split flap display makes running cats + text talk tangible

in the digital age we communicate more and more with three letter abbrevaiations – lol, cba, brb etc. although smartphones are useful, it is also argued that they add to our disconnection to the external world. the split flap display hopes to change this by introducing text and animation back to its mechanical origin. by pressing each button, all of the letters of the alphabet cycle rotate to spell out your thoughts. the last animation is the very first cat video by photographer eadweard muybridge.

video courtesy of jonathan odom

the project was created using instructables using autodesks fusion 360 software. the write sections were 3D printed on the fortus ‘450 mc’, which proved to effective as the resolution is higher than a lot of desktop machines. the acrylics parts were laser cut using 3mm for the brackets and 1.5 for the tongue and flaps. to design your own model you can find further information here.