Some of the video inspirations for the immersive theater space:
BES wall of monitors
Interactive video display created by wall of monitors.
Hong Kong streets.
Large scale, multiple projectors, repeated footage.
Overlapping projectors
Abstract, immersive projections in someone's living room.
Urban screen
Projections playing off of building architecture.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Interesting Google Map application
Here's the Google Map feature I mentioned earlier, which allows you to layer the size of the Gulf Coast oil spill over any address you select:
http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill/
http://paulrademacher.com/
Friday, December 18, 2009
Milan's International Festival of Lights
Thought I'd share this with the team:
Ride it to Light it- Bike Lamps- The Carouselle
Just one of several installation pieces part of Milan's International Festival of Lights.
text via designboom: Ride it to Light is a series of bike lamps and a carouselle by Ignacio Ojanguren Alvarez, Christina Perdikaki, Hafsteinn Juliusson. An idea which makes us consider sustainability and the power of consumption. In order to light the lamps, one must ride the bikes to power them.
Also from the MIFL:
Light Orchestra, by Daniel Simonini, Raiser da Silva Ramos, Lorenzo Marini, and Fernando Gonzalez Sandino
via designboom: Located at the city's Colonne di San Lorenzo, the installation is about creating a sensorial experience for the citizens. There is a musical instrument, in which people are invited to 'play' the colored panels that make the sounds of an organ pipe. the columns are then filled with sound and lit with the corresponding color of that musical note, creating an orchestra of colorful light.
More from the MIFL
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Module 14: Endemic species
The message
Endemic and range-limited species are unique to one place, making conserving that place especially important.
The experience
Visitors chose to become one of several plant and animal species, many of which are endemic or have a limited range. Their goal is to find the habitat that’s “just right” from several ecosystems or global destinations, including Madagascar, the Philippines, and Peru. Visitors start with some clues from their species’ profile (some basic likes and dislikes) and basic stats on the different ecosystems to select. Visitors receive additional feedback as they place their species into different habitats (“too warm,” “too wet,” “nothing to eat,” etc.). After a match is found, the game might further dramatize the effects of climate change or habitat loss—where can that species go next? In some cases, the answer is nowhere.
Surrounding this interactive are cases with specimens and taxidermy mounts from Madagascar, the Philippines, and Peru. Skeletons of one of the world’s largest bats (its wingspan stretching more than 5 feet) and one of the world’s tiniest bats (several skulls could fit on your thumbnail) hang side by side in the Philippines case, while a lemur and suckerfoot bats populate the Madagascar case. Birds with bright plumage and herbarium sheets, accompanied by full-color high-resolution plant scans, fill the Peru case.
The story
Our efforts to document endemic biodiversity struggle to keep pace with deforestation in many countries. Given their limited range, these species disappear once an ecosystem disappears.
For Steve Goodman in Madagascar and Larry Haney in the Philippines, communicating that these local species are totally unique stirs pride and, in turn, conservation action among the public. Both men have coordinated special campaigns on endemic species targeting schoolchildren.
Larry Haney has produced a biogeographic modeling system for the Philippines that predicts the number of mammal species and the number of new mammal species one can expect to find based on a site’s elevation, precipitation, temperature, and degree of isolation.
ECCo has produced several books on endemic and limited-range species, including “The Birds of Peru” and “The Plants of Peru.” Of the plants that grow nowhere else in the world but Peru, 50% did not appear in Peruvian botanical collections at the time of publication—a Peruvian scientist would have no record or image to reference native species. By making materials from the Field collection accessible, ECCo is arming local scientists with essential conservation information.
Endemic and range-limited species are unique to one place, making conserving that place especially important.
The experience
Visitors chose to become one of several plant and animal species, many of which are endemic or have a limited range. Their goal is to find the habitat that’s “just right” from several ecosystems or global destinations, including Madagascar, the Philippines, and Peru. Visitors start with some clues from their species’ profile (some basic likes and dislikes) and basic stats on the different ecosystems to select. Visitors receive additional feedback as they place their species into different habitats (“too warm,” “too wet,” “nothing to eat,” etc.). After a match is found, the game might further dramatize the effects of climate change or habitat loss—where can that species go next? In some cases, the answer is nowhere.
Surrounding this interactive are cases with specimens and taxidermy mounts from Madagascar, the Philippines, and Peru. Skeletons of one of the world’s largest bats (its wingspan stretching more than 5 feet) and one of the world’s tiniest bats (several skulls could fit on your thumbnail) hang side by side in the Philippines case, while a lemur and suckerfoot bats populate the Madagascar case. Birds with bright plumage and herbarium sheets, accompanied by full-color high-resolution plant scans, fill the Peru case.
The story
Our efforts to document endemic biodiversity struggle to keep pace with deforestation in many countries. Given their limited range, these species disappear once an ecosystem disappears.
For Steve Goodman in Madagascar and Larry Haney in the Philippines, communicating that these local species are totally unique stirs pride and, in turn, conservation action among the public. Both men have coordinated special campaigns on endemic species targeting schoolchildren.
Larry Haney has produced a biogeographic modeling system for the Philippines that predicts the number of mammal species and the number of new mammal species one can expect to find based on a site’s elevation, precipitation, temperature, and degree of isolation.
ECCo has produced several books on endemic and limited-range species, including “The Birds of Peru” and “The Plants of Peru.” Of the plants that grow nowhere else in the world but Peru, 50% did not appear in Peruvian botanical collections at the time of publication—a Peruvian scientist would have no record or image to reference native species. By making materials from the Field collection accessible, ECCo is arming local scientists with essential conservation information.
Module 13: New discoveries
The message
New discoveries advance our understanding of biodiversity in a region—and life on our planet.
The experience
A modular space provides display cases for specimens, hook-ups for live web-cams, monitors for videos, and optional seating for visitors. Some components in the gallery would be semi-permanent, while other features might rotate in on a monthly basis. In live or pre-recorded videos, scientists show visitors how they conduct research revolving around new discoveries or retell their “A-Ha!” moment of discovery.
Permanent displays feature instruments used by science staff, as well as the wide variety of specimen types held in the collection—skins, skeletons, spirit jars, stomach samples, DNA samples, herbarium sheets, and more. Museum publications describing new species might be included in hard copy, to show their sheer volume, or digitized for visitors to browse. The space is framed by a photo mural with images or field illustrations of every new species identified by Museum scientists over the institution’s history.
One semi-permanent display might include a kipunji skull, part of the voucher specimen collected by Bill Stanley and his team in Tanzania. Another semi-permanent station could feature tiny liverworts from Matt Von Konrat’s work in the South Pacific. Visitors view the nearly identical specimens under a microscope and sample each one’s distinctive smell.
The story
Visitors should leave the exhibition with a new awareness of the Field as an active, vital hub of conservation research. New discoveries are one area where content should be updated regularly to maintain the institution’s “pulse.” New discoveries can demonstrate how conservation efforts are embedded in the research of all divisions.
Bill Stanley’s research on the kipunji involves DNA analysis to track this new species’ evolution and solve a mating mystery: How could kipunji on one mountain range show signs of mating with baboons, while kipunji on another mountain range—but of the same species—not have this link to baboon DNA? This story connects to conservation stories about endemism and habitat loss, but also connects to the broader evolution narratives presented elsewhere in the Museum.
Matt Von Konrat’s work involves the Prizker Lab and research labs in Japan. The distinctive smell of seemingly commonplace liverwort species was the first clue that they might have unique active compounds. These are now being analyzed as cancer-fighting agents.
New specimens in these displays would need to be accessible to research staff; removal signage could highlight active research happening in the building.
New discoveries advance our understanding of biodiversity in a region—and life on our planet.
The experience
A modular space provides display cases for specimens, hook-ups for live web-cams, monitors for videos, and optional seating for visitors. Some components in the gallery would be semi-permanent, while other features might rotate in on a monthly basis. In live or pre-recorded videos, scientists show visitors how they conduct research revolving around new discoveries or retell their “A-Ha!” moment of discovery.
Permanent displays feature instruments used by science staff, as well as the wide variety of specimen types held in the collection—skins, skeletons, spirit jars, stomach samples, DNA samples, herbarium sheets, and more. Museum publications describing new species might be included in hard copy, to show their sheer volume, or digitized for visitors to browse. The space is framed by a photo mural with images or field illustrations of every new species identified by Museum scientists over the institution’s history.
One semi-permanent display might include a kipunji skull, part of the voucher specimen collected by Bill Stanley and his team in Tanzania. Another semi-permanent station could feature tiny liverworts from Matt Von Konrat’s work in the South Pacific. Visitors view the nearly identical specimens under a microscope and sample each one’s distinctive smell.
The story
Visitors should leave the exhibition with a new awareness of the Field as an active, vital hub of conservation research. New discoveries are one area where content should be updated regularly to maintain the institution’s “pulse.” New discoveries can demonstrate how conservation efforts are embedded in the research of all divisions.
Bill Stanley’s research on the kipunji involves DNA analysis to track this new species’ evolution and solve a mating mystery: How could kipunji on one mountain range show signs of mating with baboons, while kipunji on another mountain range—but of the same species—not have this link to baboon DNA? This story connects to conservation stories about endemism and habitat loss, but also connects to the broader evolution narratives presented elsewhere in the Museum.
Matt Von Konrat’s work involves the Prizker Lab and research labs in Japan. The distinctive smell of seemingly commonplace liverwort species was the first clue that they might have unique active compounds. These are now being analyzed as cancer-fighting agents.
New specimens in these displays would need to be accessible to research staff; removal signage could highlight active research happening in the building.
Module 12: Invasive species
The message
Invasive species introduced by human actions are a threat to biodiversity.
The experience
Visitors pass through a woven, sculptural gate made from buckthorn—there is a feeling of a jail cell or cage. Inside they come face to face with an arapaima skull the size of a basketball, its gapping jaws lined with rows of tiny razor-sharp teeth. Visitors compare their height to an outline of this freshwater giant, more than 6-feet at full length.
A massive, barnacle-encrusted Pacific clam is perched nearby, along with an oddly familiar specimen—a massive goldfish, once someone’s pet, pulled from Lake Michigan. Peering through a magnifying lens reveals an ash bore beetle. Accompanying graphics might mimic “Wanted” signs or mugshots.
An updateable area examines a current “Public Enemy #1”—an invasive currently in Chicagoland headlines. This might be the Asian carp, zebra mussels, longhorn beetles, or others.
The story
Invasive species are some of the “villains” of conservation, engaged in an epic struggle with native species. But the reality is that invasives are the result of human actions: planted for their out-of-season green beauty, carelessly brought through channels on boats, and released into ecosystems when the became cumbersome to keep.
The arapaima is one invasive species about which we don’t know the whole story. Several escaped from Peruvian fish farms during intense floods and ended up in Bolivian lakes. The long-term effect of these non-native predators is not yet known, but the human response is already problematic. Local communities have enthusiastically harvested this tasty new fish, tangling caiman and other large aquatic life in their drag nets.
Phil Willink is collaborating with these local communities and Bolivian scientists to determine the arapaima’s impact. His longitudinal study tracks three lakes: One with arapaima for several years, one where arapaima were more recently introduced, and one without arapaima. His team also works with fishermen to find alternatives to drag nets.
Invasive species introduced by human actions are a threat to biodiversity.
The experience
Visitors pass through a woven, sculptural gate made from buckthorn—there is a feeling of a jail cell or cage. Inside they come face to face with an arapaima skull the size of a basketball, its gapping jaws lined with rows of tiny razor-sharp teeth. Visitors compare their height to an outline of this freshwater giant, more than 6-feet at full length.
A massive, barnacle-encrusted Pacific clam is perched nearby, along with an oddly familiar specimen—a massive goldfish, once someone’s pet, pulled from Lake Michigan. Peering through a magnifying lens reveals an ash bore beetle. Accompanying graphics might mimic “Wanted” signs or mugshots.
An updateable area examines a current “Public Enemy #1”—an invasive currently in Chicagoland headlines. This might be the Asian carp, zebra mussels, longhorn beetles, or others.
The story
Invasive species are some of the “villains” of conservation, engaged in an epic struggle with native species. But the reality is that invasives are the result of human actions: planted for their out-of-season green beauty, carelessly brought through channels on boats, and released into ecosystems when the became cumbersome to keep.
The arapaima is one invasive species about which we don’t know the whole story. Several escaped from Peruvian fish farms during intense floods and ended up in Bolivian lakes. The long-term effect of these non-native predators is not yet known, but the human response is already problematic. Local communities have enthusiastically harvested this tasty new fish, tangling caiman and other large aquatic life in their drag nets.
Phil Willink is collaborating with these local communities and Bolivian scientists to determine the arapaima’s impact. His longitudinal study tracks three lakes: One with arapaima for several years, one where arapaima were more recently introduced, and one without arapaima. His team also works with fishermen to find alternatives to drag nets.
Module 11: Effects on species over time
The message
Conservation requires an understanding of how changes to ecosystems affect species over time. Museum collections provide this data.
The experience
A peregrine falcon grasps a rock with its curved talons, a delicate plastic band clasped to its leg. Nearby, a live webcam provides a peek into a peregrine nest perched on the roof of Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. Mounds of newspaper clippings, articles, and copies of Silent Spring surround a delicate cluster of peregrine eggshells.
The story
The peregrine falcon is a local conservation success story. The story begins in the Museum’s collections, where historic samples of peregrine eggs helped demonstrate the damaging effects of DDT. Today, falcons are making a Chicago comeback and Museum researchers, such as Mary Hennen, continue to monitor their progress through banding programs. Citizens play a special role, too: When fledglings fall from the nest, the research team gets hundreds of calls from people watching the nest cam.
Conservation requires an understanding of how changes to ecosystems affect species over time. Museum collections provide this data.
The experience
A peregrine falcon grasps a rock with its curved talons, a delicate plastic band clasped to its leg. Nearby, a live webcam provides a peek into a peregrine nest perched on the roof of Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. Mounds of newspaper clippings, articles, and copies of Silent Spring surround a delicate cluster of peregrine eggshells.
The story
The peregrine falcon is a local conservation success story. The story begins in the Museum’s collections, where historic samples of peregrine eggs helped demonstrate the damaging effects of DDT. Today, falcons are making a Chicago comeback and Museum researchers, such as Mary Hennen, continue to monitor their progress through banding programs. Citizens play a special role, too: When fledglings fall from the nest, the research team gets hundreds of calls from people watching the nest cam.
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