10 ms·
Ferrolic
- edent 11y agoIt reminds me of the game World of Goo - those uncanny black blobs floating around. As the site says, the device can only withstand a few months of sustained use - which is a pity.
- Kenji 11y agoI wonder why that is. Given that the container is sealed properly, and they use electronics with magnets, I just don't see any part that is subject to such massive wear. EDIT: Thanks, jpatokal, that cleared things up.
- jpatokal 11y agoFerrofluids are fundamentally unstable. They're colloidal suspensions that rely on surfactants to keep the particles apart, and as the surfactants degrade, the particles start clumping together and falling out of suspension. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrofluid#Description https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrofluid#Description As a practical demonstration of this, there's an ancient ferrofluid exhibit (80's?) at a local science museum. While the fluid itself kinda-sorta "works" in that you get the pretty spiky shapes when zapped with an electromagnet, the edges and bottom of the glass case are thickly coated in viscous black gunk.
- tomwphillips 11y agoFerrofluids are magnetic nanoparticles, usually iron oxide, with small molecules called surfactants stuck to their surface. These stop the nanoparticles aggregating. Eventually the surfactants themselves will come off, causing aggregation. Lumps of iron oxide precipitate out of the liquid and sink to the bottom. No doubt better surfactants will be developed that take a very long time to degrade.
- daveloyall 11y agoCould you confirm or deny that you are using the word "nanoparticles" carefully? I think that the ferrous particles in ferrofluids are mere particles. They'd have to be very, very small to be classified as nano, and we've seen before that making particles of an ordinary material that small can change its properties, ala "transparent titanium dioxide".
- chris_va 11y ago"Ferrofluids are composed of nanoscale particles (diameter usually 10 nanometers or less) of magnetite, hematite or some other compound containing iron." - Wikipedia
- bro-stick 11y agoMakes one wonder about the usable lifetime of such an art piece.
- stephengillie 11y agoIndeed, a piece designed to degrade within a few months seems like an art trope.
- rolfvandekrol 11y agoCool! The designer (http://zelfkoelman.com/ http://zelfkoelman.com/) is Dutch, and the name is actually a pun in Dutch. The word 'Ferrolic' is pronounced almost the same as the Dutch word 'vrolijk', which means 'happy' or 'joyful'.
- creshal 11y agoIt's also a pun on the English frolic (which derives from the Dutch word, apparently).
- delinka 11y agoAlso "ferrofluid" because the fluid is ferrous (contains iron.)
- arianvanp 11y agoHis name "Zelf Koelman" in dutch literally means "You're cool yourself" which I find hilarious.
- eam 11y agoI pronounced his name as "Self Cool Man" :D
- drinchev 11y agoSeeing this, I just can't stop thinking of why they choose to create an entertaining device and if this fluid has any practical applications.
- IshKebab 11y agoIt does have practical applications, but that doesn't mean you can't use it for entertainment too.
- jpatokal 11y agoBecause that's been done and there are plenty -- your hard drive probably contains some! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrofluid#Applications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrofluid#Applications
- bro-stick 11y agoPassive cooling of a speaker's voice coil is pretty neat.
- bro-stick 11y agoArt has the practical application of being interesting to the beholder without necessarily being otherwise functional. Although with this piece, a clock is practical and it also seems natural that it could become a programmable display platform like a Pebble Watch.
- rezamoaiandin 11y agoThats pretty amazing!
- pronoiac 11y agoThings I want to see: * the game of life * someone blowing smoke rings * Robert Patrick from Terminator 2 * maybe a waterfall
- IshKebab 11y agoNice to see someone has done this finally!
- adiabatty 11y agoMy first thought after seeing the video was "you could make a really cool James Bond-movie introductory title scene or five with this".
- haliax 11y agoHow are they creating a magnetic field that writes out the time? Is it a large grid of magnets or something more clever?
- alt_ 11y agoThe second tab: 'Where digital meets Nature' has a brief summary of how it works. Sounds like a grid of magnets: "In the front, the display has a basin comparable to an acquarium in which Ferro Fluid can move freely. Behind the scenes powerful electromagnets enable Ferollic to influence the fluid’s shape, to pick it up and move it around. Both modules, the basin and the electronics, sit secure in an aluminium frame."
- fit2rule 11y agoThis is brilliant .. a wonderful piece of artwork and technological whimsy in a way that playfully pushes the edge of display as an art-laden tool, and of course makes me wonder the difficulties of emulating it in software, so that everyone can have one and so that the ferro-fluid part isn't necessary (runs out of magnet-juice, requires containment, is icky in real life, etc.)
- joshfraser 11y agoThat video is the most mesmerizing thing I've watched in a while.
- startswithaj 11y agoDoes anybody know where I can find other music similar to that of the video?
