ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Catarina Mota - Maker
A TEDGlobal Fellow, Catarina Mota plays with "smart materials" -- like shape-memory alloys and piezoelectric structures that react to voltage -- and encourages others to do so too.

Why you should listen

A maker of things and open-source advocate, Catarina Mota is co-founder of openMaterials.org, a collaborative project dedicated to do-it-yourself experimentation with smart materials. This is a new class of materials that change in response to stimuli: conductive ink, shape-memory plastics, etc. Her goal is to encourage the making of things; to that end, she teaches hands-on workshops on high-tech materials and simple circuitry for both young people and adults--with a side benefit of encouraging interest in science, technology and knowledge-sharing. She's working on her PhD researching the social impact of open and collaborative practices for the development of technologies. In other words: Do we make better stuff when we work together? She is also a co-founder of Lisbon's hackerspace altLab.

More profile about the speaker
Catarina Mota | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2012

Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials

Catarina Mota: Luaj me materiale inteligjente

Filmed:
1,134,063 views

Boje që percon energjinë elektrike; një dritare që kthehet nga transparente ne opake nën kthimin e nje celesi; një pelte që krijon muzikë. E gjithë kjo ekziston dhe Catarina Mota thotë: Është koha për të luajtur me të. Mota na çon në një turne materialesh te reja të habitshme dhe te lezetshme, dhe sugjeron se mënyra per të kuptuar se çfarë shërbejnë është që të eksperimentojmë dhe te argetohemi.
- Maker
A TEDGlobal Fellow, Catarina Mota plays with "smart materials" -- like shape-memory alloys and piezoelectric structures that react to voltage -- and encourages others to do so too. Full bio

