Lexus has partnered with Sam Brown of Rogue Films and KMel Robotics to create a new short in the Amazing in Motion creative series. Swarm is the second production in the series that explores the beauty of motion through technology and film (we reported on their first project, Steps in September 2013.
Swarm (below) follows a group of curious quadrotors as they playfully explore a city at night. The resulting video (which doubles as a TV ad) is charming, the quadrotors cute, and the soundtrack by Jonathan Goldstein is pretty amazing as well. The project website also provides lots of behind-the-scenes stories and short videos on the making of the project which are equally well produced and interesting. Inside scoop on the design and 3D printing of the quadrotors, the concepts behind their curiosity, and the making of Swarm are all embedded within the project website. Given my fondness for intersections of science and culture, I particularly loved the scenes from UBC's Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver with the quadrotors wizzing in and around the ancient masks (not sure where the dinosaur came from though).
My only thought was that a swarm of robots checking us out and then zooming off into the night might not be such a good thing. If you added a different soundtrack to the video, you'd come out with a very different experience for sure. These little quadrotors are quite cute but given all the buzz around drones these days, their big brothers and sisters might not be so playful.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Amazing in Motion projects, and especially these little quadrotors (I'd love to have one), but my scifi overloaded brain can't help itself. And that's why this post landed in our RobotWatch collection. Oh, and the segment of the Lexus LF-NX concept car at the end of Swarm looks a little too Cylon as well.
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Showing posts with label Confluence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Confluence. Show all posts
Confluence | Lady Gaga: Next Century Siren
“We could belong together. ARTPOP.”
One artist comes to mind when contemplating music in “Future-ish” fashion, Lady Gaga. The marriage of design, culture, art and yes… science could not be more exemplified by a single artist in 2013. Leading off with the November 11th release of “ARTPOP” Gaga in usual form was not shy about its intent. Hoping to create a space for her fans where creativity thrives and expression is applauded (too easy), “ARTPOP” quite literally boasts the hybrid of art and pop music. Jeff Koons’ name was on the Billboard Top 100, need I say more? Some say this is to her detriment, sacrificing the quality of her music for the sake of her art. I personally disagree, as music is art and hits all ears differently, but I digress… On a wider scope of interpretation it is simply about the idea of one love. All people coming together, leaving discrimination and hate behind. I feel that it’s something we can all get behind. If it helps consider it the reinvention of the “hippy-era” only we’ve traded in flower dresses for bubble dresses, peace signs for “Little Monster” paws and now weed is taxed.
Gaga merely releasing an album would be like wearing jeans and sneakers on a Saturday afternoon, am I right? Following the footsteps of Bjork and Jay-Z the album was accompanied by a social-networking app surprisingly called “ARTPOP”. Granted, other than an intensely bright and sparkling intro there is not a great deal to it. The app consists of almost every song from the album and a forum where fans can submit their fan-art, which holds true to Gaga’s vision. Other features are expected later 2014.
Science geeks here’s your part! At the “ARTPOP” album release party titled “artRave exhibit” Gaga chose to elevate her outlandish arrivals by flying in, in her dress. Gaga, with the help of her “Tech haus” and London-based design agency, Studio XO created a flying dress named “Voltanis”. With six booms in a hex formation she lifted 70 inches off the ground in hovercraft style to arrive at her album press release. Now I have no idea precisely how this works other than my previous explanation where I confidently explained to a friend “something about wind, let’s get a drink”.
Love her or hate her, take her or leave her Gaga will always have an eye on the past and a finger on the pulse of the future. Some call her a “recycled Madonna”. I say she is of her own and a spark in all aspects of art, technology and music. On that note, I can’t go anywhere without being forced to recycle so I’d say that is the wave of the future-ish?
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Modern Quilt Guild
Salish Superheroes
Kipuka Database
The mission of the Kipuka Database is to create a repository of knowledge where such information can be easily accessed, to develop a virtual mo‘oku‘auhau (genealogy) of land tenure in Hawai‘i, and to provide an opportunity for individuals to forge new relationships between themselves and the ‘aina (land). The thoroughly modern and dynamic maps also exemplify the ancient concept of information being embedded in the ‘aina (land), encoded in the wahi inoa (place name). A sense of "place" was and continues to be a foundational aspect of traditional kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) identity.
