NIME NYC Conference June 2007

I will be attending the NIME 2007 International Conference and Workshops on New Interfaces for Musical Expression being held at NYU from June 6-10. It is sponsored by Harvestworks, LEMUR - League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots, NYU - Steinhardt, Tisch - ITP, Columbia Music Center, and Eyebeam. Troy Rogers, an amazing former Robotic Ecologies student and current PhD candidate from UVA's VCCM (Composition and Computing) will be presenting 2 projects in concerts at the Loewe Theater at NYU.

Robo Ecologies in The HOOK (and more)

The HOOK featured an article about our McGuffey Arts Center Opening in this week's issue. The 5-24-07 "On Architecture" column was written by Dave McNair. He writes: In this vision of the future, Johnson imagines, architecture will be in constant negotiation with the energy cycles of its surroundings and with the needs of its inhabitants. Likening such architecture to airplane design, Johnson says that some elements of the design will be "pre-shaped" and stationary, while other elements will be "active, dynamic and form-seeking."

Other recent commentary May/June 2007>>
ZDNet/Roland Piquepailles's Tech Trends:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=587
http://www.primidi.com/2007/05/28.html#a1849
SlashDot:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/07/05/28/229250.shtml
Robots.Net:
http://robots.net/article/2249.html
Impact LAB:
http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11869
Robo Ecologies Shape Themselves To Serve You:
http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1060

MAY 5th RELEASE PARTY

Here are some images from the release party on May 5th, '07. All robots (and their human counterparts) performed beautifully! We also had an amazing group of visitors assembled for the discussion. I will publish more images as soon as things calm down a bit. We will also release the documentary film in a few weeks. Check back soon!

!!! Release Party + Phase 04 Final Discussion

The release party and Phase 04 Final Discussion will take place on Saturday, May 5th from 7-9:00pm at the McGuffey Arts Center Downtown [Map] in the Studio 11 space. Our invited guests include Axel Killian from MIT, Kamin Whitehouse (sensor networks) from Computer Science, Matthew Burtner (composer and sound artist) from Composition and Computer Sciences, as well as guests from Robotics and the UVa School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture including William Morrish, Robin Dripps, Peter Waldman, Lucia Phinney and landscape architect Chris Fannin. SARC student Tamar Shafrir will also be debuting her latest Robotic Ecologies documentary film/robo-propaganda/sci-fi thriller. Safety goggles and ear protection will be provided!

View IMAGES of recent progress and reviews. Click the image above for an INVITE. Send questions to: jasonjohnson at virginia.edu

Generative Components

FYI - GC Installation Instructions:
ftp://ftp.bentley.com/GenerativeComponents/GC_Install_Instructions.doc
Install the Beta Version:
http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Markets/Building/Generative+Components+Beta/Download+GenComponents+Beta.htm
Good Links to tutorials etc.
http://www.eatyourcad.com/tag.php?tag=Generative%20Components
Forum and Various Links:
http://www.gcuser.com/
Good Introductory Exercise by Dr. Axel Killian:
ftp://ftp.bentley.com/GenerativeComponents/GC_Example_1.doc

Phase 03 Review Images

(Click on the image for a short GIF animation.) Thank-you to our recent reviewers Dean Abernathy from IATH and SARC, David Rifkind from SARC History, and UVa structural engineering professor Kirk Martini.

Phase 03 Presentations April 18

Introducing IRIS, TILT and RAVE: Phase 03 presentations will take place tonight at 7pm in the UVA SARC VisLab Ex. C. The team projects are: I.R.I.S. > Intelligent Responsive Integrated Space (formerly know as the ribbon group), T.I.L.T. > Transformative Intelligent Loop Tower (formerly know as the loop group), R.A.V.E. > Reactive Acoustic Variable Expansive Space (formerly know as the cell group). Safety goggles and ear protection will be provided.

The date for the final release discussion + party will be announced soon! Location: McGuffey Art Center, Downtown Charlottesville. Date, Time: TBA

* Phase 02 Presentations Mar 28

Reciprocity, Feedback, Material Intelligence (or even Personality?): Phase 02 Presentations took place on Wednesday night. Each team presented working robotic prototypes: The Cell Team (see movie above) presented an interactive scissor canopy (link), the Loop Team is developing a responsive heliotropic vertical assembly (link) and the Ribbon Team is working on a suspended intelligent material assembly (link). Luckily we still have 5 weeks to develop and refine the projects. [Special thanks to our "RoboPaparazzi" Tamar Shafrir, also thanks to our recent project reviewers: Profs. Nataly Gattegno, Jenny Lovell, Jeanna Ripple and Anselmo Canfora)

Future Cities Lab Updated

The Future Cities Lab web site has been updated. The full version will be released soon! Here is an an image of our Super Galazy project from 2006.

Crowd (Energy) Farms

MIT Graduate Students James Graham (a former UVA UGrad) and Thaddeus Jusczyk have been getting a lot of press for their Crowd Farms project (link). Quoting a MIT website: "And while the farm is an urban vision, the dynamo-floor principle can also be applied to capturing energy at places like rock concerts, too. "Greater movement of people could make the music louder," suggests Jusczyk." MIT Associate Professor J. Meejin Yoon has been serving as their advisor. We look forward to seeing this project develped further. Yusuke Obuchi's Wave Garden (his Princeton Thesis) also explored piezo-electric energy generation on a massive scale: "Wave Garden situates itself between the dynamic movement of nature and social forces, linking the ebb and flow of the ocean’s waves to the societal wave of fluctuating energy consumption." (link 1)(link 2)