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

00:16
I have a friend in Portugal
0
650
2248
Kam nje mik ne Portugali
00:18
whose grandfather built a vehicle out of a bicycle
1
2898
2424
gjyshi i te cilit ndertoi nje makine nga nje biciklete
00:21
and a washing machine so he could transport his family.
2
5322
3152
dhe nje makine larese ne menyre qe te transportonte familjen e tij.
00:24
He did it because he couldn't afford a car,
3
8474
2544
E beri sepse nuk kishte para per nje makine
00:26
but also because he knew how to build one.
4
11018
2904
por dhe sepse dinte si ta ndertonte nje te tille.
00:29
There was a time when we understood how things worked
5
13922
3136
Kane qene kohe ku ne mund te kuptonim si funksiononin gjerat
00:32
and how they were made, so we could build and repair them,
6
17058
3832
se si ato ishin te ndertuara, keshtu ne mund te ndertonim dhe te riparonim
00:36
or at the very least
7
20890
1127
ose me e pakta
00:37
make informed decisions about what to buy.
8
22017
3480
te mernim vendime te informuara mbi ate cka blinim.
00:41
Many of these do-it-yourself practices
9
25497
2392
Shume nga keto praktika beje-vete
00:43
were lost in the second half of the 20th century.
10
27889
3209
humben ne gjysmen e dyte te shekullit te 20te.
00:46
But now, the maker community and the open-source model
11
31098
3672
Por tashme, komuniteti krijues dhe modelet e lira
00:50
are bringing this kind of knowledge about how things work
12
34770
3148
po sjellin ne jeten tone, kete lloj njohurie se si funksionojne gjerat
00:53
and what they're made of back into our lives,
13
37918
3195
dhe nga se perbehen,
00:57
and I believe we need to take them to the next level,
14
41113
3024
dhe une mendoj se ne duhet ti kalojme ato ne nivelin tjeter,
01:00
to the components things are made of.
15
44137
2968
tek perberesit e gjerave.
01:03
For the most part, we still know
16
47105
2152
Per pjesen me te madhe, ne ende jemi ne dijeni
01:05
what traditional materials like paper and textiles are made of
17
49257
3522
se nga se behen materialet tradicionale si letra dhe tekstile
01:08
and how they are produced.
18
52779
2029
dhe se si ato prodhohen.
01:10
But now we have these amazing, futuristic composites --
19
54808
4063
Por tashme ne kemi keto perberes te mahnitshem te teknologjise moderne
01:14
plastics that change shape,
20
58871
2203
plastika qe ndryshojne forma,
01:16
paints that conduct electricity,
21
61074
2352
bojra qe percjellin elektricitet,
01:19
pigments that change color, fabrics that light up.
22
63426
4416
pigmente qe ndryshojne ngjyren, pelhura qe ndricojne.
01:23
Let me show you some examples.
23
67842
3371
Me lejoni t'ju tregoj disa shembuj.
01:30
So conductive ink allows us to paint circuits
24
74169
3716
Bojrat e percueshme na lejojne te lyejme qarqe
01:33
instead of using the traditional
25
77885
1943
ne vend qe te perdorim
01:35
printed circuit boards or wires.
26
79828
2598
panelet e qarqeve tradicional ose kabllot.
01:38
In the case of this little example I'm holding,
27
82426
2389
Ne rastin e shembullit te vogel qe une po mbaj,
01:40
we used it to create a touch sensor that reacts to my skin
28
84815
3881
e perdorem per te krijuar nje sensor prekes i cili reagon nga lekura ime
01:44
by turning on this little light.
29
88696
2715
duke ndezur kete driten e vogel.
01:47
Conductive ink has been used by artists,
30
91411
3095
Bojrat e percueshme jane perdorur nga artistet,
01:50
but recent developments indicate that we will soon be able
31
94506
3375
por zhvillimet e fundit tregojne se ne se shpejti do jemi ne gjendje
01:53
to use it in laser printers and pens.
32
97881
4495
ta perdorim ne printera me lazer dhe ne stilolapsa.
01:58
And this is a sheet of acrylic infused
33
102376
2330
Ketu kemi nje flete akrilik(plastik) te mbushur
02:00
with colorless light-diffusing particles.
34
104706
2796
me grimca pa ngjyre qe perhapin driten.
02:03
What this means is that, while regular acrylic
35
107502
2617
Ajo cka do te thote kjo eshte se ndersa akriliku normal
02:06
only diffuses light around the edges,
36
110119
2348
thjesht perhap driten rreth skajeve,
02:08
this one illuminates across the entire surface
37
112467
3270
kjo ketu ndricon ne te gjithe siperfaqen
02:11
when I turn on the lights around it.
38
115737
2913
