ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Merrill - MIT grad student
David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks (and music).

Why you should listen

David Merrill is currently the VP of Product at 3D Robotics, where he builds new, easy-to-use flying robots. He was formerly president and co-founder of Sifteo, a San Francisco startup spun out of his research at the MIT Media Lab. This research helped build an award-winning physical+digital play system and catalog of unique games. He also directed HW and SW on Sifteo products.

David constantly tinkers with next-generation technologies to make physical+digital tools that give people new powers (for good).

He is a human-computer interaction expert, frequent public speaker and aerial photography enthusiast. David's work has been featured by MoMA, the Disocvery Channel, Popular Science and Wired.

His main interest now is the Siftables project, the subject of his TEDTalk, on which he works with Jeevan Kalanithi. In another field of inquiry, Merrill is looking at ways to access digital information in the wider world, when we are away from a traditional computer.

A musician himself, Merril also has a deep interest in new musical interfaces. His Adaptive Music Controller is an instrument that learns its player (rather than the player learning the instrument). And working musicians should check out his AudioPint, a portable case that consolidates instruments, effects and audio processors into a gig-safe rugged housing.

More profile about the speaker
David Merrill | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

David Merrill: Toy tiles that talk to each other

David Merrill prezinta Siftables, cuburile inteligente

Filmed:
1,947,080 views

Absolventul MIT David Merrill prezinta Siftables - piese computerizate cat un biscuite, versatile si usor de manevrat. Aceste jucarii ale viitorului pot calcula, interpreta muzica si pot chiar sa comunice intre ele. Este acesta instrumentul viitorului in invatarea interactiva si experimentala?
- MIT grad student
David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks (and music). Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I want to startstart out by askingcer you to think back to when you were a kidcopil,
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As vrea sa incep cu rugamintea sa va amintiti de copilarie,
00:14
playingjoc with blocksblocuri.
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cand va jucati cu cuburi.
00:16
As you figuredimaginat out how to reacha ajunge out and graspînţelege,
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Pe masura ce ati invatat sa le apucati,
00:18
pickalege them up and movemișcare them around,
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sa le ridicati si sa le miscati de colo-colo,
00:20
you were actuallyde fapt learningînvăţare how to think and solverezolva problemsProbleme
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de fapt ati invatat cum sa ganditi si sa rezolvati probleme
00:22
by understandingînţelegere and manipulatingmanipulant spatialspațial relationshipsrelaţii.
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intelegand si manipuland relatiile spatiale.
00:25
SpatialSpaţiale reasoningraţionament is deeplyprofund connectedconectat
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Perceptia spatiului este profund legata
00:28
to how we understanda intelege a lot of the worldlume around us.
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de cum intelegem o mare parte din lumea inconjuratoare.
00:30
So, as a computercomputer scientistom de stiinta
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Asa ca, in calitate de cercetator IT
00:32
inspiredinspirat by this utilityutilitate of our interactionsinteracțiuni with physicalfizic objectsobiecte --
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inspirat de aceasta utilitate a interactiunilor noastre cu obiectele fizice --
00:35
alongde-a lungul with my adviserconsilier PattieCostantin, and my collaboratorcolaborator JeevanCristian KalanithiMonica --
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impreuna cu consultantul meu Pattie, si colaboratorul meu Jeevan Kalanithi --
00:39
I starteda început to wondermirare -- what if when we used a computercomputer,
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am inceput sa ma intreb -- ce-ar fi daca atunci cand folosim un calculator,
00:42
insteadin schimb of havingavând this one mousemouse cursorcursorul that was a like a digitaldigital fingertipvârf degetului
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in loc de acest unic cursor de mouse care seamana cu un deget digital
00:45
movingin miscare around a flatapartament desktopspaţiul de lucru,
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miscandu-se pe un ecran plat,
00:47
what if we could reacha ajunge in with bothambii handsmâini and graspînţelege informationinformație physicallyfizic,
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ce-ar fi daca am putea sa intindem ambele maini si sa apucam informatia,
00:51
arrangingaranjarea it the way we wanted?
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aranjand-o cum vrem noi?
00:53
This questionîntrebare was so compellingconvingătoare that we decideda decis to exploreexplora the answerRăspuns,
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Intrebarea aceasta a fost atat de fascinanta incat am hotarat sa cercetam raspunsul
00:56
by buildingclădire SiftablesSiftables.
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construind Siftables.
00:58
