For Your Next Bike Ride, Bring Along This Friendly Drone

The Cyclodrone will fly in front of and behind cyclists to warn them of upcoming danger and help alert drivers. Maybe a drone-filled future isn’t so bad after all.

Someday in the not-too-distant future, you might take a bike ride with a couple of drones—one flying in front, one in back—to protect you from nearby cars. As you ride around tight corners, the “Cyclodrone” will shine a beacon of light to warn drivers that you’re there, hosting a tiny camera to record any accidents.

The design is one of several concepts from a team at frog design that wanted to rework the current evil image of the drone. “Drones are taking a beating in the press, being characterized as spies and assassins,” says Cormac Eubanks, who developed the Cyclodrone. “At frog, we are more fascinated by the design potential at the leading edge of technology. We believe now is the time to explore how drones could be a force for good.”

Along with the Cyclodrone, the designers suggested that drones could be used to help firefighters find victims in burning buildings (and even automatically lead those victims to safety). Another variation could help find victims in avalanches or deliver rescue packages to lost hikers. A final design could help farm remote, difficult-to reach areas, doing everything from scouting out locations to fertilizing the soil and harvesting crops.

It might take a little while before all of the ideas could actually be produced. “Some of the ideas are workable today, while others are a little more visionary and will require advances in battery, sensor, and materials technology to be feasible,” Eubanks says.

The Cyclodrone could be made today, but would be tricky for longer rides, since the battery would need frequent recharging. The designers considered the possibility of using a generator on the rear sprocket of the bike to keep the battery charged.

In its current form, it also might not be as convenient for a simple ride around town, since you would need to pre-program your route into the device so the drone in front knows where to go. The drone in back, however, could follow the bike by using the GPS in the cyclist’s phone as a guide.

Why not just use stronger lights attached to the bike itself? “Lights work great at night, but during the day they need to be unbelievably bright to be visible in sunlight. During the day, our visual systems are more sensitive to moving physical objects,” Eubanks explains. On a blind curve, the milliseconds of extra warning that the drones provide might be enough to save a life.

As drone designs rapidly evolve, Eubanks predicts that it won’t be long before more positive drones are on the market. Already, drones are being used to protect endangered wildlife.

The public image of the drone might take a little longer to catch up. “Here’s an analogy: When the automobile first appeared people were wary of the technology and not sure how it would integrate into a world that had evolved without it,” he says. “It took decades before it became fully ingrained in our social fabric. Drones will probably need a similar acclimation period.”

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Digital Lighting Makes a Splash at the Super Bowl

Two Montreal-based multimedia companies attracted the attention of millions of people with their digital lighting expertise at the pre-game and halftime show of SuperBowl XLVIII.

Leading up to last Sunday’s big show down, a heart stomping, crazy-cool multimedia show by Montreal’s Moment Factory help to transform Super Bowl Boulevard into an outstanding urban walkway. The Moment Factory team are maestros at changing buildings into huge animation screens. They were approached by the NFL and event organizers PPW to create a unique and unexpected Super Bowl Virtual Theater in the heart of New York City for pre-game celebrations.

For this special event, a span of fourteen blocks on Broadway, running from 34^th to 47^th streets including Times Square, was designated Super Bowl Boulevard. Without a doubt, the star of the boulevard was Moment Factory’s spectacular multimedia show projected on the 305 square meter façade of Macy’s, (on 34^th and Broadway) one of the most famous stores in the world. The eight-minute mapping projection was presented eight times daily from 5:30 pm to 10 pm from Jan. 29 and Feb. 1.

“The show’s visuals feature original footage, 2D and 3D animation, and special effects. Images morph, come out of the “screen” and grab you, an engaging experience that’s as exciting as football itself. Like most of Moment Factory’s large scale shows, Super Bowl Virtual Theater required the collaboration of the company’s multicultural in-house team, including technology, motion design, and management, as well as proven expertise in conceptualizing and creating these highly engaging environments. And, while designing special effects, the artists worked in consideration of Macy’s unique architecture, and the urban setting of the show.”

