Planetary Motion

Solar System Box

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

Solar System Box by Tamas Vanyo

Artificial Intelligence can be harnessed to create fantastical images that look eye catching, but also look unreal - or at least, unrealistic. Then again, sometimes it falls to the individual to decide what is out of reach, and what can actually be realized. In an amazing case of life imitating art, part-time Hungarian puzzle designer Tamas Vanyo has been using AI to generate ideas that he then imitates and brings to life. He has been playing around with this concept in a series of new puzzle boxes that use familiar but tricky opening mechanisms, and are decorated to mimic the computer generated images he creates.

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

solair sketches - courtesy of Tamas Vanyo

”I have been designing a simple Solar System-themed game for a long time. The design of the game was inspired by AI-generated images. You have to add the “game” to them, because the appearance is incredibly diverse, but these are not working designs and may even contain optical illusions. I have also drawn my designs, but new ideas always come to mind. I made a toy with this theme, and the idea for the current Solar System Box came to me in the process.

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

solar system game - courtesy of Tamas Vanyo

Solar System Box is my second box puzzle that I have been planning for a long time. The box closing mechanism has always been a challenge for me, because basically my mind revolves around the world of interlocking puzzle. However, I thought that the classic Sam Loyd’s 15 game with movable elements could also be good for building a closing mechanism. Rearranging the elements to a specific position can move a latch, which provides a free path to open the box.

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

gearing up

Rearranging the elements in the 15 game is a challenge, as you have to put them in the correct order. Here - instead of numbers - I was looking for some other decoration to arrange the elements. That's when the idea came to me, what if I put the planets of the solar system on it as decoration. The number 15 turned out to be a lot here, so I thought of the rearrangeable frame in a 4x3 matrix. This would be enough for the Sun and 9 planets, and there would still be 2 empty spaces (for meteors and other space things). It was also obvious that I couldn't keep the order [of the planets] on this rectangular box lid when rearranging, as it would have required a circular box. So all that was left of the arrangement was for the Sun to be somewhere at the origin, for there to be smaller and larger planets, and for Saturn, which is quite distinctive with its rings.”

Solar System Box by Tamas Vanyo

you’ll have to plan-it well

Tamas makes puzzles as a hobby in his spare time, so whimsical fancy and production logistics don’t really bother him. Which is why his creations look so cool! He produces this eye candy with humble tools and techinques. ”I made the [components] from walnut and beech wood, and I bought the decorative elements, hemispheres, and gears. (These also give the toy a steampunk look, as a friend of mine noted). I have a small Proxxon table saw, which I use to cut the elements. I drilled holes in the tops of them, which I filled with metal rods. I am very interested in combining materials, and I will use more metal for the puzzles later. (By the way, the tops of the [squares] have an endless path drawn out of the small metal circles in the basic state.) I oiled the finished elements, and wipe them over. I love how the oil brings the natural color and grain of the wood to life. That is why I really like walnut and beech, the contrast and colors of the two woods.

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

a well oiled machine - courtesy of Tamas Vanyo

Of course, in the original 15-game there is an empty space that allows the elements to be moved. I filled this empty space with a removable element, finding which is the first step to opening the box. Once there is an empty space, the other elements can be slid, but I didn't want any [random] sliding options here either, so the planet decorations hang over the edge of the [squares], preventing [just] any [square] from being moved anywhere [desired]. With this [restricted mechanism], I managed to find a 17-step solution, that's how many times the elements have to be moved to open the box.”

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

the outer space

Tamas has managed to harness another classic puzzle mechanism for his interstellar purposes here. He also added clever restrictions by placing planets and gears in ways that won’t allow most squares to move where you might want them to go. His puzzle boxes so far remind me a bit of those by Thomas Cummings, who uses interesting puzzle mechanisms contained in the lids of his boxes which must be solved to unlock them. Tamas has taken the decorative aspect to another level, however, bringing the realms of generative imagination to life in incredible ways. He also likes to add additional surprises on the inside.

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

L-mini by Oleg Smolyakov, crafted by Tamas Vanyo

”There is a surprise sliding puzzle in the box. I liked the design of my friend Oleg Smolyakov's L-Mini a long time ago. I have already made it myself and played with it a lot. It takes more than 100 steps to rearrange the elements, so it is a serious challenge. Since I do not have a similar game, I asked Oleg for permission to manufacture some of the games and packed them in the box so that others can try it.” The L-Mini is a serious challenge, which Tamas has rendered with gorgeous wood in a beautiful stand alone tray. The goal is to completely reverse the directions of the pips on each block, with the L back in its starting position.

Solar System Box puzzle by Tamas Vanyo

solar powered

We haven’t seen the last of these inspiring designs by Tamas, and I suspect the locking mechanisms may get more complex over time as well. ”I like the world of AI-generated images, I like making tricky boxes. I will make them in a variety of themes and decorations. My next project is a Time Machine Box, which is no longer just a plan, but a working prototype. I would like to design and make a real, seriously challenging sequential discovery puzzle too.” Tamas likes to play with language, and his original name for this concept was the ”Sol-Ai-r System Box”, which I think is very clever. I wonder if his future sequential discovery box will be named the “Sequential Discov-Ai Box”. We will simply have to discover what he, and his computer, come up with next.

Multiverse cocktail by Shannan Lynch

Multiverse by Shannan Lynch

Eye catching creations are like birds of a feather and deserve to be together. Here’s a toast to an out of this world object with a similarly interstellar cocktail. In 1978, at the height of the disco era, the ultra emerald Japanese melon liqueur Midori was introduced to the US market (at a party at Studio 54, no less). Phillipino bartender Bobby Batuga won the US Bartender’s Guild competition that year with his cocktail, The Universe, a viridescent, tasty tropical affair that would go on to become a cult classic and ensure Midori’s place behind every bar. Batuga’s Universe included Midori, vodka, pineapple, lime and pistachio liqueur.

Multiverse cocktail

harnessing the multiverse

Midori, originally produced by the Suntori distillery, is made from two types of uniquely Japanese melons, the Yubari King melon (which is orange like a cantaloupe) and the Musk melon (which is green and inspired the liqueur’s distinctive color, which is actually achieved with food coloring). It is, to some, rather sweet. Shannan Lynch, of Brooklyn’s Sunken Harbor Club bar, created a modern version of the Universe using a housemade melon liqueuer and ”acid-adjusted” juices that balance and brighten the drink, along with rum and aquavit in place of the original vodka. Her update blasts the original into a whole other dimension. I couldn’t quite muster that kind of g-force and had to rely on the original Midori for the melon liqueur, but it was still out of this world. Cheers!

Solar System Box Tamas Vanyo and Multiverse cocktail Shannan Lynch

a universal pair

Multiverse by Shannan Lynch

1 oz melon liqueur

¾ oz white rum

¾ oz aged aquavit

3/8 oz (acid-adjusted) orange

3/8 oz (acid-adjusted) pineapple

¼ oz pistachio orgeat

5 drops saline solution

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a Nick and Nora glass. Disco ball keychain garnish recommended.

explore more:

Previous
Previous

Year of the Snache

Next
Next

Dragon Slayer