* The Microchip Clips video contest has finished. *
You can see a list with links to all the videos on the Tech Virtual blog (http://thetechvirtual.org/blog) or on the project pages (http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/microchip-clips/videos).
In a few days we should be hearing from the jduges on the results, so check back here for announcements. Thank you to all the entrants for some really interesting projects and good luck!
Here are the final entries from September 1!
"Our World Tomorrow" by Bob Henderson
"the people inside the chip" by Patrick Sharkey
"micro chip josiah and ken" by Kyla Lozis
"Microchip Video Ally, Noelle, Jenise P.3" by Kyla Lozis
"Futureistic Thinking Machines" by Kyla Lozis
"The Future of the Microchip" by Emily DeHority
Here's another batch of entries for the Microchips Clips video contest!
Enter by midnight tonight.
To enter your own videos just follow the instructions
to creage a "project" at http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/microchip-clips
A reminder that you CAN enter as many videos in as many categories as you like!
"Tiree the Thinking Machine" by Josh Bacigalupi
"How Would Life Be?" by Stephen Boyd
"Neurons, Thinking, and Microchips" by Josh Bacigalupi
"A World Without Microchips Sing-Along" by Dan Nguyen
Here's today's batch of entries for the Microchips Clips video contest!
Enter by midnight tonight.
To enter your own videos just follow the instructions
to creage a "project" at http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/microchip-clips
A reminder that you CAN enter as many videos in as many categories as you like!
"SCORN NOT, THE MICROCHIP" by Matt Pierce
"A Day Without Microchips" by Connor Coleman 
"A World Without Microchips" by Matthew Robertson
"Microchip city" by jordan bell 
"life with out chips" by josh woodyard
"A Life Without Microchips?!" by Johnny Sanders 
Here's today's batch of entries for the Microchips Clips video contest!
LAST CALL. Enter by midnight September 1.
To enter your own videos just follow the instructions
to creage a "project" at http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/microchip-clips
A reminder that you CAN enter as many videos in as many categories as you like!
"Our Society is a Microchip" by Jason Spriggs
"What's Going On In There?" by Keith Gudger
"Dialog Between Species" by Nicole Landau
Here's the next batch of entries for the Microchips Clips video contest!
Two days to go. To enter your own videos just follow the instructions
to creage a "project" at http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/microchip-clips
A reminder that you CAN enter as many videos in as many categories as you like!
"One Comparison" by Kate Ackerly 
"Futuristic World" by Tanisha Bhatti
"Traveling Around the Circuits" by Jason Nelson (from the Lives of Microchips Series)
"Traveling Inside Circuits" from the Lives of Microchips Series" by Jason Nelson (from the Lives of Microchips Series) 
"Traveling Between Circuits" from the Lives of Microchips series" by Jason Nelson (from the Lives of Microchips Series)
"Computer Brain" by Raymond Holleb
Here's the first batch of entries for the Microchips Clips video contest!
Less than 1 week to go. To enter your own videos just follow the instructions
to creage a "project" at http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/microchip-clips
A reminder that you CAN enter as many videos in as many categories as you like!
"A World Without Microchips" by Emily DeHority
"I LOVE my MICROCHIPS" by Morissa Schwartz
"No More Microchips" by John DiJulio 
"The Future of thinking machines" by Akul Gupta
"A world without chips" by Akul Gupta
"Inside Microchips" by Gary Backus
Marie Crandell of RocozaDesigns.org has created a video of her team's Waterwall project for Science Centre Singapore Also on the team is and Stephen Crandell and Stina Cooke.
Great work Marie and team!
Click below to watch the video.
Emily from CoolStudyGuides.com (and here's their YouTube channel) has entered the first video in the Microchip Clips Video Contest!
Great work Emily!
Click below to watch the video.
Places of Invention project wrap up
The Places of Invention project (http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention) with The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History (http://invention.smithsonian.org) wrapped up today, with feedback from Amanda Murray who is the coordinator of the project from the Lemelson side.
