Exploding Creativity » Other Worlds

Happy National Inventors’ Month

Robert W. Sharp — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:18:42 +0000

August is National Inventor’s Month, as I found out from the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center’s monthly newsletter, Prototype. The Lemelson Center is for the “Study of Invention and Innovation.” Interesting stuff. Check them out at:

Lemelson Center home page

Prototype newsletter archive

This month’s prototype newsletter

Onboard Innovators

Robert W. Sharp — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:25:23 +0000

Here’s an interesting article on inventors inventing devices for airplane travel: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28475016.

Helping blind see fish through music

Robert W. Sharp — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:27:28 +0000

The FOXNews.com article ‘Audio Aquarium’ Technology Helps Blind ‘See’ Fish writes about how scientists at Georgia Tech have created an automated music generation program that creates music based on the size, color, position, and speed of fish in an aquarium tank so that the visually impaired can enjoy the aquarium. They’re now trying to get their invention in other aquariums and zoos. I just thought that was very creative.

Kimono as Art

Robert W. Sharp — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:55:47 +0000

Last night my wife and I attended a Bonenkai party at the Timken Museum of Art given by the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana. The Timken Museum and the San Diego Museum of Art currently have a kimono exhibit, Kimono As Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota, and we were able to see some of the kimonos on exhibit. In fact, when the exhibit opened, my wife, Michiko, a professional interpreter and translator, interpreted for the son of Itchiku Kubota who is lending the kimonos to the museums. Itchiku was an award winning artist and passed away in 2003.

These kimonos are quite fascinating. Instead of painting on canvas, Kubota-san tie-dyed landscape images onto silk kimonos he created, giving the images a three-dimensional effect. The kimonos are very intractely designed, taking a year each to be finished. These kimonos aren’t for wearing (some are quite huge); they’re purely for display as an art-form.

After January 4, 2009, the exhibit moves on to the Cultural Center for the Arts in Canton, Ohio. If you’re in the San Diego area soon, or in the Canton area February-April, definitly check it out if you can.