Finnair-Marimekko Collaberation Takes Flight
Learn more about the collaboration in the video below:
The partnership continued on to include linens, tableware, and more (see below). We LOVE every bit of it.
**Update**
In Spring 2013, Finnair released the 2nd livery design,'metsänväki' (forest dwellers). love, Love, LOVE!
You may also like: Ohana Aircraft Infused with Culture and Tradition
Future-making Māori Role Models
The goal of the website is to provide role models from diverse fields and industries to inspire other Māori youth and adults to pursue higher levels of education, training, employment, enterprise, and innovation. To accomplish this, each of the individuals shares personal stories about their motivations, challenges, opportunities, and successes they faced in working towards their academic and professional aspirations. There is also valuable information and unique resources on education, training, and professional development on the website as well.
SeanChron | Ohana Aircraft Infused with Culture and Tradition
As the founder of this crazy adventure called Future-ish, I'm often asked for examples of science, design, and culture coming together in meaningful ways. Specifically, many people think that given the increasingly fast pace of technology and consumerism, it will be difficult to maintain aspects of culture and tradition in our modern world. As I've often said, science and design certainly drive innovation in many ways but it is the element of culture that both connects each of us to our unique history and heritage AND brings us together so that we progress forward with greater meaning. I can't think of a better example of all this than the time, thought, and consideration that went into the the design and branding of Hawaiian Airlines' new regional airline, Ohana.
The goal of Ohana (which is the Hawaiian word for 'family') is to bring people together from across the islands and connect communities. The connection to culture and tradition is expanded in the fuselage tail design, created by Hawaiian designer Sig Zane and his son Kuha‘o who used three traditional kapa patterns and the airlines island flight pattern to conceptualize the design. Each of the kapa designs has specific meaning. "Piko", a pattern inspired by braided ti leaves represents family and heritage. "Manu", represents both a bird in flight and the bow of a wa'a (canoe) acknowledging both origins and destinations. And finally, "kalo" symbolizes the shape of a kalo (taro) leaf which represents family and connection to others.
More images and graphics are available at the Ohana page on the Hawaiian Airlines website.
Sig and Kuha‘o discuss tell more about the concept and design in the Hawaiian Airlines video below:
You may also like: Finnair-Marimekko Collaboration Takes Flight
Confluence | The Amazon Exposed
Progress Chic | Diana Eng's Ladybug Pins
Onward to the Edge, a Symphony of Science
McGill Students, Faculty, Staff Strike a Pose for Cancer Research
Life in a Day Now Available on YouTube
What’s so special about July 24, 2010? It’s a tricky question to answer. The date itself is unremarkable—no holiday, no major historical event, nothing—it was simply chosen out of convenience. But through the experience of viewing the film, it becomes clear that it’s nevertheless incorrect to say that there is nothing special about July 24, 2010. Some of the moments captured in the film are mundane, and some are life-changing, but taken together, these moments create the impression that being alive on July 24, 2010 is all at once beautiful, funny, sad, joyful, and so much more.
Life in a Day is the first film of its kind, and it represents a pivotal moment in both cinema and digital media. As director Kevin Macdonald said in an interview with National Geographic, “The film is doing something that wouldn’t have been possible pre-Internet, specifically pre-YouTube. The idea that you can ask thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people all to contribute to a project and all to communicate about it and learn about it at the same time belongs essentially to this age that we live in. Life in a Day couldn’t have existed 100 years ago, 20 years ago, even 6 years ago.” EM
Björk's Nature, Music, Technlogy Mashup
The TechnoScience revolution rocks on and the latest artist to teach us a thing or two about science is the Icelandic extraordinaire, Björk. Her latest album, Biophilia, is a mind-blowing, multi-dimensional tour de force of the mysteries of nature, from the microscopic to the ever expanding universe. The album and apps used to experience this inspiring grand opus are candy for your eyes, ears, and both hemispheres of your brain. Just when you think it can't get any better, you realize there's an intro by legendary naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. A few samples of Biophilia appear below, for the full experience check out the discopgraphy at the link above.
