Sensory Deprivation Tank
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Jason Wehmhoener
May 18, 2012, 3:18:24 PM5/18/12
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In case you didn't get enough John Lilly the other day:
Nina Simon
May 18, 2012, 3:39:56 PM5/18/12
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Nice. Did you know that most of the Timothy Leary archive is held locally, by a techie in Boulder Creek who also runs the Digibarn (http://www.digibarn.com/)? We're working with Bruce on an upcoming fall exhibition of some of his early Apple machines and an Altair... and we're talking about a 2014 exhibition on the counterculture.
Fun stuff.
On May 18, 2012, at 12:18 PM, Jason Wehmhoener wrote:
In case you didn't get enough John Lilly the other day:
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Jason Wehmhoener
May 18, 2012, 3:50:25 PM5/18/12
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I've been to the barn, but it was right after it opened, and I'm sure Bruce has far more interesting stuff by now. He's one of the most interesting people I've ever met.
-j
chris arkenberg
May 18, 2012, 4:02:35 PM5/18/12
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Bruce is definitely a unique bird! I worked with him many years ago at
Adobe (Adobe Atmosphere 3d, if anyone remembers that...) and have been
a friend since.
chris arkenberg | http://twitter.com/chris23 | http://urbeingrecorded.com
Adobe (Adobe Atmosphere 3d, if anyone remembers that...) and have been
a friend since.
Spencer Lindsay
May 20, 2012, 3:03:39 PM5/20/12
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Atmosphere! Wow.
It was going to be the thing! I remember a client wanting us to build him some worlds in it - can't remember what ever happened to it.
What _did_ happen to Adobe Atmosphere?
Spence.
It was going to be the thing! I remember a client wanting us to build him some worlds in it - can't remember what ever happened to it.
What _did_ happen to Adobe Atmosphere?
Spence.
Meadhbh Hamrick
May 20, 2012, 3:15:24 PM5/20/12
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lol. the first time i met chris in person, i asked him the same thing,
"so what the heck DID happen to atmosphere?"
the hype cycle slammed second life pretty hard, and it looks like
apple's horked their WebGL and Canvas drivers to ensure people build
iPad apps instead of simply building web pages with 3d virtual worlds.
i keep thinking there's room for an open-source / open-specification
virtual world delivered via the web, but i fear it's not going to
happen 'til someone builds the FLOSS equivalent of atmosphere.
and, for what it's worth, bruce is the guy who got me interested in
Linden World (aka Second Life) after I had a pretty crappy experience
@ there.com.
and... i'm very happy to hear bits of bruce's collection is headed to
the MAH, where a lot more people will get to see it.
--
meadhbh hamrick * it's pronounced "maeve"
@OhMeadhbh * http://meadhbh.org/ * OhMe...@gmail.com
"so what the heck DID happen to atmosphere?"
the hype cycle slammed second life pretty hard, and it looks like
apple's horked their WebGL and Canvas drivers to ensure people build
iPad apps instead of simply building web pages with 3d virtual worlds.
i keep thinking there's room for an open-source / open-specification
virtual world delivered via the web, but i fear it's not going to
happen 'til someone builds the FLOSS equivalent of atmosphere.
and, for what it's worth, bruce is the guy who got me interested in
Linden World (aka Second Life) after I had a pretty crappy experience
@ there.com.
and... i'm very happy to hear bits of bruce's collection is headed to
the MAH, where a lot more people will get to see it.
--
meadhbh hamrick * it's pronounced "maeve"
@OhMeadhbh * http://meadhbh.org/ * OhMe...@gmail.com
Meadhbh Hamrick
May 20, 2012, 3:26:27 PM5/20/12
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nina... this reminds me...
i've had some great conversations with bruce about the digibarn in the
past and there's one thing that really sticks out.
the digibarn (and bruce and alan) are all about the people and the
story. the machines themselves are the physical artifacts of the
narrative. and as much as i love the CHM in Mountain View, the way
they present their collection always seemed fetishistic.
i really hope whatever the MAH does w/ bruce's collection keeps the
digibarn story-telling approach.
if you can't make it to the end of this verse from geoffrey james
without crying, you probably understand:
The computer center is empty,
Silent except for the whine of the cooling fans.
I walk the rows of CPUs,
My skin prickling with magnetic flux.
I open a door, cold and hard,
And watch the lights dancing on the panels.
A machine without soul, men call it,
But its soul is the sweat of my comrades,
Within it lie the years of our lives,
Disappointment, friendship, sadness, joy,
The algorithmic exaltations,
The long nights filled with thankless toil,
I hear the echoes of sighs and laughter,
And in the darkened offices
The terminals shine like stars.
-cheers
-m
i've had some great conversations with bruce about the digibarn in the
past and there's one thing that really sticks out.
the digibarn (and bruce and alan) are all about the people and the
story. the machines themselves are the physical artifacts of the
narrative. and as much as i love the CHM in Mountain View, the way
they present their collection always seemed fetishistic.
i really hope whatever the MAH does w/ bruce's collection keeps the
digibarn story-telling approach.
if you can't make it to the end of this verse from geoffrey james
without crying, you probably understand:
The computer center is empty,
Silent except for the whine of the cooling fans.
