I could attend yet another talk on friday. This time it was by Prof. Barry Vercoe, a professor at Media Arts and Sciences, MIT. It was on "Innovations in Media, Learning, and Personal Expression"
As the website says,
Of the many statements he made - I like this particular one. "When you make something Good, try and give it out to people as fast as you could". Open source scientific community on the longer run can do wonders.
He was talking about the accomplishments of Media lab in terms of the products that they bring out to the market. It seems they have designed a scooter which can be folded, carried inside a train - just like any other luggage, work and then unfold your scooter to ride back home!
Another interesting thing which he told was about the greeting cards. We have already seen the cards which can play music but how about this idea - you have sent out invitations to all your friends and they come up with a card which can play the birthday/occasion song ONLY when ALL the invitees turn up to the party. This way you can convince everyone that you ought to attend the party else you'll be the spoilsport. Fundoo isn't it?
The main attractive feature of the talk was about the Directed/Projected audio technology. Whenever we have a loudspeaker, it is intended to serve the entire public inside the hall. What if one person wants to hear something different from what the other person wants to hear, without using any special external aid like the headphones etc. With this directed/projected audio we can make things possible. What actually happens is this - You generate a sound exceeding the frequency of 60 kHz (which the cats, cows and even humans can't listen to). The molecules in the medium, which is air in our case, breaks up to produce another sound, of lower audible frequency, as a byproduct. The advantage of this kind of system is that, the beam of sound - on the lines of say lazer, which is really narrow and can be directed to limited number of audience. For example, say you are in a dance floor and only you can hear the music while someone watching you from far off can only see you dance without any music.
The commercial application for this technology can be in Automotive Interiors, say in a car. Where each person sitting on different position/seats want to hear different music, on full volume. They can have this directed/projected audio system and enjoy the music without disturbing the person beside you.
Besides he is also part of the One Laptop Per Child project. He displayed the laptop which is low cost, rugged, smart, having a display screen which can work even in sunlight. He says - this project will give every child a sense of ownership and a platform to explore new ideas.
Interesting isn't it?
As the website says,
"BARRY VERCOE is Professor of Music and Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT , and Assoc Academic Head of the Program in Media Arts & Sciences . He was born and educated in New Zealand in music and in mathematics, then completed a doctorate in Music Composition at the University of Michigan. In 1968 at Princeton University he did pioneering work in the field of Digital Audio Processing, then taught briefly at Yale before joining the MIT faculty in 1971. In 1973 he established the MIT computer facility for Experimental Music -- an event now commemorated on a plaque in the Kendall Square subway station. ....."He was talking about the kind of work that they do at the Media lab and demonstrated some of the innovative works which started at the Media lab.
Of the many statements he made - I like this particular one. "When you make something Good, try and give it out to people as fast as you could". Open source scientific community on the longer run can do wonders.
He was talking about the accomplishments of Media lab in terms of the products that they bring out to the market. It seems they have designed a scooter which can be folded, carried inside a train - just like any other luggage, work and then unfold your scooter to ride back home!
Another interesting thing which he told was about the greeting cards. We have already seen the cards which can play music but how about this idea - you have sent out invitations to all your friends and they come up with a card which can play the birthday/occasion song ONLY when ALL the invitees turn up to the party. This way you can convince everyone that you ought to attend the party else you'll be the spoilsport. Fundoo isn't it?
The main attractive feature of the talk was about the Directed/Projected audio technology. Whenever we have a loudspeaker, it is intended to serve the entire public inside the hall. What if one person wants to hear something different from what the other person wants to hear, without using any special external aid like the headphones etc. With this directed/projected audio we can make things possible. What actually happens is this - You generate a sound exceeding the frequency of 60 kHz (which the cats, cows and even humans can't listen to). The molecules in the medium, which is air in our case, breaks up to produce another sound, of lower audible frequency, as a byproduct. The advantage of this kind of system is that, the beam of sound - on the lines of say lazer, which is really narrow and can be directed to limited number of audience. For example, say you are in a dance floor and only you can hear the music while someone watching you from far off can only see you dance without any music.
The commercial application for this technology can be in Automotive Interiors, say in a car. Where each person sitting on different position/seats want to hear different music, on full volume. They can have this directed/projected audio system and enjoy the music without disturbing the person beside you.
Besides he is also part of the One Laptop Per Child project. He displayed the laptop which is low cost, rugged, smart, having a display screen which can work even in sunlight. He says - this project will give every child a sense of ownership and a platform to explore new ideas.
Interesting isn't it?
0 comments:
Post a Comment