Our guest speaker today was Simon Conlin. He works as a consultant and acts as a liason for companies who wish to branch out into interactive multimedia. He is connected to a talented pool of designers, and is co-founder of FlashintheCan, one of the largest Flash developer globally held events in North America.
The multimedia industry is trending towards to more interactive content. Users are spending more time interacting and having fun with content, rather than being “sold” a specific brand or message.When a need arises for a certain application, then the technology becomes mainstream.
Adobe Interactive Installation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-NRdyUx8Lc
This installation allows multiple users to create musical content using a multi touch music wall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmmdGonQW4
MESO is a design team comprised of four designers and one computer engineer. They tout themselves as torn between art and technology, which allows them to bring innovative solution for clients. They do commercial work, while maintaining an artistic base. George Michael used massive interactive stage sets with realtime audio analysis and position tracking in his last Live25 world tour. http://meso.net/GMI25Live
Alexander Calder was an artist that employed the use of balance and motion in his world renown mobile installations. One of Zach Booth Simpon’s complaints is that when museums display these works of art, they don’t allow patrons to touch or blow on these works of art, interaction which Calder had originally intended. This frustration, led to Simpson’s virtual Calder’s: http://www.mine-control.com/zack/balance/balance.html
Webcamtastic is similar to the Photo Booth that come preinstalled on a Mac. It is a Flash web application that accesses your webcam, allowing you to manipulate photos by using distortion and blur filters. http://www.webcamtastic.com/
Imagine going to a Japanese restaurant, and being able to order sushi from an interactive menu. This would eliminate the need for wait staff and give patrons and detailed description of the menu items.
