Dutch Design Week 2014: Augmented tools bridge the digital-physical divide

Eindhoven – Of Instruments and Archetypes is an assembly of digitally augmented tools that allow users to design 3D printable objects with minimal effort.

The project is a collaboration between Unfold Studio, interaction designer Penny Webb and research lab Kirschner 3D, on show at Dutch Design Week. It consists of a caliper, a tape measure and a protractor, all of which can be manipulated to take measurements in the real world. The measurements are then translated and updated in a 3D printable file that is synchronised to the instruments. Each time a new measurement is taken, the file is updated accordingly.

The augmented tools are designed to look like and operate in the same way as the original tools. But unlike the originals, the innovative augmented tools don’t include measurement markers as the application running on the computer records all of this information.

'We decided to remove all indications of units that are traditionally associated with measuring and replaced them with abstract markings,’ Dries Verbruggen, co-founder of Unfold Studio, tells LS:N Global. ‘We wanted to reconnect with the way of indicating a proper size using two fingers spaced apart intuitively.’

This project is a wonderful example of how technology can be seamlessly introduced into everyday objects so that it disappears and our interactions with it become almost magical. For more, see our Everyday Re-enchantment microtrend.