kur une ndez dritat rreth saj.
02:14
Two of the known applications for this material
39
118650
2302
Dy nga aplikimet e njohura per kete material
02:16
include interior design and multi-touch systems.
40
120952
5113
perfshijne projektimin e brendshem dhe sistemin shume-prekes.
02:21
And thermochromic pigments
41
126065
2001
Pigmentet termokromike
02:23
change color at a given temperature.
42
128066
2613
ndryshojne ngjyre ne nje temperature te caktuar.
02:26
So I'm going to place this on a hot plate
43
130679
2786
Ndaj do ta vendos kete mbi nje siperfaqe te nxehur
02:29
that is set to a temperature only slightly higher than ambient
44
133465
3505
me nje temperature pak me te larte se ajo e ambientit
02:32
and you can see what happens.
45
136970
5846
dhe mund te shihni se cfare ndodh.
02:38
So one of the principle applications for this material
46
142816
2760
Pra, nje nga perdorimet me kryesore te ketij materiali
02:41
is, amongst other things, in baby bottles,
47
145576
3242
eshte, nder te tjera, ne shishe bebesh,
02:44
so it indicates when the contents are cool enough to drink.
48
148818
5354
e cila te lajmeron kur permbajtja eshte e ftohte aq sa nevojitet per tu pire.
02:50
So these are just a few of what are commonly known
49
154172
2756
Keto jane vetem disa prej perdorimet me te mirenjohura
02:52
as smart materials.
50
156928
1909
te materialeve inteligjente.
02:54
In a few years, they will be in many of the objects
51
158837
2940
Ne vitet e ardhshme, ato do te gjenden ne shume objekte
02:57
and technologies we use on a daily basis.
52
161777
3359
dhe teknologji ne perdorim te perditshem.
03:01
We may not yet have the flying cars science fiction promised us,
53
165136
4214
Ndoshta nuk do te kemi akoma makinat fluturuese qe na premtuan librat e fantashkences,
03:05
but we can have walls that change color
54
169350
2369
mund te kemi mure qe ndryshojne ngjyre
03:07
depending on temperature,
55
171719
1762
ne varesi te temperatures,
03:09
keyboards that roll up,
56
173481
1894
tastiera qe rrulosen,
03:11
and windows that become opaque at the flick of a switch.
57
175375
4432
dhe dritaret qe kthehen ne opake me kthimin e celesit.
03:15
So I'm a social scientist by training,
58
179807
2505
Une jam shkencetare sociale nga trajnimi,
03:18
so why am I here today talking about smart materials?
59
182312
3857
pra perse jam ketu sot duke folur per materialet inteligjente?
03:22
Well first of all, because I am a maker.
60
186169
2713
Se pari, sepse une jam nje 'beres'.
03:24
I'm curious about how things work
61
188882
2406
Jam kurioze rreth menyres se si funksionojne gjerat
03:27
and how they are made,
62
191288
1627
dhe se si jane bere ato,
03:28
but also because I believe we should have a deeper understanding
63
192915
3308
por edhe sepse une besoj se duhet te kemi nje kuptueshmeri me te madhe
03:32
of the components that make up our world,
64
196223
2821
te komponenteve qe perbejne boten tone,
03:34
and right now, we don't know enough about
65
199044
2480
dhe deri me tani, ne nuk dime shume rreth
03:37
these high-tech composites our future will be made of.
66
201524
3689
ketyre perberesve high-tech te cilet do jene pjese e te ardhmes sone.
03:41
Smart materials are hard to obtain in small quantities.
67
205213
3525
Materialet inteligjente eshte e veshtire ti gjesh ne sasi te vogla.
03:44
There's barely any information available on how to use them,
68
208738
4040
Ka shume pak informacion rreth perdorshmerise se tyre,
03:48
and very little is said about how they are produced.
69
212778
3897
dhe shume pak eshte thene rreth menyres se si jane prodhuar.
03:52
So for now, they exist mostly in this realm
70
216675
2667
Pra, per tani, ato ekzistojne vetem ne realitetin
03:55
of trade secrets and patents
71
219342
2712
e sekreteve te tregetise dhe patentave
03:57
only universities and corporations have access to.
72
222054
4112
ku vetem universitetet dhe koorporatat kane akses.
04:02
So a little over three years ago, Kirsty Boyle and I
73
226166
2849
Ne me pak se nje vit me pare, Kristi Boyle dhe une
04:04
started a project we called Open Materials.
74
229015
3217
nisem nje projekt qe e quajtem Materiale te Hapura.
04:08
It's a website where we,
75
232232
1807
Eshte nje faqe web ku ne,
04:09
and anyone else who wants to join us,
76
234039
2512
