(display flapping)
- [Chris] Tell me that isn't the most satisfying sound
you've ever heard.
(upbeat music)
That is the sound of a split flap by Oat Foundry.
(display flapping) And this,
is "UNUSUAL".
(display flapping)
You've seen them in movies,
train stations and airports.
Well, I've been obsessed
about getting one of these for a while now,
and recently had the opportunity
to work with Oat Foundry
on a custom build.
What is Oat Foundry?
- We started this company
almost eight years ago,
seven and a half years ago.
And, it was a group of mechanical engineers.
Loved building stuff,
loved making stuff with their hands,
loved this process of product design.
Kind of all sat around
in a living room somewhere
and said, we should start a company.
Let's do this thing.
(upbeat music) - [Chris] Now,
it should be stated
that Oat Foundry created some of the most badass,
off-the-wall ideas
I've seen in a long time.
(cannon booms)
That, by the way, is a sausage cannon.
With an award-winning team
of passionate builders and engineers,
they kind of pride themselves
on building virtually anything.
And, wait for it,
from scratch.
- We were making all kinds of different things
in the early days.
We were working on a pretzel vending machine,
and then this project that was like,
the perfect project for Oat Foundry, came to us.
Which was, let's do something
that's not a TV for a restaurant,
and the split flaps were there,
kind of staring at us.
There was a famous one,
here in Philadelphia,
and it was kind of getting removed
from this beautiful train station.
- That famous clickety-clack sound
at 30th Street Station is officially, no more.
- And so we built these,
because the old designs were just that.
They were old, they weren't connected,
they were using punch cards, you know, to control them.
And so we started from scratch.
Built these, you know, split flap display signs,
and then kind of, the rest is history
- [Chris] I wanted to add something more
to my custom split flap,
and went back and forth
on a few ideas with the team.
They even showed me a game of snake
that they'd integrated into one of these,
and I mean, come on.
This brings back a lot of memories.
When all was said and done,
it took them about two months to produce,
and... (display flapping)
Wow.
She's finally here.
In all its glory and splendor.
A perfect amalgamation of software and hardware.
Digital and analog.
Past, present,
and future.
Well, what are some of the other things
that you guys have designed,
apart from the split flap.
- Here in Philadelphia,
there's a football team, the Philadelphia Eagles.
(flares boom)
They were having this issue
with play calling on the defensive line.
Starting a hurry-up, no-huddle,
for football fans out there,
where the defensive coordinator needs
to communicate really quickly
with the players on the field.
But, the NFL says "no digital"
They can't have any digital signage
on the sidelines.
They're using cue cards.
You know, so imagine it's like, dumping rain,
it's the night. - [Chris] Wow.
- And they're just fumbling for cue cards,
so they wanted something
that would accelerate that process.
And so, we went through our whole,
you know, prototype, design,
what are we gonna build,
and we made these alpha prototypes
that were these boards.
This Fast Box,
that uses an analog display,
but they can control it from like,
very quick to use dials on the top,
and they hit send,
and it goes, click-click,
and it puts it up on the board.
- [Chris] Now I know this is a total splurge
on my behalf,
but we are getting some mileage out of this thing.
(ball clinking)
- [Woman] Whoa. Ope.
- All right, Anton,
I'm going to show you card trick,
without, you have no choice.
- I know. (laughs)
- (laughs) Take a card.
- Just, any one. - Yep.
Show the camera,
and now, focus
on the split flap.
(display flapping)
- That's not, that's not my card.
- What is it?
- Mine's actually the five of hearts.
- Focus on the split flap.
(display flapping)
(Chris laughing) - Damn.
- It's a great reaction, really.
- I gotta say, it's kind of big.
I'm surprised it fits.
(display flapping)
(Chris sipping)
- [Chris] It's a perfect fit for my office,
and a great addition to some of my content
I'm so happy to have helped support
a great team, like Oat Foundry.
And in today's climate,
you can imagine the toll
it's had on some small businesses.
But it's businesses like these
that help deliver unique solutions
with an abundance of care.
So, if you're ever looking to make something
that may be well out of your wheelhouse,
check these guys out.
Oh, and one more thing.
They made me a button.
Now if you'll excuse me,
I've got some puzzles to solve.
Well, hot...
(hand smacks) (display flapping)
(upbeat music)
That's pretty cool.
All right, guys, thank you so much
for watching this video.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Don't forget to like and subscribe.
Um.
- [Anton] Wait, wait.
- You're supposed to queue when I say it.
- Ready now.
(display flapping) - Here we go.
What the hell. (laughs)
(display flapping)
You're fired.
Just kidding,
I don't give out Anton that much of a hard time.
Perfect.
That's so good.
So, I left the link below
to Oat Foundry, as well as their Instagram.
You can check out some of their cool projects,
but also, right now,
they've got a yule log going on,
and you can type whatever you want on it.
So, you have to go to 2020yulelog.com
and you can submit your own message
and it's on a live feed there,
and they've had proposals,
and job applications.
All sorts of funny stuff,
So, go show them some love,
and drop your own message on their split flap.
Hope you like these "UNUSUAL"s.
Stay tuned for the next one,
we'll see you then.
Peace, brah.
(upbeat music)