Prof. David Gerhard was one of the first guests to come into our Intro to Creative Technologies class. He gave a lecture about 3D printing and about some other projects that he has worked on in the past such as iPhone apps, isomorphic instruments, and balloons that float to the outskirts of the atmosphere and many more. Needless to say, Prof. Gerhard has a wide variety of skills when it comes to technology.
There is a fairly wide variety of 3D printers available on the market today. Many people have even created their own 3D printers which mostly just use types of plastic but the possibilities of 3D printing is nearly endless. For example, things like parts of a jaw bone, body organs and cell structures, musical instruments, articles of clothing, architecture designs, etc have all been 3D printed before, whether or not it actually worked out. 3D printed food is something I find interesting. I’m not sure how good it would be but I would be willing to taste-test certain types of food if it looked appealing enough. I feel as though meat and other similar food types would make me very uneasy to eat for ethical reasons but curiosity might just give me non-food poisoning. I definitely wouldn’t be the guinea pig for any food product made from a printer but if someone had tasted it first and didn’t end up in the hospital afterwards.
I recently watched a Ted Talk featuring Prof. Gerhard where he spent some time debunking Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hour rule” which describes how a person must spend a large amount of their time deliberately learning a process in effort to become a master/virtuoso. David has researched different ways of cutting down on some of the time required learning to play a musical instrument. In his Ted Talk, David explained how different instruments have different learning curves and, therefore, have different levels of virtuosity. Many instruments nowadays have digital versions that use MIDI format as well as toy versions which can use MIDI or a simple recorded noise to recreate the sound. However, they can often over-simplify the process and result in virtuosity as being difficult if not impossible to achieve on the digitalized instrument compared with the original. David has created digital instruments, many different kinds of apps, and new layouts for music note patterns. One of his focuses over the past few years has been expanding the idea of isomorphic instruments (such as the Rainboard) which are good for helping beginners learn to play more complex patterns and better sounding notes than they would have the capability to play as quickly on a standard instrument.
David’s Ted Talk on isomorphic instruments
David discussed high-altitude weather balloons in his lecture for a few minutes which I found to be very interesting. Most weather balloons travel between 20 and 40 kilometres upwards before popping in or above the stratosphere. Some weather balloons have even travelled more than 50 kilometres upwards before exploding. These balloons are often
equipped with at least one video camera, if not more so as to show a 3D video; cords/cables; a parachute, and often several other devices meant to take various measurements. The balloons are usually filled with helium and can vary quite a lot in size with the average probably being between 8-10 feet in diameter. The balloons are usually made from nylon but can also be made from mylar to be stronger and more resistant to popping at very high altitudes which can allow them to stay up in the sky for years.
Prof. Gerhard has participated in many launches around Saskatchewan already and has been helping to introduce these sorts of experiments into schools of all different levels and from all around the province. This is really great not just because it’s an incredibly informative and interesting topic that most young students find very fun to learn, but because it is also meant to inspire creativity and passion towards studying science in relation to the environment and the changes going on in our world. Also, as people continue to connect in the ways that they communicate and do research, these sorts of projects can help to connect people of similar backgrounds and interests to participate in something larger than themselves while perhaps even making some astonishing discoveries along the way.
I think of all the interesting things that I’ve learned from researching David’s work, my favourite would have to be the isomorphic instruments and other types of digital instruments. I would to get my hands on a Rainboard to try it out and I would be very interested in buying one should they become available for sale. I have also been thinking about taking a class or two on this sort of topic so I can learn how to make digital instruments and other cool gadgets. Thanks for the great lecture David, and the great semester Megan and Jason. Have a nice holiday break and I hope to learn from you again in the future!
Find more fun facts and projects at:
Ben's Online Portfolio 