12-April-1999 [Artur Marques]
Today [23:05]: #1) Real Techno Decoration; #2) There will be Light
http://www.comune.roma.it/pecrdav/pdehome.html (Palazzo delle Esposizioni), in Rome, in showing a great installation from Studio Azzuro, including very high tech pieces, such as a "magic carpet".
This "magic carpet" looks very ordinary, but as soon as you step on it, it comes to life, and changes its drawings, showing a moving pair of a man with a girl... quite impressive and really unexpected. All is possible thanks to a clever projection scheme and pressure sensors, managed via dedicated PC software. Other pieces also feature reactive audio.
This is not new. Chorus, the "magic carpet", was made in late 1995 and since then, the video director of the project (Paolo Rosa), has been making new presentations to show on it :-) For him, a carpet is much more than a place where people can stand... it is the center of a social gathering, and should mark its presence.
Should your prefer, instead of an animated rug, you can go for a displaying table, where a "regular" kitchen table will show, on touch, animations of insects, fishes, and more abstract artworks. Are these objects the future? Will future furniture be as dynamic as today's videogames? It would be nice!
There will be light! [at least in North America]
Day 09-April-1999, most of North American power plants were on test, that was to check their year 2000 [Y2K] compliance. They passed the test! There were very few problems that should be solved (and rechecked) until next September.
In Europe, there is a much higher "let's ignore the Y2K" factor, and only risky utilities, such as some nuclear power stations, have already been checked.