- knowaveragejoe 11y agoReminds me a lot of this BT's album This Binary Universe that came out in the mid 2000's. Here's a youtube playlist of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7bdECd3pQ0&list=PLDA866CB62A5ACE8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7bdECd3pQ0&list=PLDA866CB62...
- startswithaj 11y agoBT ftw.
- leapius 11y agoYes, try 'Emancipator'. Samples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f02bAEGMYFQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f02bAEGMYFQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo-fIy8wZjc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo-fIy8wZjc Try 'Tycho'. Samples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFr9StkVwTk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFr9StkVwTk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuGO6WHcruU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuGO6WHcruU Also check out 'Epic 45' and 'M83'
- tremendo 11y agoThere is a Music credit at the end of the video for Rhian Sheehan: Imber. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjR4IInfOa4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjR4IInfOa4
- radiorental 11y agoAphex Twin: Avril 14th https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeLuQ6X2ixI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeLuQ6X2ixI Boards of Canada: Dayvan Cowboy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2zKARkpDW4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2zKARkpDW4 Solar Fields: Reborn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD2bLKIDaT0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD2bLKIDaT0 Brian Eno: Music for Airports https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KGMo9yOaSU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KGMo9yOaSU And so forth, I have something of an incomplete playlist of similar 'ambient' http://audiosplitter.fm/playlists/ambient/2289864 http://audiosplitter.fm/playlists/ambient/2289864
- oori 11y ago24 pieces on pre-order at 7500€
- Kiro 11y agoWhat will this cost in retail? I hope it isn't anywhere close to 7.500 euro.
- Kiro 11y agoTo the people downvoting me: 7500 EUR is what it currently costs: http://www.ferrolic.com/inquiries/ http://www.ferrolic.com/inquiries/
- toothbrush 11y agoThis paper (PDF) contains some more information on the design. http://isea2015.org/proceeding/submissions/ISEA2015_submission_246.pdf http://isea2015.org/proceeding/submissions/ISEA2015_submissi...
- amelius 11y agoI'd be interested if they made a clock out of this, somehow.
- linkydinkandyou 11y agoThis is very beautiful. The clock is probably the "killer app" for this. It would also keep the cats amused; like watching a fishtank for them.
- daveloyall 11y agoShut up and take my money.
- manibatra 11y agoAmazing! Loved how I felt an instant emotional connection with the product! Great product, great video!
- codeshaman 11y agoAt first I thought 'this is so cool' , but then after thinking about it for a while, I realised that it's no cooler than any of the 200 videos or pictures with 'cool stuff' that I see every day. I think it's a pretty useless expensive gimmick created out of toxic materials to excite the numb neurons of the bored inhabitants of the digital realm for 2 minutes or so. Then we'll all forget about it and move on to the next thing. I'm already looking for something else :).
- koko775 11y agoThat's certainly an elaborate way of calling it art.
- GuiA 11y agoThe problem with reductio ad nihilum arguments like this one is that you can make them about absolutely everything and anything in life. It's a slippery slope.
- codeshaman 11y agoYes, I am doing that and it's a shitty way to see things, because it makes me sad and angry and everything is gloomy. Probably a phase I'm going through right now - my bullshit-filtering glasses are broken. I go through this phase after a startup or project that I've been working on is over. Without a project to focus on, I see the world as it is - a sharade of people bullshitting each other and hiding from who they are. I need a new project :).
- matthewmcg 11y agoIf you like this sort of machine for art's sake, you'll love the kinetic sculptures of Arthur Ganson: http://www.arthurganson.com/pages/Sculptures.html http://www.arthurganson.com/pages/Sculptures.html Check out "Machine with Oil": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__GhJl_UQg0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__GhJl_UQg0
- otis_inf 11y agoModern day Lava Lamp. Very nice!
- rebootthesystem 11y ago10 years ago: http://www.freymartin.de/en/projects/snoil http://www.freymartin.de/en/projects/snoil Date unknown: http://www.hawaiilibrary.net/articles/Ferro_Liquid_Display http://www.hawaiilibrary.net/articles/Ferro_Liquid_Display
- jvandonsel 11y agoAlmost as good (and cheaper and longer lasting) would be a nice JS tool to render text in a "Ferrolic" font, with dripping, re-forming, etc. Maybe this will be my next weekend project.
- crocal 11y agoSame thought here... Funny thing, if I put such app on the wall with a state-of-the art flatscreen display, I should be as mesmerized, if you consider how extraordinary such a device is. Chances are it won't have this effect at all. We got used to wonders.
- joshontheweb 11y agoIf you have seen Ridley Scott's Prometheus, this might be a bit unsettling to have in your home. Last thing I need is a Xenomorph running around the house!
- bro-stick 11y agoYup. Our house already has two little nightmares running around.
- PSeitz 11y agoThis first urge is to build an AI around this, because it seems to be alive. But it's too expensive as a gadget.