2012-10-04
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Rain Room by Random International is a hundred square metre field of falling water through which it is possible to walk, trusting that a path can be navigated, without being drenched in the process.
You can see Rain Room between 4 October 2012 and 3 March 2013 at The Barbican, London
Now, this is an interesting digital mirror - partly because it’s not obviously one, as the creators tell BBC News (ta, Ian):
With several 3D sensory cameras fixed to the ceiling of the Rain Room, every person who walks into the 100 square metre space is recognised.
As they move around “slowly”, the rain stops overhead.
“If you run around you’ll get wet because while the sensor picks up the movement, gravity limits the speed of the rops falling from the ceiling,” explained Koch.
The creators studied at the RCA and one of their previous works, Audience, was part of the Decode exhibition I’ve mentioned before. I’m looking forward to first-hand reports.
2012-03-17
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The virtual communities created by online games have provided us with a new medium for social interaction and communication. Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface.
For the first time Avatar Machine is available to purchase, and customers can buy anything from a set of Avatar Arms right through to the technical system that allows you experience ‘Life in Third Person’
The site has more photos and also video. (via: thanks, Minkette.)
2012-02-24
post/18213390859
More from Ptak Science Books: Fantastic Cover Art: a Picture of the Future of Television:
This image is that of the television antenna of station WNBT and for many years it sat on top of the Empire State Building. WNBT was the flagship station of NBC, which was owned by RCA (Radio Corporation of America, 1919-1986) which (according to its name) was really the first national broadcasting radio network in the United States, and which (as experimental station W2XBS) became the first to broadcast a television picture (of a papier mache Felix the Cat) in 1928. This fantastic cover art for a 1947 promotional for the company pictured the famous antenna, the great visual of the company’s external hardware, right there on top of the world’s tallest building.
