Además de Open Design, Open Hardware, Open Manufacturing, hay otra dirección que el fenómeno Open Everything está tomando: Open Money. Aunque los proyectos de Open Money se encuentran todavia en sus primeras etapas, representan un paso muy importante y estratégico de metadiseño para facilitar la propagación de las formas de organización abierta y p2p basadas en comunidades.

The open money project aims to create the global infrastructure, tools, governance mechanisms and platforms that will give communities the capacity to create their own currencies with just a few clicks and thereby liberate their wealth potential.¹

Hay que notar como estos ejemplos de Open Money pueden ser entendidos como metacurrencies o metamonedas (y aquí hay que ver el proyectos Metacurrency), porque estos proyectos son el diseño de las normas y de los artefactos necesarios para el diseño de la moneda propia de una comunidad. Los proyectos de Open Design van a ser parte de las plataformas de los proyectos de Open P2P Design (que son proyectos de metadiseño de sistemas colaborativos abiertos).

Aquí hay un video (con subtítulos disponibles) realizado por el Wall Street Journal que explica en manera muy clara el concepto de Open Money y de otros proyectos relacionados:

Just as there are now millions of media outlets today, currencies will follow this same evolution by shifting from centralized authoritative models to distributed ones that allow better sustainability, distribution, transparency, and regulation mechanisms. Every community (associations, companies, cities, regions, states, professions, interest groups, etc) will be able to create their own currencies for their own marketplace.²

Aquí hay otro videoAnd here is another video (también con subtítulos disponibles) acerca del proyecto Metacurrency:

Notes:

1. http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Money [↩]
2. http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Money [↩]

Regresando de I Realize 09, estamos todavia muy ocupados con las mapas que desarrollamos en el taller; mientras tanto, podeis ver la web tv del evento aqui, donde podeis elegir las sesiones (o leer una reseña del evento aquí, en Italiano).

Aquí podeis encontrar el video de la sesión I Grow – Design donde he participado:

Podeis mirar también las fotos del evento aqui:

Y estas son mis fotos:

Muchas gracias a Michal Piasecki y Stephen Williams por venir!

Un rápido anuncio: Michel Bauwens, filósofo belga y teórico Peer-to-Peer theorist, fundador de la P2P Foundation, va a estar en Milán en estos días y va a dar dos conferencias.

Aquì la primera:

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2009
Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Aula 12, Scienze Politiche, Università di Milano
Street: via Conservatorio 7
City/Town: Milano, Italy

Y aquì la segunda:

Date: Friday, March 20, 2009
Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Politecnico di Milano
Street: Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci, 32. Ala Nord, Chiostro Edificio N.
City/Town: Milan, Italy

Yo voy a asistir a la segunda, espero verlos allí… Y si no podeis estar, recordar que podeis ver el streaming online aquì: http://live.laureaonline.it/intlessons/ donde podeis también hacer preguntas a Michel Bauwens.

Y esto es el abstract de las conferencias:

TITLE: Peer to Peer as an economic and ethical revolution

Abstract:
A long-standing historical problem with social alternatives has been that none have them have been more productive than the for-profit alternatives, or at least not, in the context of the existing balance of power. However, a combination of technical and social trends has produced a historically novel situation that challenges this state of affairs. Internet-based tecnical infrastructures have made it possible to scale small-group dynamics to the level of global coordination of highly complex social artefacts that produce common value for self-aggregating peer producers; deep changes in ways of being, knowing and feeling have produced a new set of open and free, participatory, and commons-oriented paradigms that are changing the structure of desire of emerging generations.
Remarkably, the new set of social practices, i.e. peer production, peer governance, and peer property, are both strengthening the current political economy, (much as emerging capitalism did for the flagging feudal system from the 16th century onwards), but also undermining it through a systemic crisis of value, while also pointing to post-capitalist alternatives that may want day supplant the core of the current system.
This lecture by the founder of the P2P Foundation will examine the impact of peer production as a challenge to the current political economy and present different scenarios for the future of social change, especially in the context of the current meltdown.

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Neon Organic 0052 (sketch) from watz on Vimeo.

He encontrado en esta pagína web una entrevista a Marius Watz de Generator.x y Code&Form acerca de la Generative Art (o Arte Generativo).

Es un tema muy interesante para nosotros porqué está relacionado con complejidad, software y diseño: por ejemplo una obra de Generative Art podría utilizar un codigo genetico basado en la evolución de un sistema complejo o el codigo podría ser abierto (aunque no todos los ejemplos de Generative Art son así).

