Hasta La Ideas

Hardback homes for the heavily anticipated device

Apple consumers are getting their hands on the hotly anticipated iPhone 5 for the first time today, so it’s time to start thinking about cases. This past week has seen manufacturers releasing prototypes and (in some instances) rolling out production for cases that accommodate the taller, slimmer design. Scouring…

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MIT Media Lab study looks to effect urban development through Google Street View-powered surveys

Remember the feeling the first time walking down a desolate street in a foreign city or waiting on the corner in a new neighborhood to meet a friend? We all constantly judge our surroundings, whether knowingly or subconsciously; our ability to determine our level of safety, advantage or opportunity from our perceived situation is an essential evolutionary tool for survival. While usually these judgements happen on minute levels, a new project from the MIT Media Lab seeks to tap the power of the information within these determinations on a large, collective scale.

The crowd-sourced urban survey, Place Pulse, is run by Phil Salesses, Anthony Devincenzi and Cesar Hidalgo, all of the MIT Media Lab, and Mauro Martino of Northeastern University Center for Complex Network Research. This team of technologists, researchers, designers and artists use the work of Kevin Lynch from the 1960s as a jumping off point for understanding urban perception, taking advantage of today’s tools to expose large test groups to urban imagery.

With a goal of improving an urban population’s overall happiness by understanding how people perceive certain areas, the surveys present participants with two side-by-side images and three topical questions—”Which place looks more unique?”; “Which place looks more upper class?; and “Which place looks safer?” The source images come from Google Street View, and surveys are created and taken by a willing community of participants. Capitalizing on geolocation services and social networks creates easily-visualizable data on a near global scale.

The data produced determines which urban features create certain perceptions. Laying the answers to these questions into graphs and combining them with the graphs of other participants makes up what the researchers call a “perception network.” This network of data can then be analyzed to make assumptions about general perception of certain areas, assisting in forming hypotheses about urban planning and development.

While still in the very early stages, the project presents a fascinating way to use what have become everyday technologies to conduct massive social experiments. The resulting dataset has the potential to impact city design and to assist local governments in targeting problem areas to improve inhabitant happiness. The more people who participate, the greater the success, so head over to the project and take the survey. Final results will be available 14 August 2011.

Crowd-sourced film festival exhibits work from new cinematic talent

I recently stopped by the 2nd annual Kickstarter Film Festival to do some sleuthing on up-and-coming film makers. The festival screens a collection of curated Kickstarter projects, including documentaries, animation and products. It was a perfect evening to enjoy some video outdoors and Kickstarter’s partnership with Rooftop Films facilitated an impressive set up in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. All 16 of the films shown are definitely worth a look, but the four below are standouts.

“The Twelve O’ Clock Boyz,” a documentary by director Lofty Nathan, follows three different Baltimore City residents, all deeply involved in the illegal dirt-bike riding scene.

This practice of rallying, racing and showboating in city streets has become deeply ingrained in the urban culture of The City That Reads, but the illegal and dangerous nature has made it a contentious issue between the communities involved. Born from a rising tension between social and economic classes within the city, the dirt bike culture has come to epitomize rebellion, release and expression for marginalized communities. Nathan explores these relationships and the deeper issues that gave birth to this subculture in what promises to be a fascinating look inside the contemporary existence of urban communities.

Most of us are familiar with Richard Nixon, as well as Watergate and the infamous tape recordings which emerged from it. Our Nixon takes advantage of another set of recordings from this era —previously unreleased Super-8 footage recorded within and around the Nixon White House by some of his closest associates.

In all, 204 reels of “home movies” were confiscated by the FBI as part of the Watergate investigation. This never before seen material offers an interesting look at the everyday goings-on surrounding one of the more scandalous administrations in American history.

Shot by Chief of Staff H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, Chief Domestic Advisor John Ehrlichman and Special Assistant to the President Dwight Chapin, the three took to documenting all kinds of seemingly trivial occurrences. Truly believing they were part of a revolutionary turning point in American history, even Easter egg collection on the Front Lawn was deemed worthy of historical import. Delusions aside, the film—which makes use of the footage by way of a campy trajectory and hilarious montages, combined with selected clips from Nixon’s recorded phone calls—effectively offers insight into the unseen aspects of the Executive Office. You can support documentarians Penny Lane and Brian Frye by pre-ordering a DVD from their site as the film is still in production.