I walk the rows of CPUs,
My skin prickling with magnetic flux.
I open a door, cold and hard,
And watch the lights dancing on the panels.
A machine without soul, men call it,
But its soul is the sweat of my comrades,
Within it lie the years of our lives,
Disappointment, friendship, sadness, joy,
The algorithmic exaltations,
The long nights filled with thankless toil,
I hear the echoes of sighs and laughter,
And in the darkened offices
The terminals shine like stars.
-cheers
-m
On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 12:39 PM, Nina Simon <ninak...@gmail.com> wrote:
Nina Simon
May 20, 2012, 5:22:16 PM5/20/12
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Hi Maedhbh,
In this case, we are presenting a particular window into the story of Bruce as a collector and how people respond to and connect with a small part of the collection. The exhibition, Santa Cruz Collects, is focused on the question of how the things we collect reflect who we are as individuals and as a community. I completely agree with you that Bruce's approach is incredibly powerful. For this fall exhibition, we won't be telling the stories of the people behind the machines as much as we'll be telling the story of Bruce and the machines, and all of us and the machines. So yes, still people-first, but a different set of people. And maybe a bit of fetishizing... I believe he used the words "apple totem" in describing how he wanted to set up the machines.
I look forward to sharing it with you and all the geeks...
Nina
In this case, we are presenting a particular window into the story of Bruce as a collector and how people respond to and connect with a small part of the collection. The exhibition, Santa Cruz Collects, is focused on the question of how the things we collect reflect who we are as individuals and as a community. I completely agree with you that Bruce's approach is incredibly powerful. For this fall exhibition, we won't be telling the stories of the people behind the machines as much as we'll be telling the story of Bruce and the machines, and all of us and the machines. So yes, still people-first, but a different set of people. And maybe a bit of fetishizing... I believe he used the words "apple totem" in describing how he wanted to set up the machines.
I look forward to sharing it with you and all the geeks...
Nina
chris arkenberg
May 21, 2012, 6:38:18 PM5/21/12
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Short answer: We were trying to create a market that didn't exist.
Adobe shelved it and we migrated the scenegraph into Acrobat 3D in
order to target an actual market: CAD & manufacturing.
Atmosphere rose in ~2002, mind you. Our competitors were ActiveWorlds
and Blaxxun. There.com started about that time and I think SecondLife
was still gestating. We had great ideas about doing everything in 3D
but our work revealed that many things are better in 2D, e.g. shared
meetings, watching video, etc... We ended up with a small group of
dedicated users who dressed up in fancy avatars to hang out & chat in
the same world day in & out. Sound familiar? SecondLife has been
struggling with this same demographic for a decade now, unable to
finance the scenegraph, comm, and authoring upgrades it so sorely
needs.
My takeaway: open-ended virtual worlds inevitably become vast, pretty,
and empty deserts with a handful of hang-outs where cliques of users
chat & flirt with each other. There is no real incentive to be there
other than to see your friends. The real opportunities are in strong,
narrative-driven virtual worlds like WoW that have built in structure,
progress, goals, and rewards around which community organically
emerges.
Now we have an interesting crossroads where heavily-funded MMORPG's
are the only substantial VW's and what we know as virtual reality is
about to break out of the screen and overlay onto the real world as
augmented reality. Before long the two will overlap with virtuality &
reality increasingly intertwined and indistinguishable. You walk
downtown and through your Ray Ban's you see a fellow WoW clan member
virtually dressed as their avatar.
Adobe shelved it and we migrated the scenegraph into Acrobat 3D in
order to target an actual market: CAD & manufacturing.
Atmosphere rose in ~2002, mind you. Our competitors were ActiveWorlds
and Blaxxun. There.com started about that time and I think SecondLife
was still gestating. We had great ideas about doing everything in 3D
but our work revealed that many things are better in 2D, e.g. shared
meetings, watching video, etc... We ended up with a small group of
dedicated users who dressed up in fancy avatars to hang out & chat in
the same world day in & out. Sound familiar? SecondLife has been
struggling with this same demographic for a decade now, unable to
finance the scenegraph, comm, and authoring upgrades it so sorely
needs.
My takeaway: open-ended virtual worlds inevitably become vast, pretty,
and empty deserts with a handful of hang-outs where cliques of users
chat & flirt with each other. There is no real incentive to be there
other than to see your friends. The real opportunities are in strong,
narrative-driven virtual worlds like WoW that have built in structure,
progress, goals, and rewards around which community organically
emerges.
Now we have an interesting crossroads where heavily-funded MMORPG's
are the only substantial VW's and what we know as virtual reality is
about to break out of the screen and overlay onto the real world as
augmented reality. Before long the two will overlap with virtuality &
reality increasingly intertwined and indistinguishable. You walk
downtown and through your Ray Ban's you see a fellow WoW clan member
virtually dressed as their avatar.
