
Ferrolic - jpatokal
http://www.ferrolic.com/
======
rolfvandekrol
Cool!

The designer ([http://zelfkoelman.com/](http://zelfkoelman.com/)) is Dutch,
and the name is actually a pun in Dutch. The word 'Ferrolic' is pronounced
almost the same as the Dutch word 'vrolijk', which means 'happy' or 'joyful'.

~~~
arianvanp
His name "Zelf Koelman" in dutch literally means "You're cool yourself" which
I find hilarious.

~~~
eam
I pronounced his name as "Self Cool Man" :D

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edent
It reminds me of the game World of Goo - those uncanny black blobs floating
around.

As the site says, the device can only withstand a few months of sustained use
- which is a pity.

~~~
Kenji
I wonder why that is. Given that the container is sealed properly, and they
use electronics with magnets, I just don't see any part that is subject to
such massive wear.

EDIT: Thanks, jpatokal, that cleared things up.

~~~
tomwphillips
Ferrofluids are magnetic nanoparticles, usually iron oxide, with small
molecules called surfactants stuck to their surface. These stop the
nanoparticles aggregating. Eventually the surfactants themselves will come
off, causing aggregation. Lumps of iron oxide precipitate out of the liquid
and sink to the bottom. No doubt better surfactants will be developed that
take a very long time to degrade.

~~~
daveloyall
Could you confirm or deny that you are using the word "nanoparticles"
carefully?

I think that the ferrous particles in ferrofluids are _mere_ particles. They'd
have to be very, very small to be classified as nano, and we've seen before
that making particles of an ordinary material that small can change its
properties, ala "transparent titanium dioxide".

~~~
chris_va
"Ferrofluids are composed of nanoscale particles (diameter usually 10
nanometers or less) of magnetite, hematite or some other compound containing
iron." \- Wikipedia

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adiabatty
My first thought after seeing the video was "you could make a really cool
James Bond-movie introductory title scene or five with this".

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codeshaman
At first I thought 'this is so cool' , but then after thinking about it for a
while, I realised that it's no cooler than any of the 200 videos or pictures
with 'cool stuff' that I see every day.

I think it's a pretty useless expensive gimmick created out of toxic materials
to excite the numb neurons of the bored inhabitants of the digital realm for 2
minutes or so. Then we'll all forget about it and move on to the next thing.
I'm already looking for something else :).

~~~
GuiA
The problem with reductio ad nihilum arguments like this one is that you can
make them about absolutely everything and anything in life. It's a slippery
slope.

~~~
codeshaman
Yes, I am doing that and it's a shitty way to see things, because it makes me
sad and angry and everything is gloomy. Probably a phase I'm going through
right now - my bullshit-filtering glasses are broken.

I go through this phase after a startup or project that I've been working on
is over. Without a project to focus on, I see the world as it is - a sharade
of people bullshitting each other and hiding from who they are. I need a new
project :).

~~~
GuiA
Sometimes we get so caught up in our little computers and programming
languages and internet that we forget that there's a much bigger world out
there.

Go sailing. Learn how to carve wood. Make out with another human on a beach.
Go take pictures in a foreign country. Learn how to play an instrument. Grow
some vegetables. Volunteer in your local community. Go to a bookstore/library,
pick a completely random fiction book, and force yourself to read it from
cover to cover.

It gets better.

~~~
sebkomianos
The problem isn't that the world is small, it is that it looks pointless.

(I am experiencing a somewhat similar "phase" with codeshaman)

~~~
GuiA
Self fulfilling prophecy. If all you do all day is sit at home and think about
how the world is pointless, it'll look pointless. If you engage it (for ideas,
see my previous post), it will quickly appear less so.

You gotta eat your vegetables.

~~~
sebkomianos
To me, it's like a dog chasing its tail (or, rather, I am like one!): In order
to engage and find meaning I need to find meaning so I get inspired to engage.
Do I just jump out of this cycle of thinking and pretend I find meaning in
something so I can escape?

(Damn, I sound so lost! :D)

P.S: Your comment on the Tinder topic a couple of days ago
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10019527](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10019527))
was spot on, you really nailed it. Thanks for sharing all these thoughts.

~~~
noahlt
"Act out being alive, like a play. And after a while, a long while, it will be
true." —Steinbeck (East of Eden)

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matthewmcg
If you like this sort of machine for art's sake, you'll love the kinetic
sculptures of Arthur Ganson:
[http://www.arthurganson.com/pages/Sculptures.html](http://www.arthurganson.com/pages/Sculptures.html)

Check out "Machine with Oil":
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__GhJl_UQg0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__GhJl_UQg0)

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haliax
How are they creating a magnetic field that writes out the time? Is it a large
grid of magnets or something more clever?

