The Socarrat #11 – Newsletter by Gusta

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Issue 11

The Socarrat

A selection of what inspired us recently
and occasional updates from the studio.

Lamps made of real bread and croissants

Japanese artist and baker Yukiko Morita turned her love for bread into a creative business called Pampshade. She uses real baguettes and croissants to turn them into artisanal lights. After a process of hollowing out the food item, careful carving to embed LED lights inside, and a special antiseptic and antifungal treatment, the one-of-a-kind lamps are born. While you obviously cannot eat the delicious-looking lights, the insides are used to make tasty snacks.

yukikomorita.com

DALL·E 2

This week, OpenAI released its latest AI system, which turns captions in natural language into realistic images and art. It takes your description and understands how to translate it into something that takes shadows, reflections, and textures into account. "Teddy bears shopping for groceries in the style of ukiyo-e" or maybe "...in ancient Egypt"? Or tell it to recreate the 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' painting, but with an otter, and it will give you countless variations. It's super impressive but also somewhat creepy. The research project is currently not available to everyone—only select researchers can play around with it so the AI can be used responsibly in the future.

openai.com

Rescue Doodles match children's drawings with adoptable dogs nearby

Another AI, but definitely the cutest and best use of the tech from the two. Pet food company Pedigree matches kids with their dream pets by finding dogs that look like their drawings and can be adopted from nearby shelters. The Adopt-a-Pet partner program works over text in the US and runs until the end of April.

pedigree.com

AR experiment transcribes speech into real-life captions

Augmented reality concepts for art or play are fun, but seeing the technology being used to design for better accessibility and to improve people's lives is truly exciting. In this prototype posted by Paul Mealy, you see how smart glasses convert spoken words into live captions placed on the person talking. It even works when their face is covered, which is one of the issues deaf people have to deal with during the pandemic; masks conceal facial expressions and make it impossible to read lips. For now, the experiment runs on mobile devices. It would be interesting to see this working soon on hands-free wearables for a subtle but powerful integration into people's lives.

linkedin.com

From bland grey metal to colorful abstract streetart 💙

Our blinds are now giving the Ruzafa neighborhood some more color! Outside of working hours, you'll find a work of art made by Valencia-based German artist @lyly_arte. She did an amazing job! 👏 If you're around and spot our abstract doggy mural, be sure to send a pic or tag us on Instagram!

@gusta.studio

Our newsletter is named after the roasted layer on the bottom of the pan of a good paella, the socarrat. A delicious and crunchy bite that makes the traditional dish just that little bit better. We hope that our digestable selection of inspiring finds and updates adds a similar touch to your day. From our screen to yours.