Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Iris Xholi Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

I have a friend in Portugal

Kam nje mik ne Portugali

whose grandfather built a vehicle out of a bicycle

gjyshi i te cilit ndertoi nje makine nga nje biciklete

and a washing machine so he could transport his family.

dhe nje makine larese ne menyre qe te transportonte familjen e tij.

He did it because he couldn't afford a car,

E beri sepse nuk kishte para per nje makine

but also because he knew how to build one.

por dhe sepse dinte si ta ndertonte nje te tille.

There was a time when we understood how things worked

Kane qene kohe ku ne mund te kuptonim si funksiononin gjerat

and how they were made, so we could build and repair them,

se si ato ishin te ndertuara, keshtu ne mund te ndertonim dhe te riparonim

or at the very least

ose me e pakta

make informed decisions about what to buy.

te mernim vendime te informuara mbi ate cka blinim.

Many of these do-it-yourself practices

Shume nga keto praktika beje-vete

were lost in the second half of the 20th century.

humben ne gjysmen e dyte te shekullit te 20te.

But now, the maker community and the open-source model

Por tashme, komuniteti krijues dhe modelet e lira

are bringing this kind of knowledge about how things work

po sjellin ne jeten tone, kete lloj njohurie se si funksionojne gjerat

and what they're made of back into our lives,

dhe nga se perbehen,

and I believe we need to take them to the next level,

dhe une mendoj se ne duhet ti kalojme ato ne nivelin tjeter,

to the components things are made of.

tek perberesit e gjerave.

For the most part, we still know

Per pjesen me te madhe, ne ende jemi ne dijeni

what traditional materials like paper and textiles are made of

se nga se behen materialet tradicionale si letra dhe tekstile

and how they are produced.

dhe se si ato prodhohen.

But now we have these amazing, futuristic composites --

Por tashme ne kemi keto perberes te mahnitshem te teknologjise moderne

plastics that change shape,

plastika qe ndryshojne forma,

paints that conduct electricity,

bojra qe percjellin elektricitet,

pigments that change color, fabrics that light up.

pigmente qe ndryshojne ngjyren, pelhura qe ndricojne.

Let me show you some examples.

Me lejoni t'ju tregoj disa shembuj.

So conductive ink allows us to paint circuits

Bojrat e percueshme na lejojne te lyejme qarqe

instead of using the traditional

ne vend qe te perdorim

printed circuit boards or wires.

panelet e qarqeve tradicional ose kabllot.

In the case of this little example I'm holding,

Ne rastin e shembullit te vogel qe une po mbaj,

we used it to create a touch sensor that reacts to my skin

e perdorem per te krijuar nje sensor prekes i cili reagon nga lekura ime

by turning on this little light.

duke ndezur kete driten e vogel.

Conductive ink has been used by artists,

Bojrat e percueshme jane perdorur nga artistet,

but recent developments indicate that we will soon be able

por zhvillimet e fundit tregojne se ne se shpejti do jemi ne gjendje

to use it in laser printers and pens.

ta perdorim ne printera me lazer dhe ne stilolapsa.

And this is a sheet of acrylic infused

Ketu kemi nje flete akrilik(plastik) te mbushur

with colorless light-diffusing particles.

me grimca pa ngjyre qe perhapin driten.

What this means is that, while regular acrylic

Ajo cka do te thote kjo eshte se ndersa akriliku normal

only diffuses light around the edges,

thjesht perhap driten rreth skajeve,

this one illuminates across the entire surface

kjo ketu ndricon ne te gjithe siperfaqen

when I turn on the lights around it.

kur une ndez dritat rreth saj.

Two of the known applications for this material

Dy nga aplikimet e njohura per kete material

include interior design and multi-touch systems.

perfshijne projektimin e brendshem dhe sistemin shume-prekes.

And thermochromic pigments

Pigmentet termokromike

change color at a given temperature.

ndryshojne ngjyre ne nje temperature te caktuar.

So I'm going to place this on a hot plate

Ndaj do ta vendos kete mbi nje siperfaqe te nxehur

that is set to a temperature only slightly higher than ambient

me nje temperature pak me te larte se ajo e ambientit

and you can see what happens.

dhe mund te shihni se cfare ndodh.