dhe cilido tjeter qe do te behet pjese,
04:12
share experiments, publish information,
77
236551
3056
ndan experimente, publikon informacione,
04:15
encourage others to contribute whenever they can,
78
239607
3200
inkurajon te tjeret per te kontribuar kurdo munden,
04:18
and aggregate resources such as research papers
79
242807
4009
dhe shtojne burime informacioni si hulumtime
04:22
and tutorials by other makers like ourselves.
80
246816
3340
dhe mesime nga te tjere krijues si vetja.
04:26
We would like it to become a large,
81
250156
2622
Do te kishim deshire te beheshim
04:28
collectively generated database
82
252778
2538
nje baze te dhenash e madhe dhe kolektive
04:31
of do-it-yourself information on smart materials.
83
255316
4293
per informacione "beje vete" mbi materialet inteligjente.
04:35
But why should we care
84
259609
2220
Por perse duhet te kete rendesi per ne
04:37
how smart materials work and what they are made of?
85
261829
3763
se si funksionojne materialet inteligjente dhe me se jane bere?
04:41
First of all, because we can't shape what we don't understand,
86
265592
4178
Se pari, sepse nuk mund ti japim forme asaj cka nuk njohim,
04:45
and what we don't understand and use
87
269770
2352
ajo cka nuk kuptojme dhe perdorim
04:48
ends up shaping us.
88
272122
2208
perfundon duke na dhene forme ne.
04:50
The objects we use, the clothes we wear,
89
274330
2752
Objektet qe perdorim, rrobat qe veshim,
04:52
the houses we live in, all have a profound impact
90
277082
3564
Shtepite ku jetojme, te gjitha kane nje impakt te madh
04:56
on our behavior, health and quality of life.
91
280646
3583
ne sjelljen, shendetin dhe cilesine tone te jetes.
05:00
So if we are to live in a world made of smart materials,
92
284229
3141
Pra, nese do te jetojme ne nje bote me materiale inteligjente,
05:03
we should know and understand them.
93
287370
3359
duhet ti njohim dhe kuptojme ato.
05:06
Secondly, and just as important,
94
290729
2344
Se dyti, dhe po aq e rendesishme,
05:08
innovation has always been fueled by tinkerers.
95
293073
3360
Risite jane furnizuar gjithnje nga mendimtaret.
05:12
So many times, amateurs, not experts,
96
296433
3385
Ne shume raste, amatoret, jo ekspertet,
05:15
have been the inventors and improvers
97
299818
2319
kane qene shpikesit dhe permiresuesit
05:18
of things ranging from mountain bikes
98
302137
2480
e gjerave duke filluar nga bicikletat per relieve malore
05:20
to semiconductors, personal computers,
99
304617
3312
gjysem tejcuesit, kompjuterit personale,
05:23
airplanes.
100
307929
2939
aeroplanet.
05:26
The biggest challenge is that material science is complex
101
310868
4029
Pengesa me e madhe eshte fakti qe materialet inteligjente jane komplekse
05:30
and requires expensive equipment.
102
314897
2496
dhe kerkojne paisje te shtrenjta.
05:33
But that's not always the case.
103
317393
2168
Por ky nuk eshte gjithnje rasti.
05:35
Two scientists at University of Illinois understood this
104
319561
3588
Dy shkencetare te Universitetit te Illinois e kuptuan kete
05:39
when they published a paper on a simpler method
105
323149
2600
kur publikuan nje artikull ne nje metode me te thjeshte
05:41
for making conductive ink.
106
325749
2420
per te prodhuar boje te percueshme.
05:44
Jordan Bunker, who had had
107
328169
1912
Jordan Bunker, i cili nuk kishte patur eksperience
05:45
no experience with chemistry until then,
108
330081
2960
me kimine deri me atehere,
05:48
read this paper and reproduced the experiment
109
333041
2787
e lexoi kete artikull dhe e riprodhoi eksperimentin
05:51
at his maker space using only off-the-shelf substances
110
335828
4389
ne hapesiren e tij te punes duke perdorur substanca te blera ne dyqan
05:56
and tools.
111
340217
1592
dhe vegla te thjeshta.
05:57
He used a toaster oven,
112
341809
1601
Ai perdori nje tostiere,
05:59
and he even made his own vortex mixer,
113
343410
2966
ai madje beri vete miksuesen e vorbulles e tij ,
06:02
based on a tutorial by another scientist/maker.
114
346376
4035
duke u bazuar ne nje tutorial nga nga shkencetar tjeter.
06:06
Jordan then published his results online,
115
350411
2752
Jordan pastaj i vendosi rezultatet online,
06:09
including all the things he had tried and didn't work,
116
353163
3488
duke perfshire gjithe perpjekjet cfare kish provuar e kish deshtuar,