In a nutshellscurt, a SiftableSiftable is an interactiveinteractiv computercomputer
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Pe scurt, un Siftable e un calculator interactiv
01:01
the sizemărimea of a cookiecookie-ul.
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de marimea unui biscuite.
01:03
They're ablecapabil to be movedmutat around by handmână,
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Ele pot fi manuite usor,
01:05
they can sensesens eachfiecare other, they can sensesens theiral lor motionmişcare,
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se pot percepe reciproc, isi pot percepe miscarea una alteia,
01:07
and they have a screenecran and a wirelessfără fir radioradio.
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si au un ecran si un radio wireless.
01:10
MostCele mai multe importantlyimportant, they're physicalfizic,
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Cel mai important e ca sunt palpabile,
01:12
so like the blocksblocuri, you can movemișcare them just by reachingajungând out and graspingapucând.
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deci, precum cuburile de joaca, le poti misca doar apucandu-le.
01:15
And SiftablesSiftables are an exampleexemplu of a newnou ecosystemecosistem
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Si Siftables ofera exemplul unui nou ecosistem
01:18
of toolsunelte for manipulatingmanipulant digitaldigital informationinformație.
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de instrumente de manipulare a informatiei digitale.
01:20
And as these toolsunelte becomedeveni more physicalfizic,
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Pe masura ce aceste instrumente devin mai palpabile,
01:23
more awareconștient of theiral lor motionmişcare, awareconștient of eachfiecare other,
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mai constiente de miscarea lor, constiente unul de celalalt,
01:25
and awareconștient of the nuancenuanţă of how we movemișcare them,
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si constiente de nuantele actiunii noastre asupra lor,
01:27
we can startstart to exploreexplora some newnou and fundistracţie interactioninteracţiune stylesstiluri.
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putem incepe sa exploram stiluri noi si distractive de a interactiona.
01:30
So, I'm going to startstart with some simplesimplu examplesexemple.
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Voi incepe cu cateva exemple simple.
01:32
This SiftableSiftable is configuredconfigurat to showspectacol videovideo,
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Acest Siftable e configurat sa prezinte imagini video,
01:35
and if I tiltînclinare it in one directiondirecţie, it'llO să rollrulou the videovideo this way;
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iar daca il inclin intr-o directie, ruleaza filmul asa,
01:37
if I tiltînclinare it the other way it rollsrulouri it backwardsînapoi.
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daca il inclin in cealalta parte, ruleaza inapoi.
01:40
And these interactiveinteractiv portraitsportrete are awareconștient of eachfiecare other.
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Aceste portrete interactive sunt constiente unul de celalalt.
01:43
So if I put them nextUrmător → to eachfiecare other, they get interestedinteresat.
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Deci, daca le pun unul langa altul, devin interesate.
01:46
If they get surroundedinconjurat, they noticeînștiințare that too,
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Daca sunt inconjurate, vor observa si asta,
01:50
they mightar putea get a little flusteredameţit.
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si pot deveni putin confuze.
01:52
And they can alsode asemenea sensesens theiral lor motionmişcare and tiltînclinare.
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Isi pot simti de asemenea miscarea si inclinarea.
01:56
One of the interestinginteresant implicationsimplicații on interactioninteracţiune, we starteda început to realizerealiza,
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Ne-am dat seama ca una din implicatiile interesante ale interactiunii
02:01
was that we could use everydayin fiecare zi gesturesgesturi on datadate,
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este ca putem folosi gesturi obisnuite sa manipulam datele,
02:03
like pouringturnare a colorculoare the way we mightar putea pourturna a liquidlichid.
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cum ar fi sa turnam o culoare cum am turna un lichid.
02:06
So in this casecaz, we'vene-am got threeTrei SiftablesSiftables configuredconfigurat to be painta picta bucketsgăleți
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In cazul acesta, avem trei Siftables configurate ca galeti de vopsea
02:10
and I can use them to pourturna colorculoare into that centralcentral one,
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si le pot folosi sa torn culoare in cel din centru,
02:13
where they get mixedamestecat.
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unde se vor amesteca.
02:15
If we overshootdepăşire, we can pourturna a little bitpic back.
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Daca scapam prea mult, putem turna putin inapoi.
02:19
There are alsode asemenea some neatcurat possibilitiesposibilităţi for educationeducaţie,
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Exista de asemenea posibilitati interesante pentru educatie,
02:22
like languagelimba, mathmatematica and logiclogică gamesjocuri
