看到，用毡和纸瓶子
04:14
we have Geordie making ...
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乔迪做出了...
04:16
(Clanging)
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（叮当声）
04:18
(Buzzing)
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（蜂鸣声）
04:20
A few weeks ago we took littleBits to RISD
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几星期前我们带着littleBits去了罗德岛设计学院
04:23
and gave them to some designers
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把它交给一些
04:25
with no experience in engineering whatsoever --
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完全没有工程经验的设计师
04:27
just cardboard, wood and paper -- and told them "Make something."
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只给一些纸板、木头和纸 -- 跟他们说 “做点什么”
04:30
Here's an example of a project they made,
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这就是他们完成的一个项目
04:32
a motion-activated confetti canon ball.
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一个动作触发的彩纸屑炮弹
04:35
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
04:37
But wait, this is actually my favorite project.
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等等，这个实际上是我最喜欢的一个项目。
04:41
It's a lobster made of playdough
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是一个橡皮泥做的龙虾
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that's afraid of the dark.
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它很怕黑。
04:48
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
04:52
To these non-engineers, littleBits became another material,
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对这些非工程技术人员，littleBits成为了另一种材料，
04:55
electronics became just another material.
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电子也只是一种材料。
04:57
And we want to make this material accessible to everyone.
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而且我们想使这种材料对所有人都可用。
05:00
So littleBits is open-source.
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所以littleBits是开源的。
05:02
You can go on the website, download all the design files, make them yourself.
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你可以到网站上，下载所有的设计文件，自己来制造。
05:05
We want to encourage a world
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我们想鼓励一个
05:07
of creators, of inventors, of contributors,
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人人都是创造者、发明家、贡献者的世界。
05:10
because this world that we live in,
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因为我们所生活的这个世界，
05:12
this interactive world, is ours.
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这个交互的世界，属于我们每个人。
05:14
So go ahead and start inventing.
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不要犹豫，开始你的发明吧。
05:16
Thank you.
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谢谢大家。
05:18
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ayah Bdeir - Engineer and artistAyah Bdeir is an engineer and artist, and is the founder of littleBits and karaj, an experimental art, architecture and technology lab in Beirut.
Why you should listen
Ayah Bdeir is the creator of littleBits, an open source system of preassembled, modular circuits that snap together with magnets – making learning about electronics fun, easy and creative. An engineer, inventor and interactive artist, Ayah received her master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab and undergraduate degrees in computer engineering and sociology from the American University of Beirut. Ayah has taught graduate classes at NYU and Parsons and taught numerous workshops to get non-engineers – particularly young girls – interested in science and technology. She is also the founder of karaj, Beirut’s lab for experimental art, architecture and technology. littleBits was named Best of Toyfair, has won the editor’s Choice award from MAKE magazine, and has been acquired by MoMA for its collection.
Ayah Bdeir | Speaker | TED.com