Wednesday, November 09, 2016
This Massive Rube Goldberg Machine Uses the Internet to Visit Five Different Cities
gizmodo.com: Thanks to the internet and being able to easily share videos of them playing out, those pointlessly complicated Rube Goldberg machines are more popular than ever. But this wonderful kinetic sculpture actually uses the internet as one of its countless mechanisms so that it’s able to play out across five different cities across the United States.
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11 comments:
THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!! I love watching rube (and domino) videos in general. The pointless complication is the POINT of all these wonderfully designed projects that contain numerous tricks with interconnected triggers. It is genuinely satisfying to see everything playing out. Most of the times there are themes (like cookware, food, tools, warehouse, etc) and one can see the aesthetics in the layout, and the placement of every chosen item. I can only imagine how fun and exciting it is when people are designing the whole process. I wonder what that design process actually looks like - how does each trick get chosen and how do they plan them so perfectly?
These five scenarios have different scales, from work desk to a classroom to a warehouse; completely different themes and techniques. I've only watched it like ten times. The warehouse piece is actually so out-of-scope than I would expect for a rube goldberg project - the creepy male face, the fire, and the final explosion! What is truly unique about this massive cross-country work is the use of modern tech as some of the connecting dots: the calling that triggers the vibration of a cell phone, the printing paper, etc. And in the end, there is an important POINT, an important message sent out to the audience. The peaceful protest against police brutality. The collaboration along execution of this massive project has only made the message even more powerful.
P.S. if you are looking for great rube video check out this guy's work https://www.facebook.com/josephsmachines/
This is really cool! Rube Goldberg machines are always so interesting, all the different cogs in one giant machine are fascinating to watch. I like seeing how one small action can trip several others to create a larger reaction. I remember in high school there was Rube Goldberg Day, and the most complicated thing that happened there was a balloon was popped. That’s nothing compared to what this Rube can do; although I guess it has the same basic reaction. All this Rube is doing is pressing a button, but that button depressing sends information around the country. The themes of each of the Rubes vary from more political themes to a child’s science project. The Women in STEM Rube was especially pleasing, not only from the message, but the fantastic use of colored dominoes made that Rube my favorite. I like that all of the cities were so spread out, I think it give and interesting scope to the project. By stretching it from coast to coat a clear message can be understood that through the internet we are all connected.
Watching this video I was brought right back to last year, to what I’ve come to realize was one of the best moments I’ve had at CMU. The moment rube worked. Rube sucked more than anything else for me last year but having it finally work was one of the most immediate rewarding experiences I have ever had. This rube machine shared the pointless complexity of our homegrown cardboard and gaff tape rig but the message it send was simple and not pointless at all. I was surprised at the end by the sight of a small group of singers who one by one held up signs reminding us of the problem of police brutality in our nation and the duty each of us has to do our best to make the world a better place. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, the machine highlights how connected we are today and I think it’s important to remember that as we face the serious issues that will undoubtedly be on the playing table over the next four years.
This is one of the more impressive Rube Goldberg machines I’ve seen. The use of the internet is an interesting choice because it develops the relationship of the mechanical kinetical with the digital. I’m impressed with their use of dominoes, having spent a fair amount of my childhood setting up dominoes in the hallways of our house. I would, however, ask “why?” If the folks who created and implemented this Rube Goldberg machine put all of those resources into, let’s say, fixing the water problems in Flint, Michigan, then they might have solved them. Instead, we have a video and mechanical system that don’t really accomplish anything. While the Rube Goldberg video may reach more people, I don’t think it is reaching those truly impacted by the water in Flint or the police violence. In any case, it is inspiration for my mechanical rainstorm project for TD 3.
Wow, that is amazing. The fact that people can connect like that from across the country is the real inspiration. After watching the video, I could see the excitement in people’s voices when they got it to work. I can honestly say that I had the same feeling after our classes Rube project complete. The interesting part about this one is how different each one is from each other. I don’t think I saw the same thing twice in any of the machines. I would be very curious to hear about the process and how long it took to plan the idea and also how long it took to achieve a successful run. Also, another fascinating thing about this machine is the meaning behind it and the purpose that it serves. I can say I wasn't expecting the last part, but the more I thought about it, the more fitting it seemed as a Rube Goldberg machine.
