ABOUT
Hello, I'm Thomas Knoepffler, a design technologist in Miami, Florida. I design physical objects and software tools that respond to the people and spaces around them, working with AI, sensors, and digital fabrication. My recent projects include a 3D-printed hydroponic planter, a desk lamp that senses posture, and a browser tool for building procedural 3D worlds.
I hold an MS in Design Technology from Cornell University and a BS in Integrated Design & Media from NYU, and before graduate school I worked in UI/UX design and product management at an early-stage startup. Outside of studio work I have mentored student designers and volunteered with local creative communities.
I'm currently looking for design technologist and prototyping roles in Miami, Florida, and I'm glad to hear from anyone about the work.
SKILLS
— Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, Blender
— Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma
— 3D Printing, Laser Cutting
— Arduino, Raspberry Pi
— HTML, CSS, JavaScript
— Python, C#
LINKS
Resume
LinkedIn
Instagram
GitHub
Email TEXTURE.JS
TEXTURE.JS
Cornell University, AAP
Design Physical Interaction I, Fall 2024
— DESIGN 6397
COLLABORATORS
Rajvi Patil
MY ROLE
Prototyper, Developer
DESCRIPTION
A servo-driven turntable that draws spirograph patterns from the pressure of objects placed against it, then turns the same readings into a short poem written by an AI. A demonstration of poetic computation.
LINKS
GitHub WHAT IT IS
texture.js is a drawing machine that a person and a servo operate together. A sheet of paper and a marker sit on a wooden turntable; a pressure sensor off to the side reads whatever object is pressed against it, and that pressure sets the speed of the arm, so the marker traces a spirograph whose rhythm comes from the object’s contours. While it draws, the same sensor readings go to OpenAI, which writes a short poem from them. When the drawing is finished the poem can be played back, a second translation of the same object.
PROCESS
The idea began with two words, rhythm and contour, and with the question of what a machine might say about a texture it had felt. The first prototypes were cardboard, quick to cut and bend; the final one is wood, a nod to the lathes it resembles. An Arduino Uno reads the sensor and drives the servo, and also passes the readings on as the prompt for the poem. Most of the iteration went into the mapping from pressure to rotation, since a drawing only reads as a spirograph when the motion is continuous, and user trials settled how responsive the arm should feel without becoming twitchy.
NEXT STEPS
A next version would hand some control of the arm to the AI, so that the drawing becomes a back-and-forth between person and model rather than a transcription. A reverse mode would redraw the illustration while the poem plays, running the piece backward in time. Swappable attachments, other tools in place of the marker, would widen what the turntable can make without changing what it is for.