Archinect - News

Hong Kong protestors take aim at Chinese urban surveillance infrastructure

2019-08-26T13:00:00-04:00

Widespread protests focused on countering China's quasi-colonial reign over Hong Kong continued over the weekend, as demonstrators began to take aim at the city's widespread surveillance infrastructure, The Guardian reports.

Organizing in response to reports that Chinese authorities are using smart lampposts to collect personal information, including facial recognition data, on Hongkongers, protesters over the weekend trained their efforts on removing some the city's new smart city infrastructure as local police fired tear gas. Australian news outlet ABC News reports that 400 of the smart lampposts are due to be installed in four of the city's urban districts, including 50 lampposts in the Kwun Tong area, the site of this weekend's protests. During a march this weekend, protestors used electric saws to destroy several of the lampposts, while others topped the lights with ropes.

Protestors in Hong Kong are cutting down facial recognition towers. pic.twitter.com/bTvb8uis7V
— Jordan ...

Thesis project develops drone architecture for adaptable public spaces

2018-09-07T14:49:00-04:00

A recent thesis project from three students explores adaptable architecture using drones and "smart" materials. The project, Cyber Physical Macro Material, uses lightweight carbon fiber building blocks with integrated sensing communication to create dynamic public spaces.

Cyber Physical Macro Material thesis project by Miguel Aflalo, Behrooz Tahanzadeh, and Jingcheng Chen. Image: University of Stuttgart.

The user can program drones to reconfigure the canopy according to the sun's position, providing occupants with optimum shade thorughout the day. The architecture system can also actively rebuild itself to influence the occupants or retreat completely to nearby rooftops.

Cyber Physical Macro Material thesis project by Miguel Aflalo, Behrooz Tahanzadeh, and Jingcheng Chen. Image: University of Stuttgart.

The project was developed by students Miguel Aflalo, Behrooz Tahanzadeh, and Jingcheng Chen within the Integrative Technologies and Architectural Design Research (ITECH) Master Progr...

Check out Bagel, the overachieving digital tape measure freshly funded on Kickstarter

2016-07-12T18:42:00-04:00

Taking and recording measurements on the fly can be tricky—getting all the right tools to measure different surfaces and distances, and having a place to scribble them down for later, can easily lead to imprecise or inefficient measurements. The mouthwateringly-named Bagel digital tape measure is trying to change that.

The Bagel looks like a basic tape measure, but can measure distances in three different modes: string, wheel, or remote. Digital measurements from these three functions can then be saved on Bagel's internal memory (along with voice memos), or transferred to the Bagel smartphone app via Bluetooth. You can charge it with a micro-USB, and the digital display makes viewing easier and less ambiguous.

Launched on Kickstarter by Bagel Labs of Newport Beach, California, the smart tape measure has already surpassed its $30,000 goal nearly 20-times over. The final prototype is ready for production, and while Bagel still needs to undergo consumer-testing for durability (how high o...