Introduction by Sir David Attenborough:
Video for Track 1 on the album, "Moon":
Artistic Equations | Mathematics: A Beautiful Elsewhere Exhibit
A new transdisciplinary exhibit of math and art recently opened at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris. Titled Mathematics: A Beautiful Elsewhere, the exhibit offers visitors “a sudden change of scenery” in the words of mathematician Alexandre Grothendieck. The exhibit was developed with the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS) under the patronage of UNESCO and utilized IHÉS mathematicians and scientists to curate diverse works from many artists, including some celebrities such as David Lynch and Patti Smith. The exhibit runs October 2011 to March 2012.
SeanChron | DJ Spooky in Seattle
9.25.11. It's Sunday night and I just got home from Night School...Night School hosted by Seattle's historic Sorrento Hotel that is. I just got lectured on the science of Antarctica by a DJ...it was the best lesson I've ever had. Created by curator Michael Hebb and hotel co-owner Barbara Malone for the Sorrento's 100th birthday, Night School is a series of diverse events that engage the community in innovative cultural and intellectual discussions. Tonight's event was Penthouse Symposium No. 14. Being the huge science, design, and culture geek that I am, the event was MINDBLOWING! The guest was Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid...DJ, composer, producer, multimedia artist, author, professor, and philosopher. Miller was in Seattle promoting his latest creation, The Book of Ice, an information, packed, graphically stunning book on the environmental and political challenges facing Antarctica.
Below is a YouTube video of one of Miller's presentations (posted by acclaimed science writer Andrew Revkin):
Link: DJ Spooky's Antarctic Music
Taking inspiration from the vast landscapes of Antarctica to the tiny geometry of snowflakes, Miller's complete project (the book, audio tracks, video, etc.) is an interdisciplinary opus and magnum mashup that spans the best of past, present, and future science, design, and culture. A synthesis of sound and science, the work is sure to engage new demographics and a new generation of learners into the topic of climate change, as well as demonstrate new modalities for engaging the public in the pressing social and environmental challenges facing the world. Per Miller, "Imagination is the only renewable resource".
SeanChron | Hawaii Weekend at Pacific Science Center
IBM's Watson Takes on Jeopardy Champions Tonight!!!
2.14.11 - Hal, Terminator, Cylons...oh my! The long awaited Jeopardy Challenge in which Watson, IBM's latest artificial intelligence (AI) program, takes on Jeopardy Champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter starts tonight and continues through Wednesday, February 16th. Part of IBMs' DeepQA project, Watson was designed to answer questions posed in natural human language. Much thought has gone into making Watson just another contestant on Jeopardy, from Watson's spot on stage and interactions with host Alex Trebek to Watson's voice and face.
The applications of such work are mind boggling but first and foremost, IBM has to prove the technology. Will it be man over machine this week? Time will tell. Tune in and watch history in the making.
A New Guide to Modern Gastronomy - Modernist Cuisine
Hitting book stores and online retailers March 2011 is a six-volume, 2,438-page set of cookbooks that has the foodie world in a feeding frenzy, Modernist Cuisine. Lead author, Dr. Nathan Myhrvold (former Microsoft CTO and Chief Strategist), along with renowned chefs Chris Young and Maxime Bilet, have successfully made the art and science of modern gastronomy accessible to the everyday chef. They look back at the history of food and food movements and then boldly go into the present and future of one of the most basic elements of the common human experience, preparing and sharing food with one other.
Climate Art and Science in Seattle
Artwork: Carrie Bodle. 'Northeast Pacific Ocean Hovmoller Plots 2002-2010'. Image credit: Carrie Bodle).In an article in the University of Washington's UW Today, Vince Stricherz reports on an art exhibit organized for the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Seattle. Weather and climate scientists from the US and abroad collaborated with EcoArts Connections and 36 artists from Washington State to create Forecast: Communicating Weather and Climate From microbursts and mixed-media art to sculpture and sea level rise, art and science instillations mingle effortlessly in this innovate show. Curated by Lele Barnett in the North Lobby of the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), the exhibit will be on display through 4/9/2011.
Sponsored Link: Climate Solutions: Practical Solutions to Global Warming
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