Extremely touching, The Elders (subtitled “Everyone is a story”) explores of life lessons told through the experience of a series of senior citizens. Director Nathaniel Hansen spoke with people all over the country and from a wide variety of backgrounds, from coal miners to engineers. In each portrait, the characters talk about their experiences, and as their stories unravel we get a distinct window on how certain things change with age but many, like love and loss, remain constant through generations. Check out the official trailer above and head to the webpage for upcoming screenings and news.

One of the most visually impressive pieces of the festival, The Beast Pageant, follows Abe on his adventurous escape from his mundane crushing existence. Abe lives in a city where he resides alone, only accompanied by a giant machine that spits out his essentials for survival. A mysterious series of events, culminating in a tiny singing cowboy bursting from his stomach, sets Abe off on an adventure of a lifetime. With an impressive cast of characters and the bizarre world Abe finds himself in, the film is enchanting, engulfing the viewer into a trance-like state of mystery and intrigue.

Shot on a 16mm Bolex that writers and directors Albert Birney and Jon Moses claim they found in a dumpster, the film combines great storytelling with fantastic costumes, animations and set design serving as an exceptional example of what a group of determined people can accomplish with little-to-no cash. The film is available on DVD or for download at Indiepix. Check out the site for more info on how this piece came together in a one-room studio in a Rochester, NY factory.

The Kickstarter Film Festival is an excellent reminder of the importance crowd-sourced funding can play in the creation and encouragement of new media and artistic expression. Be sure to keep up with these emerging filmmakers and explore other creative projects that need help getting off the ground—all these films prove that a little support can go a long way.

Marimekko celebrates their 60 years with a DIY book and crowd-sourced exhibit in Milan

Over the past 60 years Finnish brand Marimekko has splashed their colorful patterns on everything from sneakers to computer mice, spreading their vision of “happiness, colors and relationships” around the world. Founder Armi Rata once said, “I always wanted to gather people to get them to know each other, enrich their experience and take advantage from this knowledge.”

A riff on this collaborative premise, the iconic brand recently showed the results of a crowd-sourced Facebook competition in an exhibit at Jannelli & Volpi’s Milanese shop to celebrate Marimekko’s 60 years.

Inviting more than 34,000 Facebook fans to be part of the collective global project, the task was to show what they could do with Marimekko fabrics. The most interesting ideas were published on the Marimekko website, while the best authors were invited to the brand’s Helsinki headquarters last March to take part in a Marimekko workshop. The upshot of these creative days became the subject of the group show.

An accompanying book called “Surrur” reveals the creative process behind many Marimekko designers. It also includes an array of DIY projects for transforming common objects into playful products, or how to start from scratch.

Here’s to many more years of Marimekko patterns!

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The web’s premiere community-driven t-shirt line commemorates its 10th birthday with a book

Crowd-sourced t-shirt phenomenon Threadless commemorates its 10-year anniversary with a eponymous book depicting 300 of the best designs year-by-year.

Written by co-founder Jake Nickell, he covers the history of the company from its conception in his Chicago bedroom to the successful business it is today. Alongside the selection of each year’s top designs are interviews with influential Threadless members and prominent design consultants such as RISD president John Maeda who also guest-curated a series of Threadless Select shirts designed by members of the RISD community, Squidoo founder Seth Godin as well as Jeff Howe, who coined the marketing term “crowdsourcing” and Toms founder Blake Mycoskie—all of whom talk about what an ideal business model Threadless is.

With its message of passion, creativity and fearlessness, the Threadless book is more than just a visually-stimulating flip through. Its 224 pages of design, artwork and creativity make for an inspirational read for any entrepreneurial start-up.

Published by Abrams, the book will be released on 10 October 2010 and sells through several retailers listed on Threadless, including
Amazon.