Desde Wikipedia:

Generative art is a system oriented art practice where the common denominator is the use of systems as a production method. To meet the definition of generative art, an artwork must be self-contained and operate with some degree of autonomy. The workings of systems in generative art might resemble, or rely on, various scientific theories such as Complexity science and Information theory. The systems of generative artworks have many similarities with systems found in various areas of science. Such systems may exhibit order and/or disorder, as well as a varying degree of complexity, making behavioral prediction difficult. However, such systems still contain a defined relationship between cause and effect. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s “Musikalisches Würfelspiel” (Musical Dice Game) 1757 is an early example of a generative system based on randomness. The structure was based on an element of order on one hand, and disorder on the other.

An artist or creator will usually set down certain ground-rules or formulae and/or templates materials, and will then set a random or semi-random process to work on those elements. The results will remain somewhat within set limits, but may also be subject to subtle or even startling mutations. The idea of putting the art making process in the place of a pre-generated artwork is a key feature in generative art, highlighting the process-orientation as an essential characteristic. Generative artists such as Hans Haacke have explored processes of physical and biological systems in artistic context.

Generative art describes a strategy for artistic practice, not a style or genre of work. The artist describes a rule-based system external to him/herself that either produces works of art or is itself a work of art.

(more…)

Estoy muy feliz de compartir con vosotros este documental (en Inglés) acerca de Redes Complejas y la Ciencia de la Red. Es el primero que encuentro acerca de complejidad y redes, y tiene una estructura, narración y explicación muy buenas, y es muy interesante poder ver las personas de
Steven Strogatz, Duncan J. Watts, Alessandro Vespignani, Albert-László Barabási después de leer sus papers y libros.

Se trata de “How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer” (llamado así después el juego “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”).
Aquí hay la pagína web oficial (y aquí (300 Mb) podeis descargar la pelicula entera, si no quiereis verla en los videos abajo en Vimeo).

How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer – Part 1 from gephi on Vimeo.

How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer – Part 2 from gephi on Vimeo.

(more…)

Zoybar es un proyecto de open design procedente de Israel, fundado y diseñado por el diseñador Ziv Bar Ilan, que será disponible desde el enero 2009.
Se trata del proyecto de una guitarra de diseño abierto, y es muy interesante por su interes en la construcción de un ecosistema económico (un marketplace Open P2P) y también para la sostenibilidad y el desarrollo local.

Zoybar is a unique platform for developing innovative music instruments and effects.
The Zoybar components provide research and development tools as a sustainable, playable prototype platform. The same modular parts can be assembled as different instruments, can be change during the performance and also be mounted with numerous special effects, just by adding and changing their position across the profile grooves.

As an independent developer you can use the Zoybar hardware platform to integrate your application and become relevant to the whole Zoybar community.
You can submit your projects as a group administrator and interact with your own forum, members, and rich media content platform for free.

Find more videos like this on Zoybar

Basically the design process has two primary principles:

Number one:
Analyzing the system elements by their basic functions and defining them as autonomous components.
Autonomous means that a component is responsible for a specific function, can be attached and removed independently from the platform and does not have an affect on the other components – regarding attachment and production hierarchy.
The development of new features in done on a real working platform at real-time and can be replaced or produced aside the existing components in a quick transition time.
The development of new features can now be focused entirely on a specific function, and can be collaborative with other developers on the platform.
This design approach creates great flexibility to produce a high variety of low demand products, while maintaining the high productivity of large scale production.
It also helps locating problems and to eliminate overproduction by only producing items when they are needed.

Number two:
Every component and future development would have the same attachment method.
This means that all of the parts are also spare parts regardless of their version or manufacturer, keeping them relevant, rather then dumping them as useless waste as soon as a new version has been released.
Upgrading means that you no longer need to replace the entire system and that you can trade your past components with others.

These design steps creates a sustainable platform for emerging decentralized r&d communities.¹

What does it mean an open Hardware platform?
Zoybar was designed to accommodate a very high level of modularity.
All of the components can be replaced, added or removed without the need to hack the instrument.
Zoybar is also open for independent upgrades and modifications.
Think of the Zoybar platform as a hardware version that might be similar to the Firefox browser concept.
Independent developers could create new add-ons and plugins (sound effects) that will become relevant to the whole Zoybar users and community. Almost any application can be easily attached to the Zoybar platform, just by adding and changing its position across the profile grooves with common bolts and screws.
Further along the Zoybar users will have numerous modifications and upgrade options as more developers will join the community. Adding a new feature or swapping components within the Zoybar community will be an amazing low cost option for those who are always looking to enrich their sounds, instruments and performance repertoire. ²

via | odesign community

Notes:

1. http://www.zoybar.net/profiles/blog/show?id=1442290%3ABlogPost%3A2822 [↩]
2. http://www.zoybar.net/faq [↩]

Aquí un video de Charles Leadbeater en TED, donde habla de Pro-Am (“aficionados innovadores, comprometidos y en red que trabajan a un nivel profesional”) y entonces de Open Innovation.