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cum ar fi jocuri de limba, matematice si logice
02:24
where we want to give people the abilityabilitate to try things quicklyrepede,
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prin care vrem sa dam oamenilor posibilitatea de a incerca lucruri rapid,
02:26
and viewvedere the resultsrezultate immediatelyimediat.
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si de a vedea rezultatele imediat.
02:29
So here I'm --
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Deci aici am --
02:31
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
02:33
This is a FibonacciFibonacci sequencesecvenţă that I'm makingluare with a simplesimplu equationecuaţie programprogram.
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Acesta e un sir Fibonacci pe care il fac cu un program simplu de ecuatii.
02:37
Here we have a wordcuvânt gamejoc that's kinddrăguț of like a mash-upMash-up betweenîntre ScrabbleScrabble and BoggleBoggle.
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Aici avem un joc de formare a cuvintelor, un fel de combinatie intre Scrabble si Boggle.
02:41
BasicallyPractic, in everyfiecare roundrundă
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Practic, in fiecare tura
02:43
you get a randomlyla întâmplare assignedalocate letterscrisoare on eachfiecare SiftableSiftable,
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primesti o litera la intimplare pe fiecare Siftable,
02:45
and as you try to make wordscuvinte it checkscontroale againstîmpotriva a dictionarydicţionar.
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si pe masura ce incerci sa formezi cuvinte, ele sunt verificate cu un dictionar.
02:48
Then, after about 30 secondssecunde, it reshufflesremanieri de cadre,
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Apoi, dupa cam 30 de secunde se reseteaza literele,
02:51
and you have a newnou seta stabilit of lettersscrisori and newnou possibilitiesposibilităţi to try.
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si ai un nou set de litere si noi posibilitati de incercat.
02:54
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
02:55
Thank you.
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Multumesc.
02:56
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
02:58
So these are some kidscopii that camea venit on a fieldcamp tripexcursie to the MediaMass-media LabLaborator,
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Acestia sunt niste copii care au venit in excursie la Laboratorul Media,
03:00
and I manageda reușit to get them to try it out, and shoottrage a videovideo.
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si am reusit sa ii conving sa le incerce si sa filmez un material.
03:10
They really lovediubit it.
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Le-a placut la nebunie.
03:12
And, one of the interestinginteresant things about this kinddrăguț of applicationcerere
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Iar unul din aspectele interesante ale acestui tip de aplicatie
03:15
is that you don't have to give people manymulți instructionsinstrucțiuni.
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este ca nu trebuie sa le dai oamenilor multe instructiuni.
03:18
All you have to say is, "Make wordscuvinte,"
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Tot ce trebuie sa zici este "Fa cuvinte,"
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and they know exactlyexact what to do.
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si ei stiu exact ce sa faca.
03:22
So here'saici e anothero alta fewpuțini people tryingîncercat it out.
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Aici sunt alti cativa oameni incercandu-le.
03:31
That's our youngestcel mai tânăr betabeta testerlaborant, down there on the right.
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Acesta e cel mai tanar tester beta al nostru, jos in dreapta.
03:36
TurnsSe transformă out, all he wanted to do was to stackgrămadă the SiftablesSiftables up.
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Se pare ca tot ce a vrut el sa faca a fost sa puna Siftables-urile unul peste altul.
03:42
So to him, they were just blocksblocuri.
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Deci pentru el erau doar cuburi.
03:46
Now, this is an interactiveinteractiv cartoondesen animat applicationcerere.
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Aceasta e o aplicatie de animatie interactiva.
03:49
And we wanted to buildconstrui a learningînvăţare toolinstrument for languagelimba learnerselevii.
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Am vrut sa construim un instrument pentru cei care invata limbi.
03:54
And this is FelixFelix, actuallyde fapt.
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Iar acesta este Felix.
03:57
And he can bringaduce newnou characterscaractere into the scenescenă,
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El poate introduce noi personaje in scena,
03:59
just by liftingridicare the SiftablesSiftables off the tablemasa that have that charactercaracter shownafișate on them.
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doar ridicand de pe masa acele Siftables care afiseaza personajele.
04:03
Here, he's bringingaducere the sunsoare out.
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Aici introduce soarele.
04:07
VideoPagina: The sunsoare is risingîn creștere.
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Video: Soarele rasare.
04:09
DavidDavid MerrillMerrill: Now he's broughtadus a tractortractor into the scenescenă.