Over the course of this project there were 20 projects created (http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention/places-of-invention-projects) around the three design challenge sub-topics. The topics included "Design and Interactive Space" which could be deployed in a museum, "Design a Collaborative Activity" which could also be done in a museum, and "Model Your Place of Invention" which invited developers to describe their own idea of what a place of invention could be comprised of.
"Design an Interactive Space"
Amanda relayed that projects “Make
It Your Own” and “House of Inventions" in paricular stood out as being promising for implementation in a real museum environment.
 Make it Your own |
 House of Inventions |
“ Design a Collaborative Activity”
In this challenge the most relevant, promising submission was Luke Hohmann’s “Problem Solving Through Collaborative Play.” Other proposals for this challenge had useful elements such as “Sketch n Scroll” and “Inventor’s Park” in terms of the tools and technologies they present.
 Problem Solving Through Collaborative Play |
 Sketch n Scroll |
 Inventor's Garden
|
“Model
Your Place of Invention”
Submissions in this category were not designed as installed museum content but rather sought to use the virtual world tools to explore the concepts behind Places of Invention. These entries may be featured
in the Places of Invention exhibition as enlarged screenshots or other images, with
credit info and the big idea they included on The Tech Virtual.
Overall there is a consensus that this exercise brought out a lot of interesting issues around the topic and provided insight into how people might approach it, from many angles.
Congratulations are in order. It takes a lot of confidence and
initiative to present an idea, model it, and make it into something. When or where else would you be able to work on such a topic with an
institution like Smithsonian, on such a compelling topic?
Look forward to a recap and followup meeting during August.
Here's the chatlog: http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/meeting-transcripts/2010-07-22-places-of-invention-reviews-12-wrapup
You can view the Second Life meeting and prototyping space for this project at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Tech%202/177/214/34
Due to the interest in Places of Invention, the time period for participating has been extended to
July 18.
The design briefs can be found at http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention
Some new projects were recently added (http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention/places-of-invention-projects) and it will be a great opportunity to allow those to develop.
We will have 2 final workshop opportunities with Lemelson on July 8th and 15th at the usual 1 p.m. PST/4 p.m. EST time.
You can attend the meetings and view the ongoing projects that have Second Life builds at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Tech%202/177/214/34
Tell your friends about this unique project over the 4th of July holiday and invite them to join the conversation!
Hello!
Here's a quick heads-up, the Places of Invention (http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention) is due to close tomorrow, June 30.
Those of you who are working on projects let's wrap them up and if you were hesitating to start one, the time is now.
Don't miss this opportunity to be part of a major project at the Smithsonian (http://invention.smithsonian.org) itself.
I'm on daily for help and we'll still meet this Thursday even though it is July 1.
http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention
In June The Tech Virtual project was awarded the second annual Linden Prize (http://lindenlab.com/lindenprize) which is awarded for the most "innovative project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world".
Instrumental to winning this prestigious award are the partner museums in The Tech Virtual project, and the group of talented developers who contribute to it on a daily basis. The prize serves to validate the forward-looking vision of the Gordon and BettyMoore Foundation in funding this innovative project since 2007.
