Nature Science

IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?

Science and art come together to create stunning new masks. Some are aesthetically beautiful, some are functionally beautiful. Here are a few of our faves.

The Ram Mask, by artist Catherine Wales, is a perfect balance of fantasy and reality -- where both are optimized. Wales starts by scanning the head of the wearer-to-be to get a real, exactly measured shape for a perfect fit. The data is imported into 3D modeling software. The computer model is produced, then sent to a SLS 3D printer, which builds the designs from successive layers of powdered nylon. A real face wears its cast, for ultimate comfort and connection, and becomes a baroque dream, sprouting perfectly curved golden horns that gleam as they turn and loop.

Photo: Heather Dewey Hagborg. Sample Portrait mask.

Two technology breakthroughs have crashed together to create something very close to the real you -- in mask form. DNA sequencing meets 3D printing and, voila, “Mission Impossible” masks are formed.

Photo: Heather Dewey Hagborg. Sample Portrait mask.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg, a PhD student created an art project, called Stranger Visions, using DNA gathered from unsuspecting strangers, taken from stray hairs or discarded wads of gum. She then set out to extract and sequence the DNA at a DIY biology lab in downtown Brooklyn.

Video: Courtesy of TED. DNA Portrait.

She fed the data into a 3D-modeling software package that she created, which then generated the faces. She added realistic color by 3D-printing the “skin.” Since DNA can’t measure age, the program is coded to always produce someone’s 25-year old version of themselves.

Photo: Courtesy of Melinda Looi. Wing Headress.

Artist, Melinda Looi, recently presented a stunning 3D-printed mask/headpiece at the Materialise Fashion show in Malaysia. Looi, a acclaimed Maylasian fashion and costume designer, has a vintage aesthetic with a cutting edge execution. Her jaw-dropping Wing Headress is shown here.

Photo: Courtesy of Remee. Remee Sleep Mask.

Masks are a common theme in dreams and fantasies. But the new Remee Sleep Mask helps you to build empires, attack unsolved mathematical problems, and find yourself in a lucid dream.

Lucid dreaming is a fusion of reality and fantasy. When patterns experienced in real life are mirrored while you are in REM, dreaming, a lucid dream can form. Remee uses LED lights to to emit a recognizable pattern. The real light pattern can bleed into your dreams when you are in REM. Is this really happening? Are you dreaming? Remee keeps you asking.

Photo: Courtesy of Remee. Remee Flexible Printed Circuit.

You can personalize your dream signal using Remee's online tool, modifying brightness, pattern, speed, repetition, initial delay, and signal delay.Flexible printed circuits keep it nice and comfy.

Fresh off of a Kickstarter triumph, Remee started shipping just last month.

Photo: Courtesy of IntelClinic. ZizZ.

Catch better zzzzzzz’s all around with a ZizZ mask by IntelClinic, It monitors and regulates your sleep patterns based on your sleep cycle. The mask connects, wirelessly, to the app to manipulate your sleep by activating a patterned stream of LED flashes at optimal cycle times.

Photos: Courtesy of IntelClinic. ZizZ

A mask is something that has always been about helping you dream a little. And it continues.

Read about Beautiful Masks all this week, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact, including yesterday’s post, The Top 10 Most Beautiful Masks.

Get busy and enter the BN Competitions, Our theme this week is Beautiful Masks. Send in your images and ideas. Deadline is 11.03.13.

Photo: Courtesy of InterActiveMediaSW.

Also, check out our special competition: The Most Beautiful Sound in the World, which opens for entries today! We are thrilled about this effort, together with SoundCloud and The Sound Agency. And we can’t wait to hear what you’ve got!