Oltre ad Open Design, Open Hardware, Open Manufacturing, esiste un altro percorso intrapreso dal fenomeno Open Everything: Open Money. Anche se i progetti Open Money si trovano al momento ancora nelle loro fasi iniziali, rappresentano una mossa strategica e di metadesign molto importante per la facilitazione di forme organizzative comunitarie open p2p.

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

Bisogna notare come questi esempi di Open Money possano essere visti e compresi come metacurrencies o metamonete (da segnalare infatti il progetto Metacurrency), dato che questi progetti rappresentano il design delle regole e degli artefatti necessari per lo sviluppo di monete specifiche per ogni comunità. I progetti Open Money saranno quindi parte importante delle piattaforme dei progetti di Open P2P Design (che sono essenzialmente dei progetti di metadesign di sistemi collaborativi aperti).

Vi segnalo quindi un bel video (con sottotitoli disponibili) realizzato dal Wall Street Journal che spiega chiaramente il concetto dell’Open Money e dei progetti simili:

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

Qui un altro video (sempre con sottotitoli disponibili) a proposito del progetto Metacurrency:

Notes:

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

Di ritorno da I Realize 09, siamo ancora occupati al lavoro sulle mappe che abbiamo sviluppato durante il workshop; nel frattempo, potete guardare la web tv dell’evento qui, dove potete scegliere le sessioni che preferite (o leggere una recensione dell’evento qui).

Qui invece il video della sessione I Grow – Design a cui ho partecipato:

Potete anche vedere le foto fatte durante l’evento qui:

E queste sono le mie foto:

Grazie a Michal Piasecki e Stephen Williams per essere venuti!

Un breve annuncio: Michel Bauwens, filosofo Belga e teorico del Peer-to-Peer, foundatore della P2P Foundation, sarà a Milano in questi giorni e presenterà due lecture.

Questa è la prima:

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

E questa è la seconda:

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

Io assisterò alla seconda, spero di incontrarvi lì… E se non potete esserci, ricordatevi che potete assistere anche voi alla seconda conferenza online qui: http://live.laureaonline.it/intlessons/ dove potete anche interagire e porre domande a Michel Bauwens.

Ecco l’abstract delle due lecture:

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.

Ho trovato a questo indirizzo una intervista con Marius Watz di Generator.x e Code&Form riguardante la Generative Art (o Arte Generativa).

La Generative Art è interessante per il nostro discorso perché è strettamente correlata alla complessità e all’uso del software per lo sviluppo di progetti (e quindi design); progetti che potrebbero usare un software genetico basato sull’evoluzione di sistemi complessi oppure un software open source (ma non tutti i casi di Generative Art presentano queste caratteristiche).

Da 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…)

Sono contento di poter condividere con voi questo documentario (in Inglese) sulle Reti Complessi e le Teorie delle Reti. Si tratta del primo documentario che ho trovato sulla complessità e sulle reti, ed è ben strutturato e narrato, ed è piacevole poter vedere le persone di
Steven Strogatz, Duncan J. Watts, Alessandro Vespignani, Albert-László Barabási dopo aver letto i loro paper e libri.

Si tratta di “How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer” (e prende il nome dal famoso gioco “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”).
Qui potete trovare il sito web ufficiale (e qui (300 Mb) potete scaricare il filmato intero, se non volete vedere i video qui sotto su 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 è un progetto di open design proveniente da Israele e fondato e progettato dal designer Ziv Bar Ilan, disponibile dal gennaio 2009.
Si tratta del progetto di una chitarra open design, ed è molto interessante per il suo interesse nella costruzione di un ecosistema economico (un marketplace Open P2P) ed anche per la sostenibilità e lo sviluppo locale.

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 [↩]

Ecco un video di Charles Leadbeater a TED, dove parla di Pro-am (“amatori impegnati, innovativi ed in rete fra loro che svolgono la propria attività con standard professionali”) e quindi di Open Innovation.

I temi di questo discorso sono strettamente collegati a questo libro (che trovai molto utile nello sviluppo della mia tesi): “The Pro-Am Revolution. How enthusiasts are changing our economy and society scritto da Charles Leadbeater e Paul Miller nel 2004, disponibile sotto una licenza Creative Commons da 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.

Il riconoscimento dell’importanza dei Pro-Am è uno dei primi passi verso il riconoscere la natura sociale e distribuita della creatività, e quindi verso il riconoscimento della intelligenza collettiva della società e della sua applicazione in casi di Open Innovation.

Dopo un primo post dove ho presentato un progetto di installazione artistica/design site-specific basata su algoritmi di flocking e sviluppata da Todo Design, in questo post segnalo un altro esperimento basato sugli stessi algoritmi.

Mentre ricercavo video sulla complessità su Vimeo ho trovato questo video di Aaron Westre da Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA), dove spiega in maniera chiara e dettagliata il suo progetto di tesi di laurea sull’utilizzo di algoritmi di flocking per la progettazione di architetture 3D; ecco il video:

Introduction to Complexity Machine 1 from Aaron Westre on Vimeo.

Muovendosi tra design, scienza e calcoli Aaron Westre ha sviluppato un suo proprio software (che potete scaricare qui), “Complexity Machine 1” usando il software open source Processing, che utilizza per eseguire delle simulazione sul comportamento di agenti di cui sono state impostate precedentemente le regole di interazione reciproca.

Ciò che è interessante in questo progetto è che la complessità di un sistema non viene usata come semplice ispirazione o decorazione, ma come un modo nuovo di progettare una struttura, come se fosse progettata o modellata da uno stormo di uccelli.

Paragonato all’esempio del primo post, dove la complessità venne presa in considerazione come decorazione, qui la complessità viene considerata per le sue proprietà di generazione di nuove forme e strutture come il risultato delle interazioni tra molteplici agenti (anche se nella realtà agenti di questo tipo non influenzano così tanto gli edifici).
È quindi un passo ulteriore per la relazione tra design e complessità, ma possiamo sicuramente procedere ulteriormente in questa direzione…

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

Aaron Westre ha anche pubblicato la sua tesi “Complexity Machine 1:Drawing 3D Form with Behavioral Simulation” (Maggio 2008) con il codice sorgente del software sotto una licenza Creative Commons su Lulu.com qui, dove potete scaricarla gratuitamente od ordinarne una versione cartacea a pagamento.

Nella sua tesi egli inoltre getta le base per una metodologia progettuale per sistemi complessi e 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 metodologia progettuale di Aaron Westre per Computational Design e Sistemi Complessi

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 [↩]