Month: October 2009 (Page 1 of 3)

PICNIC â€™09: Day 3, Rebuild

October 28, 2009 / DaniÃ«l van Gool

PICNIC 2009 The final day of PICNICâ€™s three day conference was themed â€œRebuildâ€ and focused on world-changing developments and the visionary people behind them. The day started with Start Breathing, a short presentation by independent writer and consultantÂ Linda Stone. Stone told us about the importance of breathing and the dangers ofÂ a phenomenon called â€œE-mail apnea.â€Â

E-mail apnea refers to when peopleÂ hold their breath while reading and writing e-mails or text messages. Stone put a lot of research into this common condition, and was told by several medical specialists that irregular breathing can contribute heavily to stress-related diseases. StoneÂ suggests that we do not suffer from information overload, but rather from information overconsumption. If you want to know more, check out her op-edÂ on the subjectÂ for the Huffington Post.

Next, Nicholas Negroponte delivered his keynote speech, which served as the highlight of the third day and possibly even of the entire conference. Negroponte is co-founder of the MIT Medialab and spearheads the One Laptop Per Child program. Heâ€™s considered a true visionary and, especially with OLPC, has beenÂ working on projectsÂ that literally change the world.Â Although it has been over 15 years since Negroponte asserted â€œcomputing is no longer about computers, it is about life,â€ the sentiment remains highly relevant today.

PICNIC â€™09: Peter Molyneux on Innovation in Entertainment

October 27, 2009 / DaniÃ«l van Gool

molyneux1 InÂ our previous coverage of day 2 of the PICNIC conference, I skipped over Peter Molyneuxâ€™s session called Innovation in Entertainment because it warranted additional attention. In case you’re unfamiliar with his work, Molyneux is a computer/video games mogul who has been working in the games industry for over 20 years now. His workÂ pioneered several genres of video gamesÂ through projectsÂ like Populous, Theme Park and SyndicateÂ for Bullfrog Production, now integrated into EA UK.

MolyneuxÂ later moved on to Lionhead Studios, where heÂ created ground-breaking gamesÂ including Black & WhiteÂ and Fable. Molyneux is currentlyÂ the head of Lionhead Studios, which was acquired by Microsoft Game Studios in 2006. Since June 2009, MolyneuxÂ has also beenÂ head of the European division of MS Game Studios.

MolyneuxÂ started his speech by showing his passion for games and the games industry. He declared thatÂ games are one ofÂ the most creative endeavours in existence because they take technology and use it to present a story in the most engaging and immersive way imaginable. For Populous, this involved using a 5×4 pixel grid for a characters face,Â making it rather hard to show emotions. MolyneuxÂ noted that the distance between the screen and the player is still huge: current resolutions are still far from reality. Moreover, games today mostly seem to be for one of only two categories: either for corporate use, or for the hardcore gamer.Â Games requireÂ a lot of manual dexterity, use complicated controllers and create other barriers that prevent players from having an enjoyable experience.

This is where Project NATAL comes in. You have probably heard of NATAL, the new technology allowing you to use your body as a controller, from Microsoftâ€™s showcase of at the 2009 E3. NATAL is not justÂ a motion detection technology, however. It also offers the possibility of facial and voice recognition. Molyneux and Lionhead have been working on taking these technologies and combining them with advanced versions of the AI and adaptive learning systems used in games like Black & White to create a whole new entertainment experience called Milo. Milo is a little boy that lives in your Xbox whoÂ interacts with the user inÂ several very interesting ways. The best way to get an idea of what Milo can do is to watch Molyneux discuss the project.

Puzzles for the Apocalypse

October 24, 2009 / Michelle Senderhauf

kinginyellow A little birdie recently pointed me in the direction of a puzzle trail called Third Realm. The site has a labyrinth of puzzles and an apocalyptic countdown ending on November 2nd. TheÂ players’ goalÂ is to free the Yellow King with the help of a self-proclaimed “Prophet in the Wild” through his twitter account, thirdrealm. The Prophet has been dropping cryptic clues, and there is a possible London deaddrop thatÂ has yet to be investigated.

If you’re in the mood to flex your puzzle solving muscles before the November 2nd apocalypse, head on overÂ to the unfiction thread here.