 |
 |
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
Announcement:
http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2010/06/01/announcing-the-winner-of-the-2010-linden-prize
Coverage:
06/27/10: Examiner.com: http://www.examiner.com/examiner
06/08/10: Expolab.net: http://expolab.net/eng/?p=726
06/03/10:
Massively.com: http://www.massively.com/2010/06/03/2010-linden-prize-winner-the-tech-virtual/
06/01/10:
BeTheGamer.com: http://www.bethegamer.com/2010/06/03/2010-linden-prize-winner-the-tech-virtual/
06/01/10:
SecondCitizen.net: http://www.secondcitizen.net/Forum/showthread.php?p=216612
06/01/10:
SLUniverse.com: http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion
06/01/10: RLEtc.com: http://www.rletc.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2559
06/01/10:
Simlands.com: http://www.simlands.com/second-life-news/announcing-the-winner-of-the-2010-linden-prize.html
06/01/10: Slookable.org: http://slookable.org/?p=2286
06/01/10: Your2ndPlace.com: http://www.your2ndplace.com/node/1790
06/01/10: MixedRealities.com: http://www.mixedrealities.com/?p=3251
06/01/10: Slentre.com: http://www.slentre.com/2010-linden-prize-winner-announced-the-tech-virtual-museum-workshop/
06/01/10: Tech Virtual wins 2010 Linden Prize: http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2010/06/01
05/28/10: Linden Prize 2010 Finalist writeup: http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2010/05/28
05/28/10: Feature in Linden Prize Destination Guide: http://secondlife.com/destinations/lindenprize
05/21/10: Tech Virtual announced as Linden Prize Finalist: http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community
The Tech Virtual has been selected from over 130 projects as one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Linden Prize
(http://lindenlab.com/lindenprize).
During 2009, the core concept of Tech Virtual was extended. What if you could not only prototype exhibits, but also virtually prototype an entire museum gallery and share that with stakeholders such as administrators, curators, exhibit designers, and sponsors? Where traditionally, a concept in development would rely on a delicate and static model made from foam board, balsa and paper, we were able to utilize an immersive Second Life environment built to scale. The model was built over several weeks, then modified in a session with the curators and designers. By utilizing both walkthroughs and screenshots, the entire gallery transformation was visualized and shared in an afternoon (http://thetechvirtual.org/blog/2010/01/15/rapid-prototyping-an-entire-museum-gallery).
From a kickoff event on International Museums Day on May 18, 2009, The Tech Virtual ran a 45-day program of screenshare trainings for over 100 registered museum and educational professionals about the program (http://techvirtualtraining.eventbrite.com). Screenshare sessions were used for this series, specifically to train non-users. These were not merely virtual meetings, but real outreach and training to show first-hand and in real time the speed and visualization benefits of using Second Life. Two museums who had personnel attend these trainings are now active in using the platform.
In 2010, The Tech Virtual became instrumental in bringing this mode of prototyping and testing to these other institutions. Citilab Cornella in Barcelona utilized Second Life to prototype its radically participatory exhibition "Expolab" (http://expolab.net/eng/?p=512). Participants designed two meter by two meter spaces for an interactive exhibit concept chosen from categories such as education, programming and museology.
Science Centre Singapore has begun to explore exhibits revolving around the properties and facets of "Water" for new installations in the tropical country (http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/water) .
In March 2010, the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History (http://invention.smithsonian.org) sent a dedicated team member to incorporate these abilities into an upcoming project called "Places of Invention" (http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2010/05/its-your-turn-to-be-the-inventor-at-the-american-history-museum).
Also in March, The Tech Virtual coordinated and hosted the CoLABoration 2010 conference (http://programforthefuture.org/conference) which recognized five finalists for the Program for the Future Challenge (http://thetechvirtual.org/blog/2010/03/08/engelbart-prize-and-semi-finalists-of-the-program-for-the-future-challenge) and one winner of the Engelbart Prize.In April, the use of the virtual environment for prototyping exhibits was presented in workshop format at Museums and the Web conference (http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/ketner/ketner.html).
In this context The Tech Virtual has gone beyond the "virtual museum" concept into one in which the virtual exhibits become a precursor of the real construction. These are results that those in both the virtual and real worlds can experience and appreciate.
The Linden Prize winner will be announced June 1.
Stay tuned!
Here's a repost of some coverage of the 4/30/10 press release.
Via: Inventorspot.com http://inventorspot.com/articles/lemelson_41053?
