Bluecadet Interactive

Thousands of nerds flock to Austin every March for the SXSW Interactive festival to learn about emerging technology, see grumpy cat in the flesh, and check out the best new digital works and innovative ideas. This year, Troy and I were two of these lucky nerds. Here are some highlights:
 

Poptech holds an annual conference in Camden, Maine that "brings together a global community of innovators from many fields to share insights and work together to create lasting change." I think of Poptech as a mini TED with a twist. In addition to the speakers on stage at Poptech were 22 Fellows -- people who are spearheading new ideas in science or social change. Below are some of our favorite experiences and presentations from the conference.

Pilobolus

UP: The Umbrella Project

Have you ever participated in a spontaneuous, collaborative, live public art project? It's a lot of fun. The modern performance company Pilobolus enlisted several hundred volunteers to participate in a live performance using umbrellas fabricated with multi-colored LED lights created by the MIT Distributed Robotics Laboratory. The performance was simultaneously projected onto a large screen. Read More

In web design, like print design, it takes a while to develop an effective creative process—hours of pushing pixels and creating idealized designs (that a client might not approve), making revisions, racking up hours, making more revisions. But eventually, we learn how to make it all work.

We recently relaunched starvedforattention.org, with a fluid scrolling redesign and some fun HTML/jquery flairs. An initiative of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and VII Photo, “Starved for Attention,” is a multimedia campaign exposing the neglected and largely invisible crisis of childhood malnutrition.

Visited the Museum of Fine Arts Boston over the weekend to check out the new Art of the Americas Wing - a huge addition the museum. We were greeted at the door by an iPad-wielding membership recruiter. The new wing features a few fun interactives, including a huge multi-user touch table.

We shot candid-style interviews of local museum lovers for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Thanks to our friends Marty and Willie at VideoArt for taking the lead on the shoot. Notice the use of an iPad instead of a traditional slate. Using 3 Canon SLRs, we captured beautiful high def video that will have gorgeous depth of field.