A new friend in NYC just sent me the link to the Chalkbot created by Deeplocal for Nike and the 2009 Tour de France, the idea lives on the website ‘Wear Yellow’.

In short you can send a message of hope and inspiration to cancer survivors and suffers. The idea is brought to life by placing that message in front of Lance Armstrong as he rides. The message is printed on the road, photographed and then sent back to a gallery where the author can forward to friends.

A brilliant example of digital physical ideas.

The video explains it better than I do.

Realtime data visualisation of 14,000 Lufthansa and Star Alliance flights worldwide. Visitors to Lufthansa’s Brand Academy in Frankfurt can interact with the flight data. Zooming in on specific flights or areas and listen to radio communications. Created by Whitevoid.

From what I can see in the video: the instillation feels like the deck of the ‘Enterprise’ and the sound design makes the user experience immersive. No doubt they’ll be a queue to navigate the instillation. Good to see an airline making more of their services than just taking people from one place to another.

First found on Cool Hunting

The clip got me thinking. Story writing comes to life through a variety of mediums. A book, allows you to get inside the head of the characters, get direct access to their internal thoughts. TV, stories can be told through interpersonal relationships. And film, due to its longer format and cinematic delivery, often explores the human condition and delves into bigger questions. Of course there are many types of books, TV shows and films that break these rules – but ultimately this is what the mediums afford the writer to get their story across.

An interactive/digital narrative remains un-defined in how to lead a user through a story or stories. Often ego-driven, whereas I the user am in control, but can the talents of writers and directors come to life in these new channels?

In the internet only ‘Where are the Joneses’, the 2007 interactive comedy, is still the only example I can think of that tries a new method of story creation, where viewers/users help create and steer the story from a simple idea. The traditional role of a writer, as storyteller, is removed and the idea of them as ‘nurturer’ and ‘guide’ directs the story writing via forums and wiki’s.

The TV series LOST deployed cross-channel narratives. The ARG allowing fans to delve deeper, yet the primary story still lives out in the episode-by-episode format. The Dark Knight, Cloverfield etc. have all deployed ARG’s to create hype around launch and expectation. But it doesn’t actually become the story – it remains peripheral content that draws you to the primary storytelling medium.

The above-mentioned film and TV examples are for a certain type of audience – one that wants to delve deeper, to crack the code, unveil the clue and so forth. Perhaps its mobile, in the context of the shared clip, that provides us with a real opportunity to create a new type of storytelling?

Jen talks about screens, the 1st Cinema, 2nd TV, 3rd Computer and the 4th Mobile. Each screen providing the user a different experience, the first and second, sit back – the third, lean forward – and the fourth, mobile, a truly personal experience. However, does it mean we have to stay within the screen?

In the last few days IBM and OgilvyOne London launched an Android app for Wimbledon 2009. Amongst other things the app allows visitors to Wimbledon to get information on everything in their proximity. Simply point the phone and the onboard GPS, compass and camera identifies what you’re looking at. Superimposing the scores from centre court, restaurant and other location information on its screen. [see it in action here]

Forget tennis for a minute and observe how that environment is bringing a deeper experience. In the case of storytelling the environment could set the scene – and then the user explores the space to bring in pieces of the story – choosing a narrative path.

Augmented reality activated by environment throws up a world of possibility. Imagine pointing your device at the wall, you see characters whispering – the floor, a body lies motionless – you then search the rest of the space for the story. Every room, building and environment now has the opportunity to truly share its story – or one that we wish to bring to a space.

Writers and directors should be ablaze with ideas at the possibilities ‘augmented storytelling’ throws up. Whereas for me and the rest of the digital marketing world let us see how clients can fund these experiments so we can push this new and exciting space.

More…
35 augmented reality examples on Bannerblog

what you’re looking at:
over 3,000 apps-and growing-are downloaded every minute from the App Store. This is a live feed showing the activity of 20,000 popular apps currently on the store. Every time a customer downloads an app, its icon lights up (5-min delay).

Quick post… had to share.

Check our man on the ground; Thaddeus Maximus’s photostream here

The Burble is a massive structure reaching up towards the sky, composed of approximately 1000 extra-large helium balloons each of which contains microcontrollers and LEDs that create spectacular patterns of light across the surface of the structure. The public, both audience and performer, come together to control this immense rippling, glowing, bustling ‘Burble’ that sways in the evening sky, in response to movements of the long articulated interactive handle bar at the base of the structure. The ephemeral experience exists at such a large scale that it is able to compete visually in an urban context with the buildings that surround it.

Again – I’m dismayed at living in Australia when you see work like this coming to life in my home city of London. That said, there is always something somewhere which I’d like to experience.

Moët Chandon commissioned Architect Usman Haque to bring to life the ‘Golden Spectacle’. Particularly like the idea of 150 people making this installation come to life… true audience participation!

Get the lowdown from the Guardian.
Big shout to the BigShinyThing crew for the heads-up – made my Monday morning!
The installation is new to London, but was first seen in the Singapore in 2006 (see video).

A real installation for the virtual globe of the software Google Earth.

A Semacode measuring 160 x 160 meters was mown into a wheat field near the town of Ilmenau in the Land Thuringia. The code consists of 18 x 18 bright and dark squares producing decoded the phrase “Hello, world!”.

Learn more about the project here.

Brilliant. The Tate Modern’s turbine room plays host to Carsten Höller’s gigantic slides. I cant wait to visit on my next homage to the UK, rest assured I’ll be documenting this in full digital glory. See more images here.

Essential viewing, the ‘Adventures with Form in Space’ exhibition at The Gallery of NSW (Sydney).

Not all pieces get as much attention as this one… and rightly so, its fantastic. The whole audience seems to be tansfixed with smiles (and perhaps full of love and wonder, as the title suggests – but that could be a bit far fetched).

If you’re based in Sydney, then you have no excuse – go there now.

Its the 15th Biennale of Sydney, which consists of 85 artists & collaborators from 44 countries / 57 cities and held in 16 venues… Went and saw the Anthony Gormley installation at Walsh Bay, and this is one of the photos from the piece..

Highly recommend getting down there, the impact of these ‘little people’ staring back at you is something else. A warehouse full of personality wondering who you are… makes you wonder who the exhibit is, as we were definitely out numbered.

1. Two web artists (net.legends) will face-off in a ring to alter a web page – the cyber-ring — live. The resulting changes will be seen by the public on a screen and by web surfers on the net.
2. The artists will face-off for three hours using their skills of design and hacking to assemble and disassemble the work done by their opponent.
3. Each player will have a 15-minute turn to prepare and program their attack on the web page.
4. During each turn, the respective player will also play the sound or music of their choosing which will be heard live through the sound system of the venue, or on the net in real-time through streaming audio. This music can be then remixed by their opponent.
5. The cyber wrestling match will physically be held in a boxing ring set in the exhibition space with room for the audience to walk around it.

To show your support, visit open_digi and leave your email address (for your chosen code warrior!).

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Feel like I’m really missing out on this, it’s even in my hood, Peckham SE15… Sydney is to far away, at times like these!

Thanks to Regine at we-make-money-not-art, for keeping me in the loop as ever…

Went and saw the Erwin Wurm: Glue Your Brain exhibition at the MCA Sydney on Saturday morning, with my good friend Melissa. Not only did we laugh and contemplate the humour and irony of Mr Wurm’s work, but we also took part in the exhibition. These shots were taken on my camera phone.