Like all my peers who have commented before me, I must say that the machine is fascinating in its combination of the mechanical and digital. The use of the phone vibration was very unique, however, possibly overused in this machine. I was also confused by the last message as to "why do this project". It is a cause I care deeply about and I try to support whenever possible, but it seemed disconnected from the machine. I feel like a cute video of balls rolling down ramps, phones being dialed, and dominoes falling doesn't strongly convey their message. I feel that, had they incorporated a stronger "theme" into the machines, they could have possibly furthered the message without the abrupt singing and signs at the end. For example, I feel the women in STEM domino set up was fantastic, because it carried a clear and concise theme. The "build bridges" walls accomplished the same goal with the use of media and literally shooting down a wall. Perhaps, this video would be stronger if each city incorporated one theme promoting a contemporary movement, it would have furthered the message at the end as well as made the interconnection of the country more significant.
Wowza, cross country rube video This is really interesting because it feels like their process would have been closer to the Freshman year rube project, or at least how my class chose to do it with all of the separate groups being made almost independently of one another, like the different states in this video. I wonder how much collaboration occurred aside from the connecting steps.
I always wonder why someone would subject themselves to this terribly specific type of hell, but then when I watch our rube video and I am overwhelmed with emotion I guess I start to get it. And then even watching this teams video and hearing the moments when they all exhale because everyone knows that those steps are the most finicky, I think it shows you that Rube Goldberg machines bring up a sense of comradely that is unlike anything else.
While I was watching I just thought, “If they could to the Rube machine across 5 states, then by God, then our class can to do the same, when the time comes”. The Rube project, including Arcade, is the project that the Sophomore talk about to use all the time, and I’ve become a little anxious about it, because although it seems really fun, it seems (from their experience) that it will be a mental and emotional challenge for everyone, and if everyone’s emotions are running high I can already tell that isn’t good. What I particularly liked about their machine that each section was vastly different from the other, each exciting and special in their own way. I wonder how long it took them to do this (from the original contact to its end), and how many times they had to do it… God it must have been a lot (or I could be mistaken). Anyhow, I really look forward to doing the exact same thing with my fellow classmates this year, and who knows it may not be all that bad.
There were some interesting elements in this rube that I haven't seen before. The integration of technology with traditional rube events reflected the far reaching mission of this video. This rube was designed to span a large distance by collaborate with different people groups in different communities. I liked that each vignette had a personality and message of it's own. They did a good job of keeping some consistencies and making it seem like a collection of interconnected machines. I mostly watched this video to look for ideas later in the year but was happily surprised to see a wider reaching campaign for pressing social issues in an accessible form.
Since every year we do a rube Goldberg project an CMU, makes me wonder how well this is able to transgress the internet. While some of the steps that were done in the video weren’t the most complex, it adds a little bit of intrigue as to what happens on a failed attempt. Having to restart all of that and coordinate the whole thing from the beginning again. Plenty of conference calls to be had I’m sure. Now with that in mind, whats not to say that they didn’t just start it themselves, and then just coordinated the video to be what they wanted it to be, by splicing the five different sections together. There are so many ways that this could have been manipulated, but I guess if you really wanted to take credit for doing something right, you’ve got to do it the right way. Can’t wait to see what the freshmen bring about this year.
I think this Rube Goldberg Machine, much like many others accomplishes a larger goal than completing a task. It encouraged and succeeded in brining groups of people together. It fostered collaboration.
At CMU each year the Freshman DP class puts together their own version of this project. Boy had I wished I had this video around when we were designing and building our machine. It had some pretty interesting elements, and also some less involved elements that would've been nice to incorporate. But more than just the machine I am happy to have watched a video that touched on more than just innovation and technology. The use of technology provided the creators with a platform to present much larger issues and most likely gave them a larger digital audience due to both the technology aspects and social issues.
I look forward to the day that more people use their technology to impact and make change in the world.
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