LIFT08 - New frontiers
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Warning: the following notes were live blogged on Friday by session, so please forgive the typos and semantic errors, I'll brush it up later and break it up ion separate posts. Some day. Maybe. Watch the videos.
This track is aimed at showing what are the new boundaries (ethical, cultural, physical) being questioned by new technological developments.
Kevin Warwick
The British "cyborg" researcher who implanted a microchip in his body will tell us about his pioneering experiments. He had a neuro-surgical device implanted into the median nerves of his left arm in order to link his nervous system directly to a computer. The aim of these experiment series is to assess the use of latest technologies for disabled people.
Where humans ends and where machines start. Neural implants. Predicte when Parkinson disease and epileptic fits will occur (as much as 20 seconds early for Parkinson, and up to 30 minutes for epilepsy). Party therapeutic, party looking at enhancements.
Patient with robot hand. Need an interface from brain to robot hand. Therapy. Once you get signals, we're talking of neural signals. When you've got signal, you can send them where you want. Connect via implant and send them somewhere else, where ever the internet goes for example. Extend the sensory range. Human have a very limited range. We don't sens 95% of what is going around us.
Kevin has had 2 implants in his life for scientific reasons. Insert electrodes into nerve fibers left arm (100 electrodes 1mm long ~4mm diameter, tips are 1-3 µm accross, neurons are 2-20 µm wide). Neuron are micro scale, not nano. Electrodes in for over 3 months. Could be plugged into the computer or remote link. Bi-directional. His nervous system had an IP number and was linked in to the internet. So stimulation was going on, not just monitoring.
Baseball cap with sensors fed down by radio to the arm. Ultrasonic sensors. When an object came closer, the brain was receiving an increasing pulse in frequency. He could move around and detect objects pretty accurately. It felt as something coming closer. It took 6 weks for the brain to learn those new pulses.
Showing a ccool video - check it out on the net. Two people communication via their neural systems, activating remote objects through the net, and receiving impulses. Awesome. His wife wore wareable computer jewellery (colour changed from blue to red depending on Kevin's state).
His wife had external neural connectors implanted and both were receiving impulses from each other. Telegraphic communication system from one neural system to the other.
Lets connect and communicate in a sensible way.
Damn Wifi is down again. Briliant talk. Insightful and witty. Experimental and courageous. The idea of extending senses and ranges is exciting. Connected to the internet? Err.. dunno. What if your brain get spammed? or used in a marketing scam? Medical opportunities are vast.
Henri Markram
From EPFL will present the "blue brain" project that he is conducting in cooperation with IBM: it's objective is to the deploy massive computational resources to simulate the functioning of brain cells.
Didn't turn up because he was sick.
Holm Friebe
From the socialistic-capitalist joint-venture Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur in Berlin will show new forms of cooperation and collaborative work in todays' society.
Work. Relation between organisation, careers opportunities, the youg generation is seeking new forms of organisations, or work. Work better with their friends in a more layback fashion. ZIA has a turnaround of € 200'000.
The Hedonistic Company. Seven rules of working together professionally and still staying friends. We are facing the end of work as we know it. How do you integrate individuals with strong sense of individualisaiton? The penguin paradox.
"… a capitalist-socialist joint venture designed to establish new forms of collaboration".
World domination progess bar at 4%
1. The 7 NOs
- No offices
- No employees
- No fixed costs - incorruptable
- No pitches
- No exculsivity - nobody belongs
- No working hours
- No bullshit - just to add up to 7
To setup a company: a good name, a website and business card. Basics. Organised a festival last year (9 to 5).
2. Work work balance
Don't let the money take over, have fun. Ideally, find funding and initiate your own projects.
3. Instant gratification
Use money as an incentive. Distribute immediately. ¥€$. No annual salaries, no compensations, pay in relation top a job immediately. Keep 10% for the company. Pay bills immediately.
4. Pluralism of methods
Find tech solutions for social problems. Skype, Google Cal, Docs, Apps. Programme homemade solutions that don't exist.
5. Fixed idea
Take them serious, live up to your obcessions. PowerPoint Karaoke (cc). Turn everything bad into an entertainement :)
6. Responsibilities w/o hierarchies
How do you cope with hierarchies? 1 person in charge per project Rotations. Organised majorities.
7. The power of procrastination
Don't try to be too efficient. Natural darwinism of ideas. The best ideas come to you in diverse moments. Procrastination can be good. There's a book on the way.
7.5 Marketing by feuilleton
Do something interesting and press coverage comes on its own.
If you change the nature of your work, it will shift the whole field you are in, it'll be a whole new game. Best long term strategy.
You definitively have to check out these guys. I was please to recognise a few of principles I apply or apply with my friend (i.e. Enrique who is roaming the world at the time I write these lines but who is convinced Lifter). I was partial to the "The power of procrastination" and the "Work work balance", or "Responsibilities w/o hierarchies".
Mieke Gerritzen
Will talk about the different views on visual and natural culture that new networks brought to us.
Dutch. Based in LA. Researching the basis of Next Nature. Telco mast as trees, Dubai's world map of island, tulip in the sea in Holland.
Nature becomes culture. The Dutch made their land themselves. Hypoallergenic designers cats. Logos on animals. 3D organ printer, bio ink, repairs damaged organ. Featherless chicken - more convenient chicken to live in warm countries. Dinosaur fish sticks. Corporate logos inspired by animals.
Fruit will become square, and buildings will become organic. Nature becomes culture.
Culture becomes nature. We loose control. Nature is changing along with us.
Showing a movie Metalosis Maligna - check it out on the net.
Memory games (www.fakeforreal.com): natural breasts. Redefining Nemo. Disasters. Second Life is not sustainable.
You Goggle my second space
Define yourself on who your friends are and how many you have. Goggle 2084: no more privacy. Some people still believe companies are controled by CEO.
Another movie with loads of logos on "il était une fois dans l'Ouest" music.
Nature is wild and unpredictable. Reality and virtuality are becoming equals. Next nature, culturally immerged nature, changing concept of nature.
Next nature is real nature.
Designer. Graphic talk. A little conceptual by moments, but definitively pertinent.
Open Stage
Henriette Weber Andersen: Enjoy the chaos
Kushtrim Xhakli: How innovative projects can transform education