~~~
alt_
The second tab: 'Where digital meets Nature' has a brief summary of how it
works. Sounds like a grid of magnets:

"In the front, the display has a basin comparable to an acquarium in which
Ferro Fluid can move freely. Behind the scenes powerful electromagnets enable
Ferollic to influence the fluid’s shape, to pick it up and move it around.
Both modules, the basin and the electronics, sit secure in an aluminium
frame."

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fit2rule
This is brilliant .. a wonderful piece of artwork and technological whimsy in
a way that playfully pushes the edge of display as an art-laden tool, and of
course makes me wonder the difficulties of emulating it in software, so that
everyone can have one and so that the ferro-fluid part isn't necessary (runs
out of magnet-juice, requires containment, is icky in real life, etc.)

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toothbrush
This paper (PDF) contains some more information on the design.
[http://isea2015.org/proceeding/submissions/ISEA2015_submissi...](http://isea2015.org/proceeding/submissions/ISEA2015_submission_246.pdf)

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Kiro
What will this cost in retail? I hope it isn't anywhere close to 7.500 euro.

~~~
Kiro
To the people downvoting me:

7500 EUR is what it currently costs:
[http://www.ferrolic.com/inquiries/](http://www.ferrolic.com/inquiries/)

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startswithaj
Does anybody know where I can find other music similar to that of the video?

~~~
radiorental
Aphex Twin: Avril 14th
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeLuQ6X2ixI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeLuQ6X2ixI)

Boards of Canada: Dayvan Cowboy
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2zKARkpDW4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2zKARkpDW4)

Solar Fields: Reborn
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD2bLKIDaT0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD2bLKIDaT0)

Brian Eno: Music for Airports
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KGMo9yOaSU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KGMo9yOaSU)

And so forth, I have something of an incomplete playlist of similar 'ambient'
[http://audiosplitter.fm/playlists/ambient/2289864](http://audiosplitter.fm/playlists/ambient/2289864)

~~~
nosuchthing
similar style musicians are often in the cycle on
[http://soma.fm](http://soma.fm)

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pronoiac
Things I want to see:

* the game of life

* someone blowing smoke rings

* Robert Patrick from Terminator 2

* maybe a waterfall

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joshfraser
That video is the most mesmerizing thing I've watched in a while.

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jvandonsel
Almost as good (and cheaper and longer lasting) would be a nice JS tool to
render text in a "Ferrolic" font, with dripping, re-forming, etc.

Maybe this will be my next weekend project.

~~~
crocal
Same thought here... Funny thing, if I put such app on the wall with a state-
of-the art flatscreen display, I should be as mesmerized, if you consider how
extraordinary such a device is. Chances are it won't have this effect at all.
We got used to wonders.

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rebootthesystem
10 years ago:

[http://www.freymartin.de/en/projects/snoil](http://www.freymartin.de/en/projects/snoil)

Date unknown:

[http://www.hawaiilibrary.net/articles/Ferro_Liquid_Display](http://www.hawaiilibrary.net/articles/Ferro_Liquid_Display)

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joshontheweb
If you have seen Ridley Scott's Prometheus, this might be a bit unsettling to
have in your home. Last thing I need is a Xenomorph running around the house!

~~~
bro-stick
Yup. Our house already has two little nightmares running around.

------
oori
24 pieces on pre-order at 7500€

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PSeitz
This first urge is to build an AI around this, because it seems to be alive.
But it's too expensive as a gadget.

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manibatra
Amazing! Loved how I felt an instant emotional connection with the product!
Great product, great video!

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amelius
I'd be interested if they made a clock out of this, somehow.

~~~
jpatokal
Did you stop watching before the one-minute mark? Or are you asking about an
analog clock?

~~~
taternuts
Honestly I think they should have showed that way sooner, because that's what
turned my interest from "That's kind of cool" to "Whoa! Now I want it!".

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IshKebab
Nice to see someone has done this finally!

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otis_inf
Modern day Lava Lamp. Very nice!

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daveloyall
Shut up and take my money.

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rezamoaiandin
Thats pretty amazing!

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linkydinkandyou
This is very beautiful. The clock is probably the "killer app" for this.

It would also keep the cats amused; like watching a fishtank for them.

~~~
knodi123
why would cats find it more amusing than watching the fish tank screensaver?

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drinchev
Seeing this, I just can't stop thinking of why they choose to create an
entertaining device and if this fluid has any practical applications.

~~~
jpatokal
Because that's been done and there are plenty -- your hard drive probably
contains some!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrofluid#Applications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrofluid#Applications)

~~~
bro-stick
Passive cooling of a speaker's voice coil is pretty neat.