“A powerful soundscape features music inspired by the spirit of football and the hip-hop and rock legacies of New York and New Jersey. The original soundtrack also incorporates NFL orchestration, emphasizing the sport’s heroic legacy.”

VIDEO -Teaser

As for the much anticipated halftime show featuring Bruno Mars, another Montreal-based multimedia company,PixMob who patent interactive, wireless LED technology created a human video screen for the halftime show. To accomplish this they covered the field with 500 LED panels and created 80,000 remote controlled, light-emitting black tuques (knitted caps) that were embedded with three LEDs and an infrared receiver. These hats were distributed to spectators pregame so they could be seen and used during the halftime spectacle. They are controlled by infrared lights placed around the stadium. A PixMob controller directs the light patterns in real time. The hat’s receiver decodes the infrared signal differently, depending on where the person is sitting, turning the light red, white, green or  blue to create the animated effects.

For the halftime show the intention was to turn the 80,000 roaring football fans into illuminated human pixels so that the entire stadium would become a gigantic human video screen that shimmered, blinked and pulsed behind Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Designed to excite the senses, these wireless gadgets are used to encourage active audience participation. PixMob excels at bringing the audience into the show and this year, like never before, the crowd became an intrinsic part of the performance.

People as pixels at Super Bowl  VIDEO

Moment Factory’s larger than life ode to football and PixMob’s immersive entertainment technology gadgets at this year’s Super Bowl are two wonderful examples of how multimedia environments can create captivating and engaging moments thanks to innovative solutions, creative thinking and laser-sharp know-how. By combining video, lighting, architecture, sound, special effects and new technologies you can transform buildings, venues and crowds into huge animated displays that can energize an entire audience and sometimes even amaze the most exhilarating and entertaining city in the world.

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Self Scan Interactive Installation. The installation is a visual metaphor of cancer cells. Viewers interaction activate the screen where they can combine visual elements, generating eye catching, colorful images. As the viewer moves the hands or touches the screen, ultrasonic sensors activate code generating particles in Real Time. Particles source are png patterns from my own scans conducted during my Cancer treatment at Beth Israel, Radiology Dept. When I saw the graphic power of the images I asked my doctor authorization to take pictures to register my own. Conventional Particles take time to render. I adapted an application for real time animation. Source

DISPLAX · Virgin Mobile. Virgin is certainly always at the leading edge of technology and style. In this interactive store, DISPLAX Skin is just a touch away from customers who want to self-serve or be guided through the Virgin catalog of phones and accessories. Source

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The Looking Glass - Exhibitions, Interactions. Exposition de l’expérience. Expérience interactive numérique (2 ipads) Source

Phantasmagoria is the result of Phormatik’s recent investigations of the perception of time and future. Inspired by the experience of Pepper’s ghost effect and Phantasmagoria performance’s from 18-19th century, this exhibition present five works, each representing our interpretation of the future, through techniques such as Projection Mapping, Holographic Digital Projection, Augmented Reality, Interactive sensors, Mobile App’s and Face Detection.Creating different aspects, every work can be explored by the audience. Source

Real time analysis of a physical model using a Kinect scanner and 4 projectors. The physical model is scanned in, analysed and the analysis results are projected back onto the model, using four projectors to cover horizontal and vertical model faces. The user can interact with the model, or adjust parameters via a touch screen. The setup performs real time pedestrian flow analysis. Metrics such as facade visibility, path overlap or the shadows cast by the geometry are projected back onto the model. We developed the software further in our lab in Singapore. The final setup consists of a 1x1 metre table with the physical model, a Kinect scanner, 3 touchscreens and 4 projectors. The software consists of three parts: the detection of objects from the Kinect point cloud, the spatial analysis software, and the projection mapping framework, which is used to calibrate each of the 4 projectors to the physical model. Source