06:12
so others could study and reproduce it.
117
356651
3144
ne menyre qe te tjeret te mund ti studiojne dhe riprodhojne ato.
06:15
So Jordan's main form of innovation
118
359795
2672
Pra forma e tij kryesore e inovacionit
06:18
was to take an experiment created in a well-equipped lab
119
362467
3879
ishte te merrte nje eksperiment te krijuar ne nje laborator te mire-pajisur
06:22
at the university
120
366346
1502
ne universitete
06:23
and recreate it in a garage in Chicago
121
367848
3187
dhe riprodhimin e tyre ne nje garazh ne Chicago
06:26
using only cheap materials and tools he made himself.
122
371035
4261
duke perdorur vetem materiale te lira dhe paisje te krijuara vete.
06:31
And now that he published this work,
123
375296
2273
Dhe tashme qe i ka publikuar keto pune,
06:33
others can pick up where he left
124
377569
1724
te tjere mund te vazhdojne aty ku e ka lene ai
06:35
and devise even simpler processes and improvements.
125
379293
4544
dhe te shpikin permiresime dhe procese te tjera edhe me te thjeshta.
06:39
Another example I'd like to mention
126
383837
2216
Nje tjeter shembull qe do te me pelqente te permendja
06:41
is Hannah Perner-Wilson's Kit-of-No-Parts.
127
386053
3665
eshte projekti "Kit of no parts" te Hannah Perner-Wilson.
06:45
Her project's goal is to highlight
128
389718
2880
Qellimi i projektit te saj eshte te ravijezoje
06:48
the expressive qualities of materials
129
392598
2472
cilesite ekspresive te materialeve
06:50
while focusing on the creativity and skills of the builder.
130
395070
5024
ndersa fokusohet ne kreativitetin dhe aftesite e ndertuesit.
06:55
Electronics kits are very powerful
131
400094
2440
Paketat elektronike jane shume te fuqishme
06:58
in that they teach us how things work,
132
402534
2552
sepse na mesojne se si funksonojne gjerat,
07:00
but the constraints inherent in their design
133
405086
2976
por kufizimet e natyrshme ne dizenjot e tyre
07:03
influence the way we learn.
134
408062
2160
ndikojne ne menyren se si mesojme.
07:06
So Hannah's approach, on the other hand,
135
410222
2488
Qasja e Hannah nga ana tjeter,
07:08
is to formulate a series of techniques
136
412710
3216
eshte formulimi i nje seri teknikash
07:11
for creating unusual objects
137
415926
2699
per te krijuar objekte jo te zakonta
07:14
that free us from pre-designed constraints
138
418625
2805
te cilet na japin liri prej ndertimeve te gatshme
07:17
by teaching us about the materials themselves.
139
421430
3411
duke na mesuar rreth materialeve.
07:20
So amongst Hannah's many impressive experiments,
140
424841
2733
Nder eksperimentet me impresionante te Hannahs,
07:23
this is one of my favorites.
141
427574
1970
ky eshte nje nder me te preferuarit e mi.
07:25
["Paper speakers"]
142
429544
3417
[Foles prej letre]
07:28
What we're seeing here is just a piece of paper
143
432961
3278
Ajo cka shohim ketu eshte vetem nje cope letre
07:32
with some copper tape on it connected to an mp3 player
144
436239
4442
me nje shirit bakri te lidhur me nje mp3
07:36
and a magnet.
145
440681
1653
dhe nje magnet.
07:38
(Music: "Happy Together")
146
442334
7649
(Muzike: "Happy Together")
07:48
So based on the research by Marcelo Coelho from MIT,
147
452931
3836
Pra, bazuar ne hulumtmin e Marcelo Coelho te MIT,
07:52
Hannah created a series of paper speakers
148
456767
2783
Hannah krijoi nje seri altoparlante letrash
07:55
out of a wide range of materials
149
459550
2403
nga nje sere materialesh
07:57
from simple copper tape to conductive fabric and ink.
150
461953
4275
nga shiritat e thjeshte prej bakri deri tek tekstilet dhe bojrat percuese.
08:02
Just like Jordan and so many other makers,
151
466228
2736
Sikunder Jordan dhe shume krijues te tjere,
08:04
Hannah published her recipes
152
468964
1627
Hannah publikoi recetat e saj
08:06
and allows anyone to copy and reproduce them.
153
470591
5134
qe lejon gjithkend ti kopjoje dhe riprodhoje ato.
08:11
But paper electronics is one of the most promising branches
154
475725
3204
Por elektronikat prej letre eshte nje nga deget me premtuese
08:14
of material science
155
478929
1807
te shkencave materiale
08:16
in that it allows us to create cheaper and flexible electronics.
156
480736
4202
qe na lejon te krijojme elektronike te lire dhe fleksible.
08:20
