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INSIDE INNOVATION

Mushrooms, Charcoal and Bees...

  • daisypope
  • May 29, 2019
  • 5 min read

This week we have a couple of new uses of materials which is exciting. Headphones made from mushrooms and yeast, as well as fabric made from charcoal. McDonalds have shifted focus to wildlife preservation and a museum in Florida are utilising the controversial deepfake technology.


Korvaa, mushroom headphones - From Dezeen

Mushroom Headphones


When you use your headphones on a daily basis, do you eve consider the amount of unrecycleable parts that they include? From the plastic casing, to the wires, the foam around your ears, the list is endless. In the ever growing quest to reduce the plastic we consume Finnish designers at Avian have created the Korvaa headphones in collaboration with scientists. The headphones are created to showcase synthetic biology, using six microbially made materials in total. The designers and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland at Aalto University wanted to showcase the engineering behind natural processes in a 3-dimensional form. Headphones were chosen due to the variety of materials that are required to make them. The materials in the headphones include petroleum-free bioplastic for the hard plastic parts, made from the lactic acid of baker's yeast. This material is also biodegradable and can be 3D-printed. The padded part is made from a fungus called trichoderma reesei, and the padding is covered in the root-like part of fungus called mycelium. This root-part of the fungus has already been used in clothing and architecture as it has a leathery texture. One of the most advance materials used is spider silk. The fibres are woven in to a mesh which will cover the speaker park of the headphones. Spider silk is one of the hardest materials in nature, even being used for bulletproof vests. The leftover pieces of the headphones are made from a variety of cellulose materials. Although the headphones are only a concept, it really highlights how designers need to think differently about the materials we use for designing new products. Perhaps rather then leaning straight for a plastic material for the latest design we should consider all other avenues first and plastic can be a last resort. Imagine how much better this will be for the environment. Maybe consumers will even prefer the new eco friendly and sustainable materials.... See more at https://www.dezeen.com/2019/05/24/korvaa-headphones-bioplastic-fungus-yeast-materials-aivan/.


Self-purifying Charcoal Clothing


You may have drawn with charcoal a few times in art class way back in school, but never thought about wearing it. Tokyo brand Senscommon have joined forces with textile company Uchino to create a clothing collection made of activated charcoal. Charcoal has some incredible natural properties which make it an excellent fabric for clothing and has me wondering why it hasn't been done before. The fabric is self-purifying so can eliminate excess odour, moisture, bacteria and environmental chemicals.

"Because of its self-purifying qualities and porous ability to eliminate certain impurities and elements, On Journey wear is the perfect wardrobe for daily journeys long or short," explained the brand. (https://www.dezeen.com/2019/05/25/senscommon-uchino-charcoal-on-journey-clothing/)

They also claim that the fabric can regulate body temperature as invisible infrared rays penetrate the skin to elevate the body's surface temperature. Sound perfect for the commute, you're packing in to a stinking tube and are sweating, however your clothes are eliminating any body odour you produce whilst also keeping you cooler than your fellow commuters. The fabric is made from the charcoal of Ubame oak, which is ground in to a powder, kneaded in to fibres then spun in to a yarn. So far the collection is fairly minimal including a T-shirt, shorts, a shirt, a cardigan, a robe and trousers. The charcoal also creates a lovely mid grey colour which is perfect for any office attire. The fabric is said to be like that of a sweatshirt, and even better the manufacturing process doesn't require any chemicals. It seems like an almost too good to be true fabric. It will be interesting to see where the fabric goes in the future, what other colours can be produced and what other applications is can have than clothes. I'd also be interested to see the price tag as I can't imagine such a beautifully engineered fabric comes cheap. See more at https://www.dezeen.com/2019/05/25/senscommon-uchino-charcoal-on-journey-clothing/.

Charcoal Fabric - From Dezeen


Buzzing Bees


This week McDonald's have jumped on the band wagon of ecology. In Sweden the McDonald's beehives have been launched nationwide. The mini versions of the fast food restaurants have been created to attract bees. This is McDonald's new initiative Mchive, to promote the wellbeing and preservation of bees. The beehives are great replicas even including the drive-thru windows and outdoor seating. McDonald's have also been seen to replace the grass outside of restaurants with flowers and plants to promote the preservation of wildlife. It seems that recently companies have really been trying to make steps for nature. A few weeks ago we had Ikea creating wildlife homes from recycled furniture, and now we have Mcdonald's and beehives, I wonder what will come next?... It's a neat idea to raise awareness, perhaps they should promote more of this on their packaging and particularly in the Happy Meals for children to learn about also. See the video at https://www.designboom.com/design/mcdonalds-opens-worlds-smallest-restaurant-for-bees-mchive-05-22-2019/.

McDonald's Mchive - From Design Boom

AI Salvador Dalí


Have you ever fancied having a conversation with Salvador Dalí? Well the Dalí Museum in St Petersberg, Florida have use artificial intelligence to bring Dalí back to life. When you enter the museum it is like you're being greeted by the real life Salvador Dalí, albeit on a large screen, however it is actually something called 'deepfake'. The museum worked with advertising company Goodby Silverstein & Partners to create the video installation. Deepfake uses a very advance face-swap technology where an actor acts out all of the scenes for the videos and Dalí's features are swapped over. However the technology does cause some controversy as the digital Dalí can say and do things the human Dalí might never have, thus creating misinformation or fake news. However for this installation the company used over 6000 frames of archived videos to really capture his personality as well as extracting quotes and writing new ones using old interviews, books and letters. More impressively is that he Dalí lives installation is interactive. There are 125 videos for visitors to interactive with, resulting in an impressive 190,512 combinations depending on how the user reacts! I believe this is a fantastic use of new technology, to meet and interact with an artist you may have always been inspired by. It would be particularly goo for children I think who always have more interest in the interactive parts of museums, it could be a great inspiration for them to pursue art. Imagine other characters you could meet? Visit the Tower of London and interact with Henry the Eighth, or visit the Tate and meet Picasso. It could be an incredible asset to museums, however only if it is incredibly well done. The Dalí Lives stands out as they thoroughly studied him to ensure it was an accurate representation. This would be needed for all the people used, however would be impossible for very historical characters as you wouldn't know what they spoke like. I could even see this technology being used in other instances, a person to greet you in a shop, or to welcome you at the airport. There are many possibilities and as long as it is used in the correct way the technology could be very beneficial. See more at https://www.dezeen.com/2019/05/24/salvador-dali-deepfake-dali-musuem-florida/.

The Dalí Lives Installation - From Dezeen



 
 
 

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