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David Merrill: Acum a introdus un tractor in scena.
04:13
VideoPagina: The orangeportocale tractortractor.
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Video: Tractorul portocaliu.
04:15
Good jobloc de munca! Yeah!
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Foarte bine! Da!
04:18
DMDM: So by shakingzguduire the SiftablesSiftables and puttingpunând them nextUrmător → to eachfiecare other
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Miscand Siftables-urile si asezandu-le unul langa altul
04:21
he can make the characterscaractere interactinteracționa --
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el poate face personajele sa interactioneze --
04:23
VideoPagina: WoofBătătură!
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Video: Ham!
04:24
DMDM: inventinginventarea his ownpropriu narrativenarativ.
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DM: creandu-si propria naratiune.
04:26
VideoPagina: Hellobună!
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Video: Buna!
04:27
DMDM: It's an open-endeddeschide-sa încheiat storypoveste,
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DM: E o poveste cu final deschis,
04:29
and he getsdevine to decidea decide how it unfoldsse desfasoara.
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iar el decide cum se va desfasura.
04:34
VideoPagina: FlyZbura away, catpisică.
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Video: Zboara, pisico!
04:42
DMDM: So, the last exampleexemplu I have time to showspectacol you todayastăzi
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DM: Ultimul exemplu pe care am timp sa vi-l arat azi
04:45
is a musicmuzică sequencingsecvențiere and livetrăi performanceperformanţă toolinstrument
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este un instrument de creat si interpretat muzica live
04:47
that we'vene-am builtconstruit recentlyrecent,
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pe care l-am construit recent,
04:49
in whichcare SiftablesSiftables actact as soundssunete
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si in care Siftables au rolul de sunete
04:52
like leadconduce, bassbas and drumstobe.
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cum ar fi ritm, bas si tobe.
04:54
EachFiecare of these has fourpatru differentdiferit variationsvariații,
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Fiecare dintre acestea are patru variatiuni diferite,
04:56
you get to choosealege whichcare one you want to use.
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tu alegi pe care vrei sa o folosesti.
04:58
And you can injectinjecta these soundssunete into a sequencesecvenţă
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Si poti injecta sunetele intr-o succesiune
05:01
that you can assembleasambla into the patternmodel that you want.
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pe care o poti asambla dupa ce tipar vrei.
05:04
And you injectinjecta it by just bumpinglovire up the soundsunet SiftableSiftable againstîmpotriva a sequencesecvenţă SiftableSiftable.
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Introduci sunetele atingand Siftable-ul de sunet de un Siftable de succesiune.
05:08
There are effectsefecte that you can controlControl livetrăi, like reverbReverb and filterfiltru.
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Exista efecte pe care le poti controla live, cum ar fi reverberatia si filtrul.
05:12
You attachatașa it to a particularspecial soundsunet and then tiltînclinare to adjustregla it.
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Il atasezi de un anumit sunet si apoi il inclini pentru a-l ajusta.
05:15
And then, overallper total effectsefecte like tempotempo-ul and volumevolum
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Urmeaza efectele generale precum tempoul si volumul
05:18
that applyaplica to the entireîntreg sequencesecvenţă.
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care se aplica intregii secvente
05:20
So let's have a look.
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Hai sa vedem.
05:22
VideoPagina: (MusicMuzica)
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Video: (Muzica)
05:24
DMDM: We'llVom startstart by puttingpunând a leadconduce
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DM: Vom incepe cu un ritm
05:26
into two sequencesecvenţă SiftablesSiftables, arrangearanja them into a seriesserie,
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in doua Siftables de succesiune, le aranjam intr-o serie,
05:31
extendextinde it, addadăuga a little more leadconduce.
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o extindem, mai ajustam ritmul.
05:34
Now I put a bassbas linelinia in.
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Acum pun o linie de bas.
05:36
VideoPagina: (MusicMuzica)
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Video: (Muzica)
05:41
DMDM: Now I'll put some percussionpercutie in.
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DM: Acum adaug putina percutie.
05:43
VideoPagina: (MusicMuzica)
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Video: (Muzica)
05:48
DMDM: And now I'll attachatașa the filterfiltru to the drumstobe, so I can controlControl the effectefect livetrăi.
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DM: Iar acum voi adauga filtrul la tobe, pentru a controla efectul live.
05:51
VideoPagina: (MusicMuzica)
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Video: (Muzica)
05:53
DMDM: I can speedviteză up the wholeîntreg sequencesecvenţă
