October 01, 2012

PBS Weighs in on Kinect and Holograms

On Idea Channel (a PBS show that examines the connections between pop culture, technology and art), Mike Rugnetta asks: Does the Kinect Make Microsoft an Arts Benefactor?

If you haven't had a chance to play with Microsoft's Kinect, you're missing out on some great video games and some amazing art! The Kinect is a crazy awesome piece of XBox 360 hardware that maps your physical movements onto any screen. Artists of all stripes have embraced the Kinect - using the gesture recognition technology to create some pretty amazing interactive artworks and insanely impressive visuals. These works wouldn't have existed without this amazing piece of technology, making the corporate giant Microsoft the 21st century's incarnation of Lorzeno de Medici."

And further to yesterday's post on holograms, here's another Idea Channel muse:

You might have heard about the debut of Hologram Tupac at the music festival Coachella earlier this year. But with Queen's recent announcement of a Hologram Freddie Mercury and TLC's plans for a Hologram Lisa Left Eye Lopes, it looks like Hologram stars are here to stay. Is this hologram mania just nostalgia, or is it part of an art movement called "New Aesthetic" that blends art and technology?

Which of course leads inevitably to the question: "Is Miku Hatsune A More Authentic Pop Star Than Lana Del Rey?"

Posted by Alison Humphrey at October 1, 2012 07:10 AM