I plan to attend an interesting event in Toronto tonight - a meeting of Dorkbot-Toronto.

Dorkbot-Toronto seeks to explore all uses of technology in the development and discussion of art and creative exercise. It is meant to be an informal and collaborative environment where anyone can drop in, listen to presentations, and meet others for future collaborations. We invite people across all disciplines and skill levels to attend and explore ideas of hybridization, as well as perform open investigations into electronics and code.

Meetings are always free and open to the public.

If this sounds like your kind of event, and you are around the Toronto area tonight, I suggest you check it out.

I have added a google map perspective to this post if you need directions.

Three presenters are planned for tonight:

• Jeff Mann & Michelle Teran - LiveForm: Telekinetics
• Rob Cruickshank - Spiral Inscriber
• Greg Judelman - Knowledge Visualisation

I’ve never been to one of these meetings before, but I suspect it will be pretty cool.
iUpload Perspectives Applied (what’s this):

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Why I blog this? From what I can see, Andrew has an eye for catching the right everything in a picture - but so do other photographers. So what makes his story any different? Because Andrew tries to explain how and why he takes pictures, using theoretical physics as his basis. His website has some interesting content but is mostly a mess of Java, so I suggest checking out his lecture notes (PDF - 7.5MB) or his 2004 Portfolio and Artist’s Statement (PDF - 15.6MB) directly.

Talk about sensory overload! A company called Lightspace has created an amazing LED powered interactive lighting system that looks mighty fun.

Lightspace is a revolutionary entertainment system that combines the latest lighting and interactive technologies to produce a recreational experience that will provide hours of fun to children and adults of all ages. The system is capable of storing and running a potentially limitless variety of interactive programs and can be used by any number of participants simultaneously. Lightspace creates an engaging experience that will draw young children, teenagers and adults. Lightspace provides significant return on investment by generating the repeat-customer business so critical for family entertainment center growth and profitability.

This looks awesome, I can think of a number of ways this could add value in a club or a restaurant environment. It could be part of the dance floor, and also be part of the tables and walls - you could allow people to order using the interactive visual interface. I think it would be great fun for a certain type of techno-crowd. We are used to interacting with interfaces - and this one looks extremely fun!

The Lightspace™ system is comprised of programmable LED lit tiles that are assembled together to form a floor of any size or shape. At the heart of the Club Scene product is the Lightspace™ Management System (LMS). The LMS provides DJs and VJs complete control over the floor so that they can effectively integrate it into their current routine or create a totally new immersive experience.

Why I blog this? I am very interested in interactive display technology, and this is one of the best examines I have seen. I would even consider something like this in my house, so I could design personalized visuals to go with the music I am producing.

via pasta and vinegar
via Chris O’Shea’s blog. He has made a few cool posts this week - I suggest checking out his site.