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DM: Pot grabi intreaga secventa
05:55
by tiltingÎnclinarea the tempotempo-ul one way or the other.
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inclinand tempoul intr-o parte sau in alta.
05:58
VideoPagina: (MusicMuzica)
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Video: (Muzica)
06:00
DMDM: And now I'll attachatașa the filterfiltru to the bassbas for some more expressionexpresie.
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DM: Acum voi atasa filtrul de bas pentru mai multa expresie.
06:03
VideoPagina: (MusicMuzica)
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Video: (Muzica)
06:08
DMDM: I can rearrangerearanja the sequencesecvenţă while it playsjoacă.
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DM: Pot sa refac secventa in timp ce canta.
06:11
So I don't have to planplan it out in advanceavans, but I can improviseimproviza,
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Deci nu trebuie sa fac planul in prealabil, pot improviza,
06:13
makingluare it longermai lung or shortermai scurt as I go.
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prelungind sau scurtand melodia din mers.
06:16
And now, finallyin sfarsit, I can fadedecolorare the wholeîntreg sequencesecvenţă out
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Acum, in sfarsit, pot sa estompez intreaga secventa
06:19
usingutilizând the volumevolum SiftableSiftable, tiltedînclinat to the left.
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folosindu-ma de Siftable-ul de volum, inclinat in stanga.
06:22
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
06:27
Thank you.
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Va multumesc.
06:29
So, as you can see,
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Dupa cum vedeti,
06:32
my passionpasiune is for makingluare newnou human-computerom-calculator interfacesinterfețe
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pasiunea mea este crearea de noi interfete om-calculator
06:35
that are a better matchMeci to the waysmoduri our brainscreier and bodiesorganisme work.
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care se potrivesc mai bine cu modul in care functioneaza creierul si corpul nostru.
06:38
And todayastăzi, I had time to showspectacol you one pointpunct in this newnou designproiecta spacespaţiu,
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Iar azi, am avut timp sa va arat o coordonata a acestui nou spatiu de design,
06:42
and a fewpuțini of the possibilitiesposibilităţi that we're workinglucru to bringaduce out of the laboratorylaborator.
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si cateva din posibilitatile pe care incercam sa le scoatem din laborator.
06:45
So the thought I want to leavepărăsi you with
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Gandul pe care as vrea sa-l retineti
06:47
is that we're on the cuspvârf of this newnou generationgeneraţie of toolsunelte
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este ca suntem la granita cu aceasta noua generatie de instrumente
06:50
for interactinginteracționând with digitaldigital mediamass-media
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de interactiune cu mijloacele digitale,
06:53
that are going to bringaduce informationinformație into our worldlume
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care vor aduce informatia in lumea noastra
06:56
on our termstermeni.
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dupa regulile noastre.
06:58
Thank you very much.
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Va multumesc foarte mult.
06:59
I look forwardredirecţiona to talkingvorbind with all of you.
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Astept cu nerabdare sa discut cu voi toti.
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(ApplauseAplauze)
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Translated by Roxana Anamaria Bita
Reviewed by Mihaela Geaman

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Merrill - MIT grad student
David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks (and music).

Why you should listen

David Merrill is currently the VP of Product at 3D Robotics, where he builds new, easy-to-use flying robots. He was formerly president and co-founder of Sifteo, a San Francisco startup spun out of his research at the MIT Media Lab. This research helped build an award-winning physical+digital play system and catalog of unique games. He also directed HW and SW on Sifteo products.

David constantly tinkers with next-generation technologies to make physical+digital tools that give people new powers (for good).

He is a human-computer interaction expert, frequent public speaker and aerial photography enthusiast. David's work has been featured by MoMA, the Disocvery Channel, Popular Science and Wired.

His main interest now is the Siftables project, the subject of his TEDTalk, on which he works with Jeevan Kalanithi. In another field of inquiry, Merrill is looking at ways to access digital information in the wider world, when we are away from a traditional computer.

A musician himself, Merril also has a deep interest in new musical interfaces. His Adaptive Music Controller is an instrument that learns its player (rather than the player learning the instrument). And working musicians should check out his AudioPint, a portable case that consolidates instruments, effects and audio processors into a gig-safe rugged housing.

More profile about the speaker
David Merrill | Speaker | TED.com