Having directed both live-action and animated films for over ten years, Nando Costa is no stranger to film production, yet waiting for over 800 pieces of maple to be laser-engraved and used as individual frames for a short film is somewhat new territory. In his latest Kickstarter-backed short film “The New America”, Costa puts those laser-engraved frames to good use and gives us a glimpse of yet another way of stretching the possibilities of digital fabrication.
It has been over six years since the 2007 debut of the Sony XEL-1—considered by most to be the world’s first OLED television, and inarguably the first to become widely-available to consumers. But it has been a long six years for OLED technology, which has continued to evolve and offer futuristic promises, but hardly in affordable ways. Despite the announcement of Panasonic’s 3D-printed 4K display and Sony’s flexible OTFT-driven roll-up screens, OLED is still shrouded in the sort-of lore and ambiguity that describes the incomprehensible technologies that you see in Hollywood renditions of government labs. The problem with its difficulty in gaining a footing is no secret: the technology is perpetually evolving into newer generations before the previous generations of it have become affordable. Because of this, OLED to this day still begs the question—will this stuff ever this actually exist outside of Japanese trade shows and ten-million-dollar penthouses? Surely, it will—but what a long road it is taking to get there!
Lookout. SpaceClaim is doin’ it, doin’ the thing. I think we could have called this one. In fact, I think we did at some point. We knew SpaceClaim was pushing (and pulling) geometry-filled envelopes when they had the first truly multi-touch 3D modeling, 3 YEARS AGO. Granted it wasn’t a production ready feature, but it was there. Now, they’ve upped the ante taking on the cloud with plans, laid out plainly on a whiteboard, to deliver a fully collaborative 3D experience over the web.
Brought to you this week by Smoth Mealer’s expansive collection of TI-84 Calculators and a box of floral print lotion-flavored Kleenex, be sure to check out the all new episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff! By the way, we love our SolidSmack readers! Have something cool you’ve come across and want to share it on SolidSmack? Don’t hide it in your neck skin! Send it on in to smoth@www.solidsmack.com. Kick it!
In a world where mass-manufactured Nike Air Jordans, Teva Sandals, and Croc Clogs dominate the sidewalks, it’s easy to overlook the time and patience that goes into designing and making shoes by hand. Sure there’s value in appreciating how the latest sneaker design came to fruition, but the amount of disconnect is surely larger than those who design and deliver their products to their customer under a single roof. Take for example footwear designer and maker Barbora Veselá. In her latest project Geology of Shoes, Veselá gathers inspiration from topographic maps and invites us into her design and making process for creating one-of-a-kind, handmade shoes.