Lo temas de este discurso estan relacionados con este libro (que fue muy util en desarrollar mi tesis): “The Pro-Am Revolution. How enthusiasts are changing our economy and society escrito por Charles Leadbeater y Paul Miller en el 2004, disponible bajo de licencia Creative Commons desde Demos.

The 20th century witnessed the rise of professionals in medicine, science, education, and politics. In one field after another, amateurs and their ramshackle organisations were driven out by people who knew what they were doing and had certificates to prove it.

The Pro-Am Revolution argues this historic shift is reversing. We’re witnessing the flowering of Pro-Am, bottom-up self-organisation and the crude, all or nothing, categories of professional or amateur will need to be rethought.

El reconocimiento de la importancia de los Pro-Am es uno de los primeros pasos hacia el reconocer la naturaleza distribuida y social de la creatividad, y entonces hacia el reconocer la inteligencia colectiva de la sociedad y la importancia de aplicarla en casos de innovación abierta u Open Innovation.

Después de un primero post donde he hablado de un proyecto de instalación artistica/de diseño site-specific que utiliza algoritmos de bandadas (flocking algorithms) diseñada por Todo Design, en este post os quiero hablar de otro experimento que utiliza los mismos algoritmos.

Mientras tanto estaba buscando videos sobre complejidad en Vimeo he encontrado este video realizado por Aaron Westre de Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA), donde el explica de manera muy clara su tesis de graduado sobre utilizar algoritmos de bandadas para diseñar arquitecturas 3D; aquí va el video:

Introduction to Complexity Machine 1 from Aaron Westre on Vimeo.

Trabajando entre diseño, ciencia y cálculos Aaron Westre desarrollò su proprio software (que podesi descargar aquí), “Complexity Machine 1” utilizando el software open source Processing, donde el calcula las simulaciones del comportamiento de agentes de que se haya decidido antes las leyes de interacción.

Lo que es interesante de este proyecto es que no utiliza la complejidad de un sistema como mera inspiración o decoración, sino como una manera nueva de diseñar una estructure, como si fuera diseñada o modelada por una bandada de pajaros.

Comparado con el ejemplo del primer post, donde se adoptaba la complejidad solo como decoración, aquí se considera la complejidad por sus propiedades de generar nuevas formas y estructuras como el resultado de las interacciones de múltiples agentes (aunque en la realidad estos tipos de agentes no tienen tanta influencia sobre las arquitecturas).
Seguramente se trata de un paso adelante para la relación entre diseño y complejidad, aunque podemos seguir aun más adelante…

WARNING: This software does not produce architecture, it produces the seeds of architecture

Aaron Westre ha también publicado su tesis “Complexity Machine 1:Drawing 3D Form with Behavioral Simulation” (Mayo 2008) con el codigo fuente del software bajo de una licencia Creative Commons en Lulu.com aquí, donde podeis descargarla gratis o comprar una versión imprenta.

En esta tesis el empieza también a estudiar una metodología de diseño para sistemas complejos y computational design:

A new breed of designer is emerging, however, that has a kind of hacker mentality; taking the tools produced by the technology industry and modifying them to achieve new performances.
There is an increasing tendency toward toolmaking as an integral part of the design process. In the same way architects have sought to improve their physical and conceptual toolkits for centuries, digital toolkits are becoming fair game for repurposing, extension, and recombination. The result is a proliferation of innovative software bred to assist in specific design inquiries.
What seems to be emerging is a working method that could be called a horticulture of computational design. The process follows a distinct set of steps that define a cycle of exploration and production for the discipline: (fig. 42)

• Step 1: Collection – In the first step concepts, inspiration and software code are collected.
• Step 2: Hybridization – The hybridization phase involves synthesizing the collected elements into a software that provides a new functionality to the community.
• Step 3: Cultivation – Cultivation entails a cycle of refinement of the software based on exploration of capabilities and feedback from users.
• Step 4: Curation – The output of the software is then subjected to curation in which content is selected and interpreted for use in design processes. The results from this curation process can then be shared back with the community, inspiring further exploration.

A horticultural technique such as this could offer the computational design community an organic, yet systematic, way of exploring the vast territory of complex systems and their application to design¹

La metodología de diseño de Aaron Westre’s para Computational Design y Sistemas Complejos

Complexity Machine 1 is an initial investigation into the possibilities of a design methodology based on concepts from complexity theory. Specifically, it is the first in a series of software applications for exploring the design implications of a variety of simulation techniques. This suite of software will become part of an ever growing ecosystem of computational design software that will help designers explore new territory. (fig. 43) This effort is situated within a larger collective project in which computational designers are mapping out unexplored territory by applying new technologies and techniques. The complexity machine project will continue to collect concepts, methods, and inventions from the broader community and introduce insights and tools back into the growing ecology of computational design tools.²

Notes:

1. pp.37-38 [↩]
2. p.38 [↩]