"Places of Invention" will focus on hot spots of invention--areas where a critical mass of inventive people, networks, institutions and resources converge and creativity flourishes. The design project will simultaneously foster a dialogue about hot spots of invention and contribute to a new, participatory model for doing museum work. The Tech Virtual is a new approach to creating invention and science-based exhibit content for museums using the virtual world of Second Life as a platform for content development, allowing the Lemelson Center to collect fresh ideas and use the most innovative tools available.
"The Lemelson Center’s mission to foster and advance innovation starts at home," said Arthur Molella, director of the center. "The partnership with The Tech Virtual not only allows us to build interest around the ways that place shapes the inventive process but also to live our mission by developing our exhibitions and programs through creative and innovative collaborations."
The public can contribute work in three categories: design an interactive exhibit space that allows museum visitors to model their own place of invention, design an activity that encourages museum visitors to practice collaboration, or use a virtual environment or other design tools to model the contributor’s own place of invention. For design briefs and more information, visit The Tech Virtual Places of Invention project page.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions must include at least a two-paragraph text description and at least four digital images to document the project. Contributors may use any tool, digital or non-digital, to document and illustrate ideas--the use of Second Life is not required. All materials should be posted to the "Places of Invention" project page on The Tech Virtual website by June 30. Contributors will receive ongoing feedback from museum staff and those who complete contributions in Second Life--a professional, collaborative prototyping tool--can participate in weekly design forums hosted in Second Life.
Notable entries may be featured on the Lemelson Center’s website. The most compelling contributions, as judged by the center, may be developed further by museum staff for inclusion in the physical "Places of Invention" exhibition. Contributions may generate new content, questions, designs and ideas that will help shape the Lemelson Center’s exhibition planning process.
The Tech Museum is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum--located in Silicon Valley--is a non-profit learning resource established to engage people in exploring and experiencing technologies affecting their lives. The Tech Museum launched The Tech Virtual in December 2007. For more information, visit The Tech Museum.
The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center is dedicated to exploring invention in history and encouraging inventive creativity in young people. The center is supported by The Lemelson Foundation, a private philanthropy established by one of the country’s most prolific inventors, Jerome Lemelson, and his family. The Lemelson Center is located in the National Museum of American History. For more information, visit The Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian Museum.
Myra Per-Lee
Featured Writer
InventorSpot.com
Today the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation launches a new project on The Tech Virtual.
It's called "Places of Invention" (http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention) and invites you to contribute ideas about how to shape this exhibition in three categories: designing an interactive exhibit space, designing an activity which allows visitors to experience collaboration, or desinging your own place of invention.
Below find today's release from Lemelson Center's Prototype newsletter. This project will run through June 30, and feature weekly reviews of the projects submitted. Don't miss this chance to collaborate on this fascinating topic.
You can get started by reading the design briefs at http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention.
|
The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation today launches a collaborative design project with The Tech Virtual at the The Tech Museum in California. Through a series of design challenges hosted by The Tech Virtual, the Lemelson Center invites the public to develop and prototype design concepts for the Center’s next exhibition about modern and historic “hot spots” of invention and innovation. The Tech Virtual is a new approach to creating invention and science-based exhibit content for museums using the virtual world of Second Life as a platform for content development, allowing the Lemelson Center to collect fresh ideas and utilize the most innovative tools available. The public can contribute ideas in one or all of these categories: design an interactive exhibit space that allows museum visitors to model their own place of invention; design an activity that encourages museum visitors to practice collaboration, a key feature of many innovative communities; or use a virtual environment or other design tools to model the contributor’s own place of invention. For design briefs and submission guidelines, visit http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/places-of-invention. Image Caption: In the early 1970s, researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center removed conventional seats, desks, and tables from a conference room and filled it with beanbags to create a space for inventive thinking and collaboration as they tried to design a digital user interface. Their ideas led to the computer desktop screen and functions we know so well today. Photo by Xerox PARC.
|
We Want to Know How Place Shaped YourCreative Process