Ayah Bdeir: Building blocks that blink, beep and teach

譯者: Jesse Chen 陳鉦翰 審譯者:

This may sound strange,

你們可能會覺得我很奇怪

but I'm a big fan of the concrete block.

因為我很喜歡水泥磚頭

The first concrete blocks were manufactured in 1868

世界上第一塊水泥磚頭製造於1868年

with a very simple idea:

只有一個很簡單的概念

modules made of cement of a fixed measurement

水泥製造的磚頭有固定的尺寸

that fit together.

這樣才能互相契合

Very quickly concrete blocks became

很快的，水泥磚頭就變成了

the most-used construction unit in the world.

世界上最常用的建材

They enabled us to to build things that were larger than us,

我們能用它來建造比我們還要巨大的建築

buildings, bridges,

樓房、橋梁

one brick at a time.

一磚一瓦的建造

Essentially concrete blocks had become

我們把水泥磚頭當作建材

the building block of our time.

已經有一段時間了

Almost a hundred years later in 1947,

約一百年後，1947年

LEGO came up with this.

「樂高LEGO®」生產出這個

It was called the Automatic Binding Brick.

他們稱為「自動組裝積木」

And in a few short years,

短短幾年後

LEGO bricks took place in every household.

樂高積木成了每個家庭必備的玩具

It's estimated that over 400 billion bricks have been produced --

大約估計了一下，樂高生產了超過四千億個積木

or 75 bricks for every person on the planet.

平均全球每個人擁有75塊積木

You don't have to be an engineer

你不需要是個工程師

to make beautiful houses, beautiful bridges, beautiful buildings.

會建造漂亮的房屋、雄偉的橋樑或其它美麗的建築

LEGO made it accessible.

樂高讓你的想像變為實物

LEGO has essentially taken the concrete block, the building block of the world,

樂高活用水泥磚頭的概念

and made it into the building block

將它轉化成

of our imagination.

激發我們想像力的建材

Meanwhile the exact same year,

在同一年

at Bell Labs the next revolution was about to be announced,

貝爾實驗室(Bell Labs)發表了另一個

the next building block.

積木的革新

The transistor was a small plastic unit

電晶體是一個塑膠製的小東西

that would take us from a world

帶領我們進入一個

of static bricks piled on top of each other

靜止的積木堆疊在一起

to a world where everything was interactive.

但積木間卻會相互作用的世界

Like the concrete block,

就跟水泥磚頭一樣

the transistor allows you to build

電晶體也能讓你建造

much larger, more complex circuits, one brick at a time.

更大、更複雜的迴路

But there's a main difference:

它們最大的差別就是

The transistor was only for experts.

電晶體是專門給專家玩的

I personally don't accept this,

我不太同意這個說法

that the building block of our time

雖然我們現在的磚頭建材

is reserved for experts,

也都只有專家在用

so I decided to change that.

所以我想要改變這種現象

Eight years ago when I was at the Media Lab,

八年前我在媒體實驗室(Media Lab)

I started exploring this idea

我開始著手開發這個計畫：

of how to put the power of engineers

如何把工程師的技術

in the hands of artists and designers.

讓藝術家和設計師也能輕易地掌握？

A few years ago I started developing littleBits.

幾年前我開始研發"littleBits"

Let me show you how they work.

我給你看它如何運作

LittleBits are electronic modules

"littleBits"是電子元件

with each one specific function.

每一小塊都有特定的功能

They're pre-engineered

它們被設置成

to be light, sound,

有燈光、聲音、

motors and sensors.

電動和感應功能

And the best part about it

而它最好玩的部分就是

is they snap together with magnets.

它靠著磁鐵連接在一起

So you can't put them the wrong way.

所以你不會把它們弄錯方向

The bricks are color-coded.

它們用顏色來區分功能

Green is output, blue is power,

綠色是輸出、藍色是電源、

pink is input and orange is wire.

粉紅色是輸入、橘色是電線

So all you need to do is snap a blue to a green

你只要把藍色和綠色接在一起

and very quickly you can start making larger circuits.

