Comments on: Wind-powered mine detonator on Kickstarter

By: Guy

Guy — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:22:00 +0000

Thats fascinating Seth, thanks for finding it. It strikes me that if Hassani had studied at the TU/e, a short walk away from the DAE in Eindhoven, his tutors might have encouraged him to think about clearance statistics and build his own such simulation. In which case the Kafon might never have been built. Despite what I and others have said above, I don’t think that would be a good thing – the Kafon has drawn attention to the problem in a very graceful and effective way (look at it – it looks like an explosion!). I also think that Hassani has invested the conceptual design with a powerful personal narrative that perhaps has not been fully felt since Diana Spencer’s campaign (if we remember the famous photos of her uniformed in anti-mine protection clothes). Conceptual design has an important role to play that is especially contemporary, but I think conceptual designers also need to learn not get carried away with their own hype and, more importantly, collaborate with specialists who can reign in their irrational fancies.

By: Guy

Guy — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 01:15:00 +0000

Well Paul, you’ve completely missed that point that he is NOT raising 160,000 to save the life of a family member, because his design does not work. It’s become a vanity project. You could try some critical thinking on this issue instead of an appeal to emotion.

By: Seth

Seth — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 02:53:14 +0000

I agree with Sam. While this is a beautifully designed approach it is not the most effective. The author of this article built a simulation showing the ineffectiveness of the kafons. http://www.statisticsblog.com/2013/01/simulation-of-landmine-clearing-with-massoud-hassanis-mine-kafon/

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:54:00 +0000

I understand what you are saying, but the world has to have people who question the current methods or we would NEVER advance. Designers try new things every day on the off-chance that it will improve the way we live.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:15:00 +0000

Well I’m glad to see someone is doing something for the better. I don’t know anyone who would not try to come up with 160,000USD to save the life of a family member. Here since it is saving the lives of people we don’t know it is all of a sudden a bad idea. Lets see some of these posters try to raise some money for roving metal detectors.