Digital Cup

I searched digital cup on Google and I think that I came up with something fairly interesting. The Digital Cup is a gaming/coffee/internet cafe located in Wasilla, Alaska. I sometimes forget these places even exist and I think that this is very unique to the digital age. I would liken it to the arcades of yesteryear. Anyway, I'm sure this place is great and they'll do anything from sell you a coffee to help you design your gaming PC but I would rather look at internet cafes in general. I really don't see many of them around, except for the one I know of in Danville, Indiana. I couldn't find any exact numbers, but a Google search of internet cafes proove that there are quite a few around and they must make money or so many wouldn't exist. I think that the idea of an internet cafe has now become as outdated as a VCR. My phone can do internet as I walk around campus and I'm sure in the next few years that technology will be a lot cheaper. Who will need an internet cafe when the person can do everything that they need from a device that they already carry around with them. One might argue that people who can't afford a computer that have to use one can go visit these places but I even think that this number is dwindling faster and faster. A study from 2008 said that internet penetration had reached 82% and I really doubt that this number would ever fall. This doesn't leave the cafe much of a market, especially while more and more people sign up to an ISP. Basically, I believe that the internet cafes are antiquated and I don't think they will last that much longer.

Digital Squirrel

I searched digital squirrel on Google on a whim and actually came across a pretty interesting design firm. Digital Squirrel, which is located in Ohio, specializes in digital architecture. They use high end rendering software, at least they claim it is, to create designs for customers. They also do theme parks and do work in theater. I found this interesting because I have never heard much about digital architecture. It seems when I see an architect on TV that they are always doing everything by hand which just doesn't make much since in the digital age. After looking at digital architecture on Wikipedia, it seems that it really has some clear benefits over traditional architecture. A digital architect doesn't have to worry as much about complex computations because the computer will do them for you. I think that a digital architect is the wave of the future. Of course there will probably always be traditional architects, but I think the benefit of saving time and money and not necessarily cutting down on quality really make digital architecture stand out.

Digital Grass

Once again, I randomly put grass after the word digital and came up with something pretty interesting. Digital Grass was an interactive installation in the UK to celebrate architecture week. It's basically an installation that used motion tracking and cameras to track people passing by the screen to manipulate the grass. This is all very interesting but the company that put all of this together, HMC Interactive, is a company that creates interactive multimedia for clients. I think that this is a very interesting idea. This could certainly be much better than a thirty second TV spot and a lot more creative as well. After viewing pieces that they have worked on and searching interactive media on Google, there are countless examples of art. This, I believe, could potentially reinvent, if it hasn't already, the way that people view art exhibits. This offers the user to interact with the piece instead of just staring from a distance. I also think that it would be a good way to get children interested or more interested in art. It seems like, at least to me, that with our digital culture, static paintings and sculptures sometimes seem a little boring. Some of these pieces are very interesting and I hope to view some of them in person.

Digital Sculpture

I began by searching digital sculpture on Google. One of the first results I received was this video. Although I already knew that computers were used to create characters, I didn't know that these programs, at least the one that he shows, were so easily manipulative. I always imagined making characters like the one he makes to be next to impossible, but these programs seem a lot more user friendly than I once imagined. I'm sure that many people are already familiar with these types of programs, but I have only seen them in action a few times and never seen them shown off in this fashion. It really boggles the mind to think that technology has made sculpting so much easier. You can edit your piece so much easier and redo any mistakes with a simple control z. These programs, such as Mudbox, Zbrush, and Modo have been used by the movie industry to make all kinds of different characters. I really never payed much attention to the programs that were used to create these effects, but pretty much anyone can get them and begin experimenting.

Digital Window

After searching digital window on Google, I think that I've found one of the coolest things I have seen in a while. Although this is just a concept, this digital window could offer us so much. If someone were to carry this technology, which is once again just a concept, it could offer us so much information on our general surroundings. I imagine being able to point this device at a restaurant and immediately get reviews. Of course it all seems a little sci-fi right now, but the website says that this design does have a little feasibility attached. It contains things such as GPS, internet, camera and scanner. Even though this might be way more elegant than any technology that could actually be made, something like this is most certainly possible. Although just a concept piece, I think that this could be improved by actually adding more to the face of this object. With only one button and all of these features, this piece doesn't feel practical to me. This might seem pretty nitpicky, but I still love the design of this concept piece.

Digital Palace

I searched digital palace randomly, which led to this website. This is a website for China's Palace Museum. It is a very competent website that shows off the museum and allows users to plan visits and look at many of the pieces that the museum contains. I found this so interesting because this palace has been around for many many centuries and has an internet site devoted to it. The internet is something that seems so current yet it can contain things from all of time. This leads to something Professor Manheimmer asked in class, "What time is it on the internet?" Why of course there is no solid answer for this question, I would like to think that the internet is all time at once. For example, I can look at a map of Europe from 100 AD while listening to a podcast that just came out. This is interesting to me because, even though this could be said about a library maybe, nothing else offers people this experience. We are able to connect and look at any point in history or speculate about the future.

digital weapon

The search for digital weapon wielded a result that I found pretty unexpected. I found an article from The Guardian that discusses the effect of the internet on feedback and complaints. The article also relates complaints and feedback from a radio show with the Obama campaign. This is a very interesting idea. The internet provides users to voice their feedback immediately and most certainly has more exposure than just yelling into the air. Of course, this has been around for years now at this point but it seems like Obama was really the first to properly utilize the internet in his campaign. Anyway, right now pretty much anyone who has an internet connection sound off their opinion and, in this case, cause some pretty large ramifications. I think that it is good that more people nowadays can have their voices heard but it is so easy for these things to get out of control. For example, this is a much more common way that this instant access can affect someone. In this case, people using Twitter started a rumor that began to catch on and eventually became so popular that people began to believe that it could be true. This happens on Twitter much more often with false reports of a celebrities death for example. I think that this is one of the more ugly parts of the internet. In a realtively short amount of time, news can spread that is totally eroneous and not many people can tell fact from fiction. This article from MSNBC spreads even more light on this phenomenon. Even though this blog looped around and evolved into something else, I think it made me realize that the instant services of Twitter and Facebook can't be trusted no matter how factual and proffessional they might sound. An Austrailian newspaper confirmed Jeff Goldblum's death when he was, in fact, very much alive. I think that the activists on the internet that are actually getting things changed is great but there are still so many people that don't realize the impact that their words can have. I think that everyone should really double check what they post on the internet because you never know what is going to become the newest trend.