So one of the principle applications for this material

Pra, nje nga perdorimet me kryesore te ketij materiali

is, amongst other things, in baby bottles,

eshte, nder te tjera, ne shishe bebesh,

so it indicates when the contents are cool enough to drink.

e cila te lajmeron kur permbajtja eshte e ftohte aq sa nevojitet per tu pire.

So these are just a few of what are commonly known

Keto jane vetem disa prej perdorimet me te mirenjohura

as smart materials.

te materialeve inteligjente.

In a few years, they will be in many of the objects

Ne vitet e ardhshme, ato do te gjenden ne shume objekte

and technologies we use on a daily basis.

dhe teknologji ne perdorim te perditshem.

We may not yet have the flying cars science fiction promised us,

Ndoshta nuk do te kemi akoma makinat fluturuese qe na premtuan librat e fantashkences,

but we can have walls that change color

mund te kemi mure qe ndryshojne ngjyre

depending on temperature,

ne varesi te temperatures,

keyboards that roll up,

tastiera qe rrulosen,

and windows that become opaque at the flick of a switch.

dhe dritaret qe kthehen ne opake me kthimin e celesit.

So I'm a social scientist by training,

Une jam shkencetare sociale nga trajnimi,

so why am I here today talking about smart materials?

pra perse jam ketu sot duke folur per materialet inteligjente?

Well first of all, because I am a maker.

Se pari, sepse une jam nje 'beres'.

I'm curious about how things work

Jam kurioze rreth menyres se si funksionojne gjerat

and how they are made,

dhe se si jane bere ato,

but also because I believe we should have a deeper understanding

por edhe sepse une besoj se duhet te kemi nje kuptueshmeri me te madhe

of the components that make up our world,

te komponenteve qe perbejne boten tone,

and right now, we don't know enough about

dhe deri me tani, ne nuk dime shume rreth

these high-tech composites our future will be made of.

ketyre perberesve high-tech te cilet do jene pjese e te ardhmes sone.

Smart materials are hard to obtain in small quantities.

Materialet inteligjente eshte e veshtire ti gjesh ne sasi te vogla.

There's barely any information available on how to use them,

Ka shume pak informacion rreth perdorshmerise se tyre,

and very little is said about how they are produced.

dhe shume pak eshte thene rreth menyres se si jane prodhuar.

So for now, they exist mostly in this realm

Pra, per tani, ato ekzistojne vetem ne realitetin

of trade secrets and patents

e sekreteve te tregetise dhe patentave

only universities and corporations have access to.

ku vetem universitetet dhe koorporatat kane akses.

So a little over three years ago, Kirsty Boyle and I

Ne me pak se nje vit me pare, Kristi Boyle dhe une

started a project we called Open Materials.

nisem nje projekt qe e quajtem Materiale te Hapura.

It's a website where we,

Eshte nje faqe web ku ne,

and anyone else who wants to join us,

dhe cilido tjeter qe do te behet pjese,

share experiments, publish information,

ndan experimente, publikon informacione,

encourage others to contribute whenever they can,

inkurajon te tjeret per te kontribuar kurdo munden,

and aggregate resources such as research papers

dhe shtojne burime informacioni si hulumtime

and tutorials by other makers like ourselves.

dhe mesime nga te tjere krijues si vetja.

We would like it to become a large,

Do te kishim deshire te beheshim

collectively generated database

nje baze te dhenash e madhe dhe kolektive

of do-it-yourself information on smart materials.

per informacione "beje vete" mbi materialet inteligjente.

But why should we care

Por perse duhet te kete rendesi per ne

how smart materials work and what they are made of?

se si funksionojne materialet inteligjente dhe me se jane bere?

First of all, because we can't shape what we don't understand,

Se pari, sepse nuk mund ti japim forme asaj cka nuk njohim,

and what we don't understand and use

ajo cka nuk kuptojme dhe perdorim

ends up shaping us.

perfundon duke na dhene forme ne.

The objects we use, the clothes we wear,

Objektet qe perdorim, rrobat qe veshim,

the houses we live in, all have a profound impact

Shtepite ku jetojme, te gjitha kane nje impakt te madh

on our behavior, health and quality of life.

ne sjelljen, shendetin dhe cilesine tone te jetes.

