IX Symposium, Currents New Media Festival, GlobalMindED and Eyeo

by admin | Jul 24, 2017 | Personnel

Alt Ethos News – Tuesday, July 25th

Our team has recently been able to join in some of the most prestigious and enlightening events which have opened our eyes to new ways of thinking and helped to create a stronger connection with the creative tech community.

Society for Art and Technology (SAT)

May 30-June 3rd, Ethan Bach – CEO attended the Society for Art and Technology, otherwise known as SAT’s 4th edition IX Symposium – Embodied Spaces.

Founded in 1996, the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) is a transdisciplinary center for research, creation, production, training and dissemination dedicated to developing and conserving digital culture. North America’s first Living Lab, the SAT specializes in immersive environments, the use of high-speed networks and experience design.

With the aim to create tangible, all-encompassing audiovisual experiences, the Satosphere is the first permanent immersive theatre devoted to artistic development. The dome, which puts the audience at the center of the works, forms a 360-degree spherical projection screen that can accommodate up to 350 spectators.

This year focused on explorations of total body immersion inside of digital spaces, experiencing technology on direct sensory levels. A few examples: Atau Tanaka, Professor of Media Computing at Goldsmiths University gave a talk on The Body as Musical Instrument, illuminating his method of translating gestural interaction to audio signals. For those curious, Atau’s performance at TEDxPantheonSorbonne may be found here.

Currents New Media Festival

On June 10th our team traveled to Santa Fe to experience Currents New Media 2017. Currents brings multidisciplinary artists from across the planet to exhibit VR/AR/MR creations blending experimental and psychological expression through immersive, interactive technology.

Currents began as a project in 2002 intended to bring together video and New Media artists who at the time had few places to exhibit. Since then the festival has grown in the number of artists and mediums – Now featuring Virtual Reality, projection mapping, robotics, sensor integration and beyond.

For 15 consecutive years Mariannah Amster and Frank Ragano have curated this event under their nonprofit Parallel Studios. Such an event is only possible with a diverse network of multitalented artists from across the globe, creating a radical melting pot of new concepts.

GlobalMindED

On June 23rd, Matt Maes – CIO participated in the GlobalMindED Tech Track “Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality: Opportunities in Education” alongside Julien Lynge of Arch Virtual and the DaVinci Institute and Sandi Mays of the Zayo Group.

The GlobalMindED movement is about access, equity and opportunity for First Generation to College and underserved populations, those who work with them and those who want to hire a diverse talent pipeline. At our annual conference, we convene thought leaders from all backgrounds and industries to support educational innovators who are setting a new standard for inclusive leadership.

The opening reception began at 9:00am led by Futurist and Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute, Thomas Frey who explained the cataclysmic economic shift which will be brought on by driverless vehicles. Automobile accident rates will plummet. The need for driver’s insurance will become obsolete. Intersections will operate only as a junction rather than a stopping point as cars move harmoniously past each other.

The second panel, Personalized Learning: Students at the Center was led by Dr Bena Kallick, program director of Eduplanet 21 featuring Superintendent Jeff Dillon of Wilder School District, Teacher Jody Ordoñez of Vista High School and Principal Dr. Bertie Simmons of E.L. Furr High School. This discussion revealed the merits of student led programs and the technologies which make this new methodology possible. The new generation of learners are increasingly curious and are growing to depend less and less on the role of an authoritative leader to pass on knowledge. Our technology has grown hand in hand with us to the point where lesson plans may be gained from sources such as Wolfram Alpha, Khan Academy, Youtube and so on.

The Tech Track began to fill up at 11:10am as many from the previous panel in Court C remained and others filed inside. Lynge, Mays and Maes (not related) then hosted a discussion rich in topics ranging from basic to interestingly advanced. We first began with introductions and each of our most recent projects and moved into intriguing topics such as the social dynamics of VR, whether AR or VR is more effective in the classroom and VR conferencing.

Eyeo Festival

Most recently Paul Elsberg – CSE attended the Eyeo Festival held from June 26th-29th.

Since its inception in 2011, the team behind the Eyeo Festival has been inspired by the notion that this decade presents an exceptionally exciting time to be interested in art, interaction, and information. The way we experience all three is changing. The way all three interact and overlap is quickly evolving. Easier access to powerful tools and technologies continues to increase. What data is, where it comes from, and how we utilize it, looks different than ever before.

On Thursday, July 27th 5:30pm – 7:30pm at the Commons on Champa’s Innovation Lounge Elsberg will be leading second installment of Denver Arts + Technology Advancement Hacksters – Hackster.io Fusion 360 Demo and Eyeo Festival In Review – Presented by Hackster.io, Autodesk and Alt Ethos! We will be going over how to approach using Autodesk Fusion 360’s modeling capabilities to design object enclosures. We will also be covering insights from the international Eyeo Festival, a conference featuring professional creative technologists at the forefront of the industry. You may RSVP for the event here:

https://www.meetup.com/hacksterdenver/events/241372743/

We also proudly announce Elsberg’s recent feature in Adobe Creative Cloud’s UXperts Weigh In: Designs We Love, July Edition where he highlighted the simple, elegant educational gaming experience, The Bézier Game. We are proud for Elsberg to be recognized by Adobe!