So Hannah's artisanal work,
157
484938
2556
Pra puna artizanale e Hannahs,
08:23
and the fact that she shared her findings,
158
487494
2248
dhe fakti qe ajo i beri publike gjetjet e saj,
08:25
opens the doors to a series of new possibilities
159
489742
3820
hap dyert e nje seri mundesish te tjera
08:29
that are both aesthetically appealing and innovative.
160
493562
5440
qe jane dhe te bukura ne pamje por edhe inovatore.
08:34
So the interesting thing about makers
161
499002
2905
Pra, gjeja me interesante per shpikesit
08:37
is that we create out of passion and curiosity,
162
501907
3043
eshte qe ne krijojme nga pasioni dhe kurioziteti,
08:40
and we are not afraid to fail.
163
504950
2079
dhe nuk kemi frike nese deshtojme.
08:42
We often tackle problems from unconventional angles,
164
507029
3888
Ndodh shpesh qe i trajtojme problemet nga kende te ndryshme,
08:46
and, in the process, end up discovering alternatives
165
510917
2989
dhe gjate procesit, perfundojme duke zbuluar rruge alternative
08:49
or even better ways to do things.
166
513906
2432
ose rruge me te shkurtra per te bere gjerat.
08:52
So the more people experiment with materials,
167
516338
3768
Pra, sa me shume njerez qe eksperimentojne me materiale,
08:56
the more researchers are willing to share their research,
168
520106
3476
me shume kerkues jane te gatshem te ndajne zbulimet e tyre,
08:59
and manufacturers their knowledge,
169
523582
2440
dhe njohurite e fabrikuesve,
09:01
the better chances we have to create technologies
170
526022
2840
aq me teper rriten shanset per te krijuar teknologji
09:04
that truly serve us all.
171
528862
2938
qe me te vertete jane te dobishme per ne.
09:07
So I feel a bit as Ted Nelson must have
172
531800
2493
Pra, ndjehem pak si Ted Nelson
09:10
when, in the early 1970s, he wrote,
173
534293
3711
kur, ne fillim te viteve 1970, shkroi,
09:13
"You must understand computers now."
174
538004
2998
"Tashme duhet ti njihni kompjuterat."
09:16
Back then, computers were these large mainframes
175
541002
3854
Atehere, kompjuterat ishin keto paisje te medha
09:20
only scientists cared about,
176
544856
2130
qe merreshin vec shkencetaret,
09:22
and no one dreamed of even having one at home.
177
546986
2720
dhe qe askujt nuk i shkonte mendja te kishte nje ne shtepi.
09:25
So it's a little strange that I'm standing here and saying,
178
549706
2976
Pra, eshte disi e cuditshme qe jam duke qendruar ketu e them,
09:28
"You must understand smart materials now."
179
552682
3040
"Duhet te kuptosh se c'jane materialet inteligjente tani."
09:31
Just keep in mind that acquiring preemptive knowledge
180
555722
3736
Vetem kini parasysh se pervetesimi i njohurive parandaluese
09:35
about emerging technologies
181
559458
2264
ne lidhje me teknologjite e reja
09:37
is the best way to ensure that we have a say
182
561722
2397
eshte menyra me e mire per tu siguruar qe dhe ne e kemi nje ze
09:40
in the making of our future.
183
564119
2163
ne krijimin e te ardhmes sone.
09:42
Thank you.
184
566282
2471
Faleminderit.
09:44
(Applause)
185
568753
4000
(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Iris Xholi
Reviewed by Helena Bedalli

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Catarina Mota - Maker
A TEDGlobal Fellow, Catarina Mota plays with "smart materials" -- like shape-memory alloys and piezoelectric structures that react to voltage -- and encourages others to do so too.

Why you should listen

A maker of things and open-source advocate, Catarina Mota is co-founder of openMaterials.org, a collaborative project dedicated to do-it-yourself experimentation with smart materials. This is a new class of materials that change in response to stimuli: conductive ink, shape-memory plastics, etc. Her goal is to encourage the making of things; to that end, she teaches hands-on workshops on high-tech materials and simple circuitry for both young people and adults--with a side benefit of encouraging interest in science, technology and knowledge-sharing. She's working on her PhD researching the social impact of open and collaborative practices for the development of technologies. In other words: Do we make better stuff when we work together? She is also a co-founder of Lisbon's hackerspace altLab.

More profile about the speaker
Catarina Mota | Speaker | TED.com