So if we are to live in a world made of smart materials,

Pra, nese do te jetojme ne nje bote me materiale inteligjente,

we should know and understand them.

duhet ti njohim dhe kuptojme ato.

Secondly, and just as important,

Se dyti, dhe po aq e rendesishme,

innovation has always been fueled by tinkerers.

Risite jane furnizuar gjithnje nga mendimtaret.

So many times, amateurs, not experts,

Ne shume raste, amatoret, jo ekspertet,

have been the inventors and improvers

kane qene shpikesit dhe permiresuesit

of things ranging from mountain bikes

e gjerave duke filluar nga bicikletat per relieve malore

to semiconductors, personal computers,

gjysem tejcuesit, kompjuterit personale,

airplanes.

aeroplanet.

The biggest challenge is that material science is complex

Pengesa me e madhe eshte fakti qe materialet inteligjente jane komplekse

and requires expensive equipment.

dhe kerkojne paisje te shtrenjta.

But that's not always the case.

Por ky nuk eshte gjithnje rasti.

Two scientists at University of Illinois understood this

Dy shkencetare te Universitetit te Illinois e kuptuan kete

when they published a paper on a simpler method

kur publikuan nje artikull ne nje metode me te thjeshte

for making conductive ink.

per te prodhuar boje te percueshme.

Jordan Bunker, who had had

Jordan Bunker, i cili nuk kishte patur eksperience

no experience with chemistry until then,

me kimine deri me atehere,

read this paper and reproduced the experiment

e lexoi kete artikull dhe e riprodhoi eksperimentin

at his maker space using only off-the-shelf substances

ne hapesiren e tij te punes duke perdorur substanca te blera ne dyqan

and tools.

dhe vegla te thjeshta.

He used a toaster oven,

Ai perdori nje tostiere,

and he even made his own vortex mixer,

ai madje beri vete miksuesen e vorbulles e tij ,

based on a tutorial by another scientist/maker.

duke u bazuar ne nje tutorial nga nga shkencetar tjeter.

Jordan then published his results online,

Jordan pastaj i vendosi rezultatet online,

including all the things he had tried and didn't work,

duke perfshire gjithe perpjekjet cfare kish provuar e kish deshtuar,

so others could study and reproduce it.

ne menyre qe te tjeret te mund ti studiojne dhe riprodhojne ato.

So Jordan's main form of innovation

Pra forma e tij kryesore e inovacionit

was to take an experiment created in a well-equipped lab

ishte te merrte nje eksperiment te krijuar ne nje laborator te mire-pajisur

at the university

ne universitete

and recreate it in a garage in Chicago

dhe riprodhimin e tyre ne nje garazh ne Chicago

using only cheap materials and tools he made himself.

duke perdorur vetem materiale te lira dhe paisje te krijuara vete.

And now that he published this work,

Dhe tashme qe i ka publikuar keto pune,

others can pick up where he left

te tjere mund te vazhdojne aty ku e ka lene ai

and devise even simpler processes and improvements.

dhe te shpikin permiresime dhe procese te tjera edhe me te thjeshta.

Another example I'd like to mention

Nje tjeter shembull qe do te me pelqente te permendja

is Hannah Perner-Wilson's Kit-of-No-Parts.

eshte projekti "Kit of no parts" te Hannah Perner-Wilson.

Her project's goal is to highlight

Qellimi i projektit te saj eshte te ravijezoje

the expressive qualities of materials

cilesite ekspresive te materialeve

while focusing on the creativity and skills of the builder.

ndersa fokusohet ne kreativitetin dhe aftesite e ndertuesit.

Electronics kits are very powerful

Paketat elektronike jane shume te fuqishme

in that they teach us how things work,

sepse na mesojne se si funksonojne gjerat,

but the constraints inherent in their design

por kufizimet e natyrshme ne dizenjot e tyre

influence the way we learn.

ndikojne ne menyren se si mesojme.

So Hannah's approach, on the other hand,

Qasja e Hannah nga ana tjeter,

is to formulate a series of techniques

eshte formulimi i nje seri teknikash

for creating unusual objects

per te krijuar objekte jo te zakonta

that free us from pre-designed constraints

te cilet na japin liri prej ndertimeve te gatshme

by teaching us about the materials themselves.

duke na mesuar rreth materialeve.

