Nanotech + Art

Nanotech + Art


When the fields of nanotechnology and art are bridged, they are able to make innovative discoveries that could never otherwise be created by either field on its own.



In his years of work experimenting and learning how to best maximize the relationship between these two disciplines, Boo Chapple developed a project where audio speakers are made out of bone. Contributing to the shift from emphasis of purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity, he found a way to utilize the piezoelectric nature of the bone matrix to generate a vibration in the bone that produces audible sound. 


Uniting science and art, Chapple effectively demonstrated how visualization and creation complement the complexity of atomic and molecular technology.  His work has inspired other artists and entrepreneurs to explore our human capacity to sense. Bone conduction headphones are just one of these innovations. These devices sit atop of one's cheekbones and use your bones for sound transmission. This inventive technology has now manifested in the design of Bluetooth speakers.



It has been engineered to use mechanical vibrations to transform different materials into audio amplifiers. It can essentially transform anything hollow into a powerful speaker. The innovations that have resulted from Chapple’s research demonstrates how art infinitely expands the possibilities of nanotechnology. 



Works Cited


Casini, Silvia. “Sensing Nanotechnologies through the Arts: Seeing and Making on the Surface 

of Things.” Leonardo, vol. 47, no. 1, 2014, pp. 36–42. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43834113. Accessed 21 May 2022.

Chapple, Boo, and William Wong. “Can You Hear the Femur Play? Bone Audio Speakers at the 

Nanoscale.” Leonardo, vol. 41, no. 4, 2008, pp. 355–340. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20206627. Accessed 21 May 2022.

Rennie, John. “From the Editors: Nanotech Reality.” Scientific American, vol. 282, no. 6, 2000, 

pp. 8–8. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26058725. Accessed 21 May 2022.

Seeman, Nadrian C. “Art as a Stimulus for Structural DNA Nanotechnology.” Leonardo, vol. 47, 

no. 2, 2014, pp. 142–49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43834150. Accessed 21 May 2022.

Spector, Tami I. “Introduction: Nanotechnology, Nanoscale Science and Art.” Leonardo, vol. 41, 

no. 4, 2008, pp. 348–49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20206625. Accessed 21 May 2022.


Images


Robertson, Adi. “'Transjuicer' Art Installation Uses Bones as Speakers.” The Verge, The Verge, 

29 Dec. 2011, https://www.theverge.com/2011/12/29/2668345/transjuicer-art-installation-cow-bone-speakers.

StackCommerce. “Save 28% on This Innovative Bone Conduction Bluetooth Speaker.” 

Mashable, Mashable, 14 Jan. 2022, https://mashable.com/deals/jan-15-bone-conduction-speakers.  

Veda. “Nanotechnology Is More than Just a Buzzword, Big Things from a Tiny World.” Fraction 

Orange Magazine, Fraction, 16 Feb. 2022, https://www.analyticsinsight.net/nanotechnology-is-more-than-just-a-buzzword-big-things-from-a-tiny-world/.


Comments

  1. JustineMay 22, 2022 at 10:52 PM

    Hi Danielie! You wrote a very interesting and inciteful blog. I also look at Boo Chapple's work on working bones audible in my blog this week. I think this work is interesting because it sounds pretty crazy but when explained it is actually reasonable and one could see how bones may produce audible sound. Furthermore, you discussed how Chapple's work has been able to produce bluetooth speakers. This work is also very interesting as it shows how far nanotechnology can go and how artists have made creative use of this technology.

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