Counting device on a breadboard – 2024-12-10

For a workshop during our weekly HackJam open night, Sadale brought electronics kits that he designed and got produced. We followed the instructions and were rewarded with a circuit that can count up to three: You press a button, and the next LED will light up. There are three LEDs, and there is a reset …

AI Image Generation with Stable Diffusion and Eden – 2024-11-25

AI Image Generation with Stable Diffusion and Eden

During his second workshop at Dim Sum Labs, Sam, a Berlin based creative technologist, gave an introduction into the AI image generator Eden. It gives access to the features of Stable Diffusion. We learned the basic creation of images, including how to use ChatGPT as a prompt generator. Then we moved on to train our …

PCB Design for Artists & Makers – 2024-11-23

PCB Design for Artists and Makers

Sam, a Berlin based creative technologist, gave an introduction to printed circuit boards (PCBs) as a creative medium for doing art and all kinds of fun things. We learned how to do a simple PCB design in the software EasyEDA, from schematic to board layout. Finally, we ordered preassembled boards from JLCPCB and its Chinese …

SolidWorks User Group – 2024-09-25

The very first SolidWorks user group meeting in Hong Kong was held at Dim Sum Labs! Tayseer Almattar gave an introduction into the basics of parametric modelling. He is the author of Learn SolidWorks and other books on the subject. Over free food and drink, we exchanged tips and tricks about SolidWorks and other 3D …

TouchDesigner – 2024-02-27

During our weekly HackJam, visitor Iulian gave an impromptu presentation showing us TouchDesigner. Its node based editor is popular to create visuals for VJing in clubs. Iulian generated Perlin noise, then used the bass frequency of a music loop to advance through the noise along the z axis. Next, he showed how to separate an …

Bamboo & Banyans: 3D modeling with SpeedTree – 2023-09-26

Screenshot of SpeedTree showing an attempt to model a banyan with realistic prop roots

The presentation started with an introduction to living architecture, the practice of growing houses out of trees. For planning projects, visualization is important. During the second part of the presentation, we looked into SpeedTree, a software for designing trees in 3D. It is primarily used in the gaming and movie industries. We created a simple …

Complex ideas, Simply explained – 2023-08-08

In front of a packed space, Christian started his presentation by highlight a few examples where excessive jargon can make a valuable idea a complete turn-off for the public and investors. A simple methodology was shown on how to present a complex idea to nonspecialists using five tools. The presentation concluded with an exercise where …