WEBVTT -- English

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Hi. I'm Paul and this is Spintronics

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Spintronics is a new type of game

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where players build mechanical circuits to solve puzzles

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Create crazy contraptions and in the process discover how electronics work

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Electronics is central to our lives

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It's the foundation of modern technology

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I've taught electronics to college students, and now to my own kids

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but it's a famously difficult subject

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It's invisible and it's abstract

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so we have to rely on advanced math to understand it

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The math makes it challenging for students

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and it puts a hard stop on how much kids can learn

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And that's so unfortunate, because there are few subjects as naturally compelling as electronics

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It's about bending raw energy

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Starting with a simple force

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and splitting it, storing it,

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multiplying it, reversing it, resisting it,

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and otherwise shaping it to your will

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Spintronics finally grounds electronics in a physical, tangible form

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It's the first physical equivalent of electronics ever built

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Instead of electrons running through wires,

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it uses chains running between sprockets

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and every electronic component has its spintronic counterpart

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Resistors,

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switches,

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capacitors,

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batteries,

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ammeters,

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inductors,

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transistors,

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and junctions

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Add parts to the magnetic surface

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and connect them together with chain to build a spintronic circuit

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Charge the battery

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and then, play with it

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Hold the chain with your fingers, and feel the pull of voltage

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Watch how the current runs through the circuit

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Drag your finger on a part to add resistance

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Build a deep, intuitive understanding of circuits

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grounded in physical, tangible play

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With Spintronics, you can focus on the clever tricks and strategies of circuit building

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without getting tangled up in the abstract math

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Once a solid intuition for electronics is developed,

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the math can come later

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The puzzle book leads players to discover

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how to build circuits

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through a series of increasingly difficult puzzles

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In each puzzle, players must build a circuit that meets certain requirements

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to produce a certain voltage or to generate a certain waveform

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The puzzles are woven through a graphic novel

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in which you become Natalia,

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the daughter of master clockmakers from the late 1800s

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In a time before electronics power the world,

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she discovers an alternative technology that revitalizes her town

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Your job is to help her build increasingly sophisticated spintronic circuits

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to meet the needs of the townsfolk

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Spintronics ended up being way too big for one kit,

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so I split it into two parts:

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Act One and Act Two

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Act One covers basic and some intermediate DC concepts

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Act Two goes on to cover more intermediate and advanced concepts

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like feedback and oscillators

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Spintronics is absolutely not just for kids

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The challenges eventually get quite difficult, even for adults

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and it doesn't matter who you are,

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it'll change the way you see electronics forever

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Pick any electronic circuit and you can probably build the spintronic equivalent

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Build basic circuits like series

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and parallel,

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to more advanced circuits like flip-flops

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and oscillators

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It's one thing to understand the concept of a circuit,

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it's another thing entirely to watch it and feel it with your hands

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This was a risky project

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I wasn't even sure if it'd be possible

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But after three years and hundreds of iterations,

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I'm so happy with how it turned out

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At this point, Spintronics is fully designed,

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the art is complete,

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and we've even begun making injection molds

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but we still have more to go

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If you back this project, you can be one of the first to have Spintronics,

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and you'll join us for the rest of this journey

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We can't wait to see where this goes,

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we're curious to see what you do with it,

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and we're excited to see the fascinating world of electronics opened to everyone