We are very pleased to bring back lots of amazing insights from Eyeo Festival, an international conference for professionals at the epicenter of creative technology. You can check out the speakers and more information at the festival website http://eyeofestival.com/.

Matt Maes is a Denver animator focused on immersive and interactive technology. He is Chief Influence Officer of Alt Ethos, Ltd and is also an executive member of the nonprofit organization Denver Arts and Technology Advancement (D.A.T.A.)

Soundscape Grand Opening at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery

by admin | Jun 17, 2017 | Highlights

Alt Ethos News – Sunday June 18th, 2017

Alt Ethos and the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery invite you to the grand opening of Soundscape, a real-time audio/visual experience. Step into this immersive exhibit where physical presence creates music and live visuals. The opening coincides with FCMoD’s David Bowie LaserDome event. Tickets for the LaserDome can be purchased here. The opening event is free and open to the public with hor d’oeuvres and non-alcoholic beverages provided alongside a cash bar. The opening will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2017 from 7pm to 10:30pm at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery.

As you walk through the Music and Sound Lab a mysteriously glowing room catches your eye. Out of curiosity you step inside and soon discover that your position inside the room is creating music in real time. The intimate scale of the room widens below you as you walk suspended in space. The wall pulsates over your coordinates on the floor. As the moments pass, others join in creating an ensemble of organic sound.

This exhibition was conceived through the collaboration of Alt Ethos Experiential Design studio and staff at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. Alt Ethos custom designed this interactive exhibition to create a meaningful experience for patrons to learn, reflect, and have fun through hands-on explorations. Visitors control a multichannel sound system and projection-mapped visuals through physical movement.

The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery (FCMoD) is a history and science museum filled with interactive exhibits and fascinating artifacts which tell the stories of Northern Colorado. The museum creates meaningful opportunities to connect body movement to sound through hands-on and collections-based explorations in science and culture.

Alt Ethos is an experiential design studio that synthesizes digital and physical environments into unexpected realities. Alt Ethos are artists, designers, and engineers creating innovative projects for the modern world. They meld various forms of light, sound, and creative technology into shared interactive experiences.

Please join us for the opening of Soundscape, an instrumental environment exhibition. This unique exhibition changes the ways in which we view music and exploration in museums. The opening will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2017 at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery at 408 Mason Court, Fort Collins, Colorado.

One-Year Celebration – Design Centered around You

by admin | Apr 17, 2017 | News

Alt Ethos News – Monday April 17th, 2017

On April 19^th, 5:00-8pm at the Commons on Champa we celebrate the culmination of one year as a company and unveiling of our interactive LED wall. All who have supported us are welcome to partake in celebration.

Our journey has been as educational as it has been fulfilling. Working with the Commons has resulted in numerous valuable connections both with entrepreneurs and city officials seeking to connect with each other. The history behind this installation begins with then underutilized ceiling scale LED screens.

Upon the beginning of our work at the Commons, formulation of our business plan and love of optimizing existing spaces with interactive technology guided our decision to bring this to life. Through coordination with Jesse Shuler we have successfully activated the screens.

In order to achieve this it was necessary to run the Kinect to the server room controlling the visuals. After intensive calibration the display is able to react to your movements in real-time.

Our work began with the goal of creating an experience binding passersby together through immersive, organic architecture. We make new connections daily throughout these halls. Our energy is directed towards that which ultimately excites us to create and intertwine our stories.

At a glance the screens sit opposite each other, silent and dark leading up to the Event Space. Floating crescents of light dance across the black panels, inviting you to cross the threshold. Once in view of the Kinect V2 sensors position information transfers with a series of servers on a feedback loop, responding to your movement. Patterns of living, colored geometry bloom on either side, trailing and shifting along with you. You’ll find yourself drawn in to linger and experiment. Imagine architecture which communicates with you. When two or more are present the shapes form in relation to the group.

Our vision is to connect people and elevate spaces to another level through the act of playful interaction. This piece is only the first step towards binding sensory engagement to practical application.

Our perceptions are formed through instantaneous sensory processing. I’d like to take a moment to talk about social play. As humans the act of playful creativity forms our experience. Group play has been shown to increase mental and physical adaptivity and strengthen social bonds, ultimately enhancing the hours of our lives. Here Jane Gonigal, a game designer speaks at TED about the importance of expression through the act of play.

We’re proud to have accomplished this installation which not only invites you in but most importantly invites you to play. We invite you to express yourself and connect with others on a deeper level. Next up we plan to activate the projection area on the right of the Event Space.

So come join us, express yourself.

We also have a special announcement: Congratulations to our CEO Ethan Bach and COO Eric Davis who recently graduated from SBDC’s Leading Edge business accelerator program. Our business plan has been selected to be entered into a state competition and be evaluated by Wells Fargo. We are thoroughly proud of their dedication and excited for another sign of great potential.

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