Jason Wehmhoener
May 21, 2012, 6:53:13 PM5/21/12
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I'm chuckling about the subject line for this thread.
Here's the thing I've always wondered about AR: do we really understand the ergonomics? I would assume that anything interfering with ordinary vision had better do so with extreme grace, at a level beyond anything I've ever seen implemented.
In other words, I'm not wearing Raybans during all my waking hours that can interupt my FOV unless what they offer blows away anything Apple ever came up with.
I have serious doubts that anybody is ready to produce UI at that level of quality (and certainly not Google).
Sorry to be a negative Nancy, but I think AR boosters are glossing over how sensitive this whole vision in the real world thing really is.
-Jason
chris arkenberg
May 21, 2012, 7:07:53 PM5/21/12
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Yes & no. Boosters always gloss but many researchers are indeed
investigating these issues. There will be a lot of churn with early
adopters working through the challenges of occlusion, eye strain,
depth perception, etc... This is not easy tech. Add in gestural and
wearable interfaces, anchoring & registration errors, throughput lag,
active filtering & personalization, and the in-rushing of advertisers
trying to grab access to your view stream and things can get pretty
chunky fast. Of all these, I'd say filtering is going to be the most
important in order to manage the annotations, make sure they're
immediately relevant, to minimize occlusions & distractions, and the
clear away no-longer-necessary overlays.
I maintain that AR will remain trivial until it goes hand's-free but
once it does (and works through the ergonomics) it will prove
radically compelling for all sorts of uses.
investigating these issues. There will be a lot of churn with early
adopters working through the challenges of occlusion, eye strain,
depth perception, etc... This is not easy tech. Add in gestural and
wearable interfaces, anchoring & registration errors, throughput lag,
active filtering & personalization, and the in-rushing of advertisers
trying to grab access to your view stream and things can get pretty
chunky fast. Of all these, I'd say filtering is going to be the most
important in order to manage the annotations, make sure they're
immediately relevant, to minimize occlusions & distractions, and the
clear away no-longer-necessary overlays.
I maintain that AR will remain trivial until it goes hand's-free but
once it does (and works through the ergonomics) it will prove
radically compelling for all sorts of uses.
Jason Wehmhoener
May 21, 2012, 7:09:14 PM5/21/12
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The concept is compelling, but that laundry list of issues seems large enough to keep it years away.
-j
chris arkenberg
May 21, 2012, 7:10:55 PM5/21/12
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Also, if you're interested, my talk last year at ARE2012 was on this
topic. Slidedeck is here:
http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisTwentythree/signals-challenges-horizons-for-handsfree-augmented-reality
And if you're extra interested, here's a video of my talk this year,
Extended Senses & Invisible Fences:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22453669
With slidedeck http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisTwentythree/are20121
On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 4:07 PM, chris arkenberg
topic. Slidedeck is here:
http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisTwentythree/signals-challenges-horizons-for-handsfree-augmented-reality
And if you're extra interested, here's a video of my talk this year,
Extended Senses & Invisible Fences:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22453669
With slidedeck http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisTwentythree/are20121
On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 4:07 PM, chris arkenberg
chris arkenberg
May 21, 2012, 7:12:17 PM5/21/12
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It's a convergent technology with a lot of money moving through a
number of channels. It may happen sooner than you think, as part of
the broader ubicomp step-change currently brewing...
number of channels. It may happen sooner than you think, as part of
the broader ubicomp step-change currently brewing...
Robyn McIntyre
May 22, 2012, 3:26:50 PM5/22/12
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Meadhbh - What a lovely poem - Thanks for posting it.
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Jason Wehmhoener
May 22, 2012, 3:50:31 PM5/22/12
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Yes, thank you!
Here's another poem, posted fresh this morning:
-Jason
Robyn McIntyre
May 22, 2012, 4:50:16 PM5/22/12
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This seemed like a natural part of the conversation on geek culture and
values.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/webmaker/
Looks as though they have some interesting things going on.
Robyn
values.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/webmaker/
Looks as though they have some interesting things going on.
Robyn
Jim Craner
May 22, 2012, 5:30:02 PM5/22/12
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Code for America will be participating in this in some way -- not sure
on the details as I just heard about it this morning.
If anyone in Santa Cruz would like to collaborate on setting up a
small skill-share event in June, drop me a line!
Thanks,
Jim
--
-----
Jim Craner, 2012 Fellow
Code for America
j...@codeforamerica.org
(+1) 773-809-4546
http://codeforamerica.org
on the details as I just heard about it this morning.
If anyone in Santa Cruz would like to collaborate on setting up a
small skill-share event in June, drop me a line!
Thanks,
Jim
--
-----
Jim Craner, 2012 Fellow
Code for America
j...@codeforamerica.org
(+1) 773-809-4546
http://codeforamerica.org
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