然後你就可以開始做大一點的迴路

You put a blue to a green,

藍色跟綠色接在一起

you can make light.

它就可以發光

You can put a knob in between

你也可以把旋鈕接在中間

and now you've made a little dimmer.

它就可以調亮度

Switch out the knob

把旋鈕換掉

for a pulse module,

換成脈衝元件

which is here,

在這裡

and now you've made a little blinker.

你就可以使燈光閃爍

Add this buzzer

再加上一個聲音元件

for some extra punch

給它多個功能

and you've created a noise machine.

然後你就做出了一個警報器

I'm going to stop that.

它好吵

So beyond simple play,

在小小的示範之後

littleBits are actually pretty powerful.

"littleBits"其實是很強大的

Instead of having to program, to wire, to solder,

我們不需要會寫程式、接電線或是焊接

littleBits allow you to program

"littleBits"就能讓你設計程式

using very simple intuitive gestures.

藉由很簡單的直覺動作

So to make this blink faster or slower,

讓它閃爍得快一點或慢一點

you would just turn this knob

只需要轉一下這個

and basically make it pulse faster or slower.

就能達到目的

The idea behind littleBits

"littleBits"想傳達的想法

is that it's a growing library.

它就是一個現成的知識庫

We want to make every single interaction in the world

我們都想讓全世界的互動

into a ready-to-use brick.

融合在一塊現成的積木裡

Lights, sounds, solar panels, motors --

燈光、聲音、太陽能板、馬達...等等

everything should be accessible.

這些都必須是平易近人的

We've been giving littleBits to kids and seeing them play with them.

我們讓"littleBits"進入小孩子的生活讓他們把玩

And it's been an incredible experience.

這真的是很難得的經驗

The nicest thing is how they start to understand

最好的部分是他們開始試著去了解

the electronics around them from everyday

每天環繞在他們周圍的電子設備

that they don't learn at schools.

這是在學校學不到的

For example, how a nightlight works,

譬如說一個小夜燈是怎麼運作的

or why an elevator door stays open,

或是電梯門怎麼維持開啟

or how an iPod responds to touch.

或是iPod的觸控如何作用

We've also been taking littleBits to design schools.

我們也把"littleBits"讓設計學校使用

So for example, we've had designers

舉例來說，我們讓設計師

with no experience with electronics whatsoever

完全沒有電子相關的經驗

start to play with littleBits as a material.

開始把"littleBits"當成一種工具

Here you see, with felt and paper water bottles,

你看，絨布和紙做的水瓶

we have Geordie making ...

喬迪做出了...

(Clanging)

(鈴聲)

(Buzzing)

(叭~叭叭)

A few weeks ago we took littleBits to RISD

幾個禮拜前我們把"littleBits"帶到「羅德島設計學院(RISD)」

and gave them to some designers

給了一些設計師

with no experience in engineering whatsoever --

一樣沒有工程學相關的經驗

just cardboard, wood and paper -- and told them "Make something."

給他們一些硬紙板、木板和紙張，讓他們做「東西」

Here's an example of a project they made,

舉一個他們做出來的東西

a motion-activated confetti canon ball.

「天女散花加農砲」

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

But wait, this is actually my favorite project.

但這真的是我最喜歡的一個

It's a lobster made of playdough

用彩色塑泥做的龍蝦

that's afraid of the dark.

牠很怕黑

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

To these non-engineers, littleBits became another material,

對不是工程師的人來說，"littleBits"成了另一種工具

electronics became just another material.

電子學也是

And we want to make this material accessible to everyone.

我們希望這個工具是平易近人的

So littleBits is open-source.

"littleBits"是個共享資源

You can go on the website, download all the design files, make them yourself.

你可以去我們網站下載設計稿並自己動手做

We want to encourage a world

我們想要激發一個世界

of creators, of inventors, of contributors,

有創作家、發明家和貢獻者

because this world that we live in,

因為我們住的這個世界

this interactive world, is ours.

是一個彼此互動的世界

So go ahead and start inventing.

我們一起開始發明吧！

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)