Prank Marketing and the Toyota Matrix: How Far Is Too Far?

October 23, 2009 / Michael Andersen

yourotheryou In 2008, Toyota Motors paired up with Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles to release Your Other You, an advertising campaign promoting the Toyota Matrix. Targeting male twentysomethings, the campaign crafted an elaborate transmedia prank experience to overcome the demographic’s strong aversion to advertising and corporations. Saatchi’s creative director told OMMA Magazine that the campaign was all about “empowering the customer…we wanted them to be involved and to feel like they were part of the process.”

According to a complaint filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on September 28 of this year, Amber Duick did not feel empowered after experiencing the campaign firsthand. The complaint accuses Toyota, Saatchi & Saatchi, and fifty individuals associated with the campaign of: (1) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (2) negligent infliction of emotional distress; (3) negligence; (4) unfair, unlawful, and deceptive trade practices, (5) false, deceptive, and/or misleading advertising; (6) violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act; (7) fraud; and (8) negligent misrepresentation. Duick is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages.

Starting in February 2008, print, outdoor and banner ads drove traffic to yourotheryou.com. There,Â users were encouraged to prank a friend by providing personal information about them including their address, phone number, and alma mater. According to Nicholas Tepper, Ms. Duick’s attorney, the prank’s target would receive an email with a “personality test” containing a link to an “indecipherable” consent form. For the next five days, one of five maniacs would contact the target with personalized texts, emails, phone calls, and videos. The user could track the prank’s evolution through a dashboard indicating which messages their target received over the course of the campaign.

Out of Breath: A Night at Pleasure Principled

October 19, 2009 / Lewis Murphy

breathe

Lewis Murphy agreed to share his spine-tingling experiences at Pleasure Principled: A Night of Xcess in this guest post. So sit back and listen to his harrowing tale…if you dare.

On October 14th, the first part of Yomi Ayeni and Expanding Universe’s Breathe was shown for the first time at the Power to the Pixel party, at London’s County Hall. However, that was not the only thing happening that evening – previously, players who had joined the mysterious secret society Clamamus Pro Aeris received a message to be there holding a copy of TimeOut magazine. Amongst the mingling and drinking at the party, one or two suspicious waiters approached people holding the magazine and offered them a free drink. Upon receiving their free drink, they were given a VIP invitation to the Pleasure Principled Night for Xcess party… and told to arrive at 9pm, one hour before the stated opening time of the party, for free entry. A message was posted to the Clanamus group, requesting players to arrive at the venue by 9pm for “challenges.” I attended the event along with several players.

Once the shutters of the front entrance to the club opened, our group entered the empty club with trepidation. We were soon greeted by a man covered head to toe in a white bodysuit that covered his face. He silently beckoned us into the club, where we were guided by many more people in white bodysuits, including one filming us throughout with a small video camera. This was our first hint of exactly how creepy the evening would become; the people wearing bodysuits were breathing very heavily and audibly, but not saying a single word. Instinctively we followed suit, remaining silent as we approached a series of chairs in one corner of the room. There, printed sheets on a clipboard informed us the reason we were there. We would take part in a test of our strength to see if we were able to join the Clamamus Pro Aeris sect fully. Failure was a distinct possibility.

Pixel Pitch Award Helps Desedo Turn “Heart of the City” Daydream Into Reality

October 17, 2009 / Michael Andersen

pixelpitch Power to the Pixel’s Cross-Media Film Forum at The Times BFI London Film Festival has come to a close. Capping off the event, Power to the Pixel announced that Desedo Films won the 2009 Babelgum Pixel Pitch Award for their project Heart of the City, taking home a Â£6,000 prize to turn their pitch into a reality.

Power to the Pixel received 120 submissions from 14 countries for the Pixel Pitch competition. Seven teams from production companies hailing from France, the UK, and the United StatesÂ were invited to present in London during the festival. In the end, Desedo’s project came on top, with the evocative tagline, “What if Kanye West Met Lord of the Rings?“

Heart of the City was pitched as a “quest narrative set in the world of urban teens: a web series, an ARG, comics, products and a feature film.” The story revolves around two New York City teens who discover a talisman that enables them to transform their daydreams into reality. Over the course of the story, they explore the talisman’s secrets “between skateboarding, romance, and momma jokes.”