Cool Hunting

ITP Spring Show 2008
Spring in NYC means trees in full bloom, lightened moods and NYU's semi-annual mega-exhibit of art and technology, the ITP show taking place this year 12-13 May 2008. While every season promises an outpouring of creativity, this time around I was particularly intrigued by a project more straightforward than most but with a subject after my own (and Josh's) heart called "Born Dropped Out,...

Monome
Since the multi-use controller Monome first came out a few years back, it's slowly gained a cult following thanks to its attractive and flexible design. If you're unfamiliar with the device, the Monome is an ultra-tactile, interactive and adaptable MIDI interface that takes advantage of open-source software to manipulate any number of musical parameters. With a pleasing grid-based design, the programmable buttons function as...

ITP Spring Show 2006
Each ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) expo seems bigger, crazier, and more well-produced than the next. Last week's show was no exception with projects like the De-Painter, a machine that uses viewers' movements to generate paintings, and a Bluetooth person-tracking system called BlueWay. The digital readout pictured above left is Robert Seward's trippy Consciousness Field Resonator that takes the concept behind Princeton's Global Consciousness Project...

Kelly Dobson's Blendie
I know I wasn't the only kid humming along with the household appliances trying to find the right harmony to make my head vibrate. Right? Um, anyway, MIT Media Lab's Kelly Dobson must have because one avenue of her work takes that interaction and flips it around. Blendie is part of her series called Machine Therapy which was undoubtedly influenced by her childhood spent...