20 Nov 2020

A Mathematician and Performer, Yosuke Ikeda

Time flies like SpaceX, it is already mid-November. At least five automata were supposed to be done in the plan this year, but I have made only two and I have been racking my brains and thinking of a new linkage system. On such an occasion, one interesting video that was tweeted caught my eye. It was "Stone Circle Mystery" by Yosuke Ikeda.

Yosuke Ikeda
It is not exactly an automaton, it is not a puzzle, and even more, it is not magic, yet it has fun elements related to puzzles with a mathematics' flavour. I thought puzzle lovers would love his creations.

Yosuke Ikeda is also famous as a performer. He has lots of performing experiences overseas, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, and so on. This is one of his popular performances, "Hello Goodbye" which made him well known.
 

Firstly, I assumed that he is a designer and a street performer, and I was surprised to know that he is a mathematics teacher at a prep school and the author of math books too. As the saying goes, God does not give two gifts to one person, but it seems like there is an exception.

The creations that such a talented guy has come up with are amazing. Probably, it is because I like gears, but this video,"Marble Machine "Penrose Stairs"" is fantastic. Especially, I like the three cubes that rotate. I cannot understand why it got only 126 clicks on the "Like" icon as of today.


The latest project he is carrying is AlgoLoop. It looks like a small propeller or fan. He has put it on KICKSTARTER and is raising money toward production. There is a page that is written about the details of AlgoLoop on KICKSTARTER together with "Risks and challenges" written by Yosuke.
AlgoLoop

Most visitors to this blog are puzzle lovers. So, in the end, I will introduce his puzzle, "Square Puzzle." Yosuke says that this is a new variation of the Missing square puzzle. Since it has been well received, he is thinking of merchandising.
 

I have pasted several links of Yosuke below.
His website has explanations about his creations and performance in both English and Japanese, so I do not think I need to write a lot here. Please visit his website and his YouTube pages, you will find more fun there.
 
Yosuke Ikeda Are you looking for something different? THIS IS IT

Yosuke Ikeda Twitter : https://twitter.com/ikeikey

Facebook IDEA IKEDA : https://www.facebook.com/IDEAIkeda

YouTube IDEA Ikeda
 
HAGURUMA SHOP - You can buy open-closed signboard here: