*I don’t get that many comprehensive global plans for tech development on the ol’ blog here.
*It’s a press release, in the sense that I’m press and I got it released to me today.
3D Printing On Street Corners: A Future Scenario? — The Pop-Up City
Rapid prototyping is still the domain of nerds, but it’s just a matter of time before 3D printers become mass consumer products. With its Kiosk project, Antwerp-based design studio Unfold explores a future scenario in which digital fabricators are so ubiquitous that we see them appear on street corners, just like fast food is sold on the streets of New York City.
The designers developed the concept for a mobile cart inspired by Bruce Sterling’s science fiction short story Kiosk and equipped with 3D printing technologies.
Advanced
As Bruce Sterling points out, Augmented Reality is “truly a child of the twenty-teens, a genuine digital native,” and one visible indication that: ..the Internet really could look like a “legacy.” The Legacy Internet as an old-fashioned, dusty, desk-based place best left to archivists and librarians, while the action is out on the streets (see the full interview below).
Opening this post is a video of Ben Cerveny’s Planetary app, which “turns your music into a universe,” and enchants all who try it. Planetary shot into #3 on the Top Ten Free ipad app list soon after its release.
“Interaction designer Tom Igoe describes the dawning era of “networked objects” - the widespread deployment of simple electronic devices, “modules with simple, easy to understand interfaces” that can be used to build anything: “object-oriented hardware.” We need only look as far as the innards of an average smart phone for electronics components that are now being used to network shipping containers.
“ConLock and ContainerSafe are examples of a new breed of snap-on “peripheral devices” that offer a range of tracking, security and monitoring functionality. (((One wonders how many of these “breeds” there are, and if they can get any cheaper than radio-frequency ID tags for five cents each.))) These devices are equipped with onboard photoelectric sensors to monitor changes in the light level within a container (indicating that a container has been opened or breached), accelerometers that detect impact and GPS modules for location tracking. They’re also able to access GSM networks and SMS channels to send text or email alerts when waypoints are reached or anomalies occur. (((”Blogject.”)))
Keynote by sf author and design critic Bruce Sterling, “At the Dawn of the Augmented Reality Industry”. He talks about its history, the cool side, the dark side and gives the industry some pointers to be successful.
Recorded at the Layar Launch Event on August 17th in Amsterdam where the Layar Reality Browser was launched for the world. See layar.com
