Ralph Griswold (also known for the Icon programming language [0]), started the On-Line Digital Archive of Documents on Weaving and Related Topics [1] at the time, a gem.
Worth a watch. She has built a home-made loom with automation using Arduino and 3D-printer parts. It is pretty brilliant!
Excerpt from the video description:
> A computer-controlled handloom is a hybrid fabrication tool: while the loom greatly speeds the process of weaving by precisely selecting threads for a pattern, a human weaver is present and involved for the entire process. Like any computational tool, such a loom can embody both expert precision and fluidly emergent outcomes; “the trick” is in crafting generative logics that mediate the material constraints of the weaving process to support technically elaborate outcomes, spur creativity, or generate delight. Lea will discuss historical and contemporary tactics for algorithmic and improvisational handweaving, including her own work on personal interactive jacquard weaving systems.
I think she poses an interesting question but does not really answer it in satisfying manner; feels like she might have gotten lost in the weeds building her own looms and electronics so only small part ended up exploring what seems like the main topic: what would be an expressive interface or interaction model for weaving?
I see parallels here with audio synthesizers; (modern) synths can produce any audio imaginable, the main problem is how do you find the good sounds to make music and how do you control them. Same problem appears here, modern loom can produce any weave imaginable, but how do you do something interesting with that?
(This was originally posted a week ago, but I spawned a new copy so as to put it in the second-chance pool (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308). That's why the first two comments look older than their parents.)
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fc1dbf8116eb00e3c52b...
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fc1dbf8116eb00e3c52b...
https://morphingmatter.org/member/lea-albaugh
Shorter video: https://dl.acm.org/doi/suppl/10.1145/3357236.3395538/suppl_f...
Weaving and matmul https://youtu.be/oMOSiag3dxg
Inspired: https://sminliwu.github.io/projects/LoomPedals/
Related: (AdaCAD)
https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3544548.3581571
[0] https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/icon/
[1] https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/index.html
Excerpt from the video description:
> A computer-controlled handloom is a hybrid fabrication tool: while the loom greatly speeds the process of weaving by precisely selecting threads for a pattern, a human weaver is present and involved for the entire process. Like any computational tool, such a loom can embody both expert precision and fluidly emergent outcomes; “the trick” is in crafting generative logics that mediate the material constraints of the weaving process to support technically elaborate outcomes, spur creativity, or generate delight. Lea will discuss historical and contemporary tactics for algorithmic and improvisational handweaving, including her own work on personal interactive jacquard weaving systems.
Show starts at 48s in this shorter video: https://dl.acm.org/doi/suppl/10.1145/3357236.3395538/suppl_f...
I see parallels here with audio synthesizers; (modern) synths can produce any audio imaginable, the main problem is how do you find the good sounds to make music and how do you control them. Same problem appears here, modern loom can produce any weave imaginable, but how do you do something interesting with that?
Chapter: Interactive weaving [collaborative]
See how she moves like a DJ there? I think these academic style talks do her work a dis-service