Ask almost
any passerby about a Lincoln Log and you’ll instantly transport them back in
time to a place where creativity had no boundaries. You may also see a hint of
a smile or even elicit a giggle or two. Ask them who invented the Lincoln Log
and the demeanor may quickly change to one of puzzlement. Most do not know that
John Lloyd Wright, son of world renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was the
inventor of the Lincoln Log. They also would not know that his inspiration was
the great Japanese Hotel ‘Imperial’. He got the idea of the Lincoln Log while observing his father
build the hotel.
I’m confident young Wright did not understand the impact his architectural creations would have on generations of children. That is, until his Lincoln Logs became an unexpected success. Now taking center stage is Ayah Bdeir. Bdeir, an engineer and artist, is the founder of littleBits and karaj, an experimental art, architecture and technology lab in Beirut. In her TED talk, she reveals two points:
- Old technology, even toys can be re-imagined or re-purposed.
- Innovative concepts are no longer in the hands of just experts.
Bdeir
demonstrated how seemingly complex inventions can occur, grow and spur even
more open innovation. Should the conversation stop here? Of course not, allow
me to move the conversation in the direction of the future, but let us look
briefly at the past.
Bdeir’s
Little Bits is an updated version of John Lloyd Wright’s creativity without
minimizing the contribution of the transistor. Better yet, her innovation picks
up where Lincoln Logs and transistors left off:
- Spur architectural and engineering creativity for both children and adults.
- A simple tool that explains how things work or teach advanced technical concepts.
Education
Bdeir’s
innovation creates the possibility of teaching rudimentary electrical
engineering development and design to children at an early age. Continued
advancement of the field will not have wait until they enter college. This educational
paradigm shift can have a global impact on science and technology where we
reduce the time it takes produce new and important technologies while opening
the door to fantastic possibilities.
Economic
The cost of
innovation can be staggering. Federal government spending on high tech R&D
in 2012 was forecasted to be about $125.7 billion, while U.S. industrial
spending was estimated at about $279.7 billion, with academic spending projected
at $12.3 billion (Grueber & Studt, 2011). Although these figures are still
just projections, they provide a window into how much innovation costs. Imagine
if we could harness the ingenuity and practicality of our forward-thinking youth
with the aid of concepts such as Little Bits. We could apply rapid solutions to
existing problems in far less time with much less effort saving millions of
dollars.
Summary
The
work of Bdeir makes for more than just a great talk at a TED conference. It
serves to remind us how innovation can be spun off from some of our oldest,
fondest toys to make for a major paradigm shift in a given field. We only have
to look around us – even in the past, to see that we’ve just scratched the
surface of our innovative capacity. We no longer need wait until we are adults
to solve problems when we can observe our children at play and watch them solve
problems. Why? Because they are not bound by their thoughts. Moreover, Bdeir
demonstrated how seemingly complex inventions can occur, grow and spur even
more open innovation. The implications for educational and economic research
leave little doubt that we can re-purpose effective, but older learning tools
for children and adults.
References
Bdeir, A. (February 2012).
Building blocks that blink, beep and teach. Retrieved July 31, 2012 from
http://www.ted.com/talks/-ayah_bdeir_building_blocks_that_blink_beep_and-_teach.html
Grueber, M. & Studt, T. (December
2011). 2012 Global R&D Funding
Forecast: R&D Spending Growth Continues While Globalization Accelerates.
Retrieved August 29, 2012 from
http://www.rdmag.com/Featured-Articles/2011/12/2012-Global-RD-Funding-Forecast-RD-Spending-Growth-Continues-While-Globalization-Accelerates/
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