So amongst Hannah's many impressive experiments,

Nder eksperimentet me impresionante te Hannahs,

this is one of my favorites.

ky eshte nje nder me te preferuarit e mi.

["Paper speakers"]

[Foles prej letre]

What we're seeing here is just a piece of paper

Ajo cka shohim ketu eshte vetem nje cope letre

with some copper tape on it connected to an mp3 player

me nje shirit bakri te lidhur me nje mp3

and a magnet.

dhe nje magnet.

(Music: "Happy Together")

(Muzike: "Happy Together")

So based on the research by Marcelo Coelho from MIT,

Pra, bazuar ne hulumtmin e Marcelo Coelho te MIT,

Hannah created a series of paper speakers

Hannah krijoi nje seri altoparlante letrash

out of a wide range of materials

nga nje sere materialesh

from simple copper tape to conductive fabric and ink.

nga shiritat e thjeshte prej bakri deri tek tekstilet dhe bojrat percuese.

Just like Jordan and so many other makers,

Sikunder Jordan dhe shume krijues te tjere,

Hannah published her recipes

Hannah publikoi recetat e saj

and allows anyone to copy and reproduce them.

qe lejon gjithkend ti kopjoje dhe riprodhoje ato.

But paper electronics is one of the most promising branches

Por elektronikat prej letre eshte nje nga deget me premtuese

of material science

te shkencave materiale

in that it allows us to create cheaper and flexible electronics.

qe na lejon te krijojme elektronike te lire dhe fleksible.

So Hannah's artisanal work,

Pra puna artizanale e Hannahs,

and the fact that she shared her findings,

dhe fakti qe ajo i beri publike gjetjet e saj,

opens the doors to a series of new possibilities

hap dyert e nje seri mundesish te tjera

that are both aesthetically appealing and innovative.

qe jane dhe te bukura ne pamje por edhe inovatore.

So the interesting thing about makers

Pra, gjeja me interesante per shpikesit

is that we create out of passion and curiosity,

eshte qe ne krijojme nga pasioni dhe kurioziteti,

and we are not afraid to fail.

dhe nuk kemi frike nese deshtojme.

We often tackle problems from unconventional angles,

Ndodh shpesh qe i trajtojme problemet nga kende te ndryshme,

and, in the process, end up discovering alternatives

dhe gjate procesit, perfundojme duke zbuluar rruge alternative

or even better ways to do things.

ose rruge me te shkurtra per te bere gjerat.

So the more people experiment with materials,

Pra, sa me shume njerez qe eksperimentojne me materiale,

the more researchers are willing to share their research,

me shume kerkues jane te gatshem te ndajne zbulimet e tyre,

and manufacturers their knowledge,

dhe njohurite e fabrikuesve,

the better chances we have to create technologies

aq me teper rriten shanset per te krijuar teknologji

that truly serve us all.

qe me te vertete jane te dobishme per ne.

So I feel a bit as Ted Nelson must have

Pra, ndjehem pak si Ted Nelson

when, in the early 1970s, he wrote,

kur, ne fillim te viteve 1970, shkroi,

"You must understand computers now."

"Tashme duhet ti njihni kompjuterat."

Back then, computers were these large mainframes

Atehere, kompjuterat ishin keto paisje te medha

only scientists cared about,

qe merreshin vec shkencetaret,

and no one dreamed of even having one at home.

dhe qe askujt nuk i shkonte mendja te kishte nje ne shtepi.

So it's a little strange that I'm standing here and saying,

Pra, eshte disi e cuditshme qe jam duke qendruar ketu e them,

"You must understand smart materials now."

"Duhet te kuptosh se c'jane materialet inteligjente tani."

Just keep in mind that acquiring preemptive knowledge

Vetem kini parasysh se pervetesimi i njohurive parandaluese

about emerging technologies

ne lidhje me teknologjite e reja

is the best way to ensure that we have a say

eshte menyra me e mire per tu siguruar qe dhe ne e kemi nje ze

in the making of our future.

ne krijimin e te ardhmes sone.

Thank you.

Faleminderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)