New Media Initiatives Blog » eric ishii eckhardt http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia Technology at the Walker Art Center Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:50:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 en Marek Walczak, MW2MW & Kinecity recent work http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2007/03/08/marek-walczak-mw2mw-kinecity-recent-work/ http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2007/03/08/marek-walczak-mw2mw-kinecity-recent-work/#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:53:01 +0000 eric ishii eckhardt http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/?p=312 Interactive Architecture has a lengthy article on Marek Walczak’s recent work

The article touches on the Podium Light Wall made for 7 World Trade Center and the Shimmer Wall, a video wall that represents sunlight shimmering off the Hudson River for the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. Don’t miss the Dialog Table which makes an appearance at the end of the article.


]]> http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2007/03/08/marek-walczak-mw2mw-kinecity-recent-work/feed/ Botanicalls http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/12/18/botanicalls/ http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/12/18/botanicalls/#comments Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:23:41 +0000 eric ishii eckhardt http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/?p=279 I just saw Botanicalls at the ITP Winter Show. It is a cell phone information system that connects people and plants. A person can call a plant on their phone and get information about the species of plant and check if the plant needs watering. On the other hand a plant that needs watering or more sun can call a person up and ask for help. When the plant gets successfully watered it calls again to say thanks.

Botanicalls


]]> http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/12/18/botanicalls/feed/ Mori Art Center Signage http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/10/05/mori-art-center-signage/ http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/10/05/mori-art-center-signage/#comments Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:05:48 +0000 eric ishii eckhardt http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/?p=246 While i was digging through old video for my last post i found these. I usually pay attention to the signage in museum lobbies and entrances, especially when it involves some sort of media presentation. I was pretty excited to see what the Mori Art Museum would do with their lobby. As you can see from this video it is straight forward and dull at the desk. I was expecting something a more experimental and fun like the MoMA did with their desk. They did have a large back projected screen in the corner of their lobby that was integrated into the architecture, it was just showing a still slide show and when I tried to take video of it their very attentive gaurd shooed me away (but you can still see it a little).



Front Desk of Mori Art Center



Mori video signage and gaurd


]]> http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/10/05/mori-art-center-signage/feed/ Notion Organize Project at Omotesando Hills http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/10/03/notion-organize-project-at/ http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/10/03/notion-organize-project-at/#comments Tue, 03 Oct 2006 14:15:25 +0000 eric ishii eckhardt http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/?p=245 Omotesando Hills, an upscale shopping mall in the Aoyama district of Tokyo has an integrated media component called Notion Organization Project. I’ve been meaning to write something about it since my visit to Tokyo earlier this year unfortunately I could not find many articles written in English so I’m relying heavily on my poor Japanese skills and translation programs.The project consists of LED screens on the outside facing Omotesando Street. The LED wall is low resolution but large scale so close up it image seems like a rather disconcerting jumble of flashing screens. From across the street or down the block however the illuminated wall is quite striking. Legs in sillouette are the most interesting video, the display alternates between that and an abstract color wash. At first I thought the pedestrians walking by on the side walk were creating the visuals above. That proved to be an illusion but brought to mind the Podium Lights or Memory Wall projects which would be very interesting to see in a busy space like this.


Video taken from a pedestrian bridge over Omotesando Street.


This is a close up view of the LED wall, you can see it is quite low resolution but very large.

Inside the project continues as a projection of light and image from the ceiling. There are directional speakers playing layers of music and natural sound effects, which i suppose is soothing and condusive to shopping. Both the projection and directional speakers are on motors which allow them to trace a path up and down the malls long stairs creating an effect of water cascading down. The imagery on the interior projections is close up video of the famous trees lining Omotesando Street and nearby rivers. Theatrical lights provide color which changes to reflect the current season. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let me take any video of the inside but there are some photos of it on their site. The effect indoors is less spectacular than the outside but it is mesmerizing if your walking down the long stairs.
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]]> http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/10/03/notion-organize-project-at/feed/ Congratulations on the wedding and an amazing cake. http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/09/19/congratulations-on-the-wedding-and-an-amazing-cake/ http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/09/19/congratulations-on-the-wedding-and-an-amazing-cake/#comments Tue, 19 Sep 2006 15:26:42 +0000 eric ishii eckhardt http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/?p=242 New Media had a mini-renunion last weekend to celebrate a very special occasion. Brent got married. That alone is big news for us but imagine our surprise to see his wedding cake all over the internet the next morning. In case you missed it (already posted on Boing Boing, Joystiq, Flickr, etc) here are some pictures of their amazing Mario & Princess cake. Congratulations Brent and Annette!

mario cake

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