I thought we were already true walking advertisements, except if you wear Muji (= no brand in Japanese)… But Philips has gone a step further :) Read the press release: “Philips illuminates IFA 2006 with production-ready Lumalive textile garments” and check this video about the light emitting T-shirts!!!

image from Philips’ website

seen p. 141 of WIRED 14. 09 (September 2006 issue): NEXTFEST: Tomorrow’s Tech Today [a “preview”]… The item above has an air of déjà vu as the leather (?) bag resembles other conventional looking leather totes… but it is not! It also recalls other products like BYOB and the Voltaic™ Solar Bags Speaking of “integration,” the solar item is sawn on the side. I’d like to see more of designs like those of Issey Miyake and Minagawa Makiko whose use of technology in the design and production process is exemplary. But it is still the work of an undergrad (the youth think tech!) and of great use for neo-nomads! + +

Thinking about “surface real estate” for 2D codes, I came to envisage printing 2D codes on post-its… You know already how much I like post-its, as ubiquitous in our environment as 2D codes… so why not combining both… like that:

Let’s have them printed; let’s people pick the information about ourselves or rooms for rent… though YES!… once I see a 2D code I can scan it with my cellphone… so no need for carrying it you may say… yet… I or others can distribute the 2D-code-post-it, place it, re-place it, dis-place it as wish (and as long as the glue stands :) The post-it is certainly a good advertising tool, as the MIT Advertising Lab, blog on the future of advertising technology posts (And I will try to develop upon this post).

In fact the post-it enables both the posting and the un-posting of notes. Maybe you remember my un-post-it calendar? Having experienced using it, I have noticed:
1. It is slightly fatiguing for the arm to write on post-its, especially when standing
2. One gets an amazing sense of achievement when all the items on the list of the day “disappear”
3. It augments stress when there is a deadline coming up… but some, like me, may work better under a little of good stress!

So I have read that not so long ago, some celebrated the 25 years anniversary of this incredible invention. As the article by Greg Beato emphasizes, this minuscule idea, soon to be big, was the invention of a man who had a vision… that an outdated management couldn’t see.

Anyway, the original post-it, mainly because of its “pixel” shape has inspired many art works based on digital pictures! The pictures of the Post-it Note Video Games Characters are good examples of PIXEL ART, of which, I think, some Post-it art pieces belong. But have a look at the Post-it Note Elvis images!

The article “The Girls Guide to Elvis” by the New Observer newspaper gives us some data: “We’re talking about a mosaic of the King, Elvis Presley himself, made from Post-it Notes. A total of 2,646 sticky notes, to be exact, on a 14-by-9-foot wall.” Tedious though to calculate how many post-it per color scheme one would need, so to calculate how many pack to get… Anyway, would you want to convert a flat image into a post-it art piece, please follow the post-it mosaic howto [updated]!

I (as well) like very much the post by the insurgent muse, “The Under-Appreciated Art of the Post-it”! The art work by Rebecca (picture below comes from the same posting) makes me think of many of the customizable-environments-and-hotel-rooms inquiries that I have been sharing with you.

But I still think that the dimension of the PACK of post-it, which gives a depth to the post-it surface, has unfortunately not been taken into close consideration. After all there might be as much jubilation to post a note as that to un-post it; and to keep un-posting it until the pack ends (Actually, I shall now revise my un-post-it calendar ;)

Hence, one of the most beautiful Post-it work of art is that of the artist VASSEVA, who I have met when drifting in the streets of Budapest (I went to Budapest for the SASE2005 conference and to give a presentation about neo-nomads). Here is a picture downloaded from her website… For me it is more about “effeuiller” (defoliate, denudate…) than “leaving a message.”

Yet I also recall the power of Post-its (mute messages) in the movie by Elia Suleiman, Divine Intervention, 2002. Poignant. On another note, the interview of the movie director in VACARME is particularly interesting, as he also “compares himself to a Bedouin, and claims his experience of nomadism…” The article is in French.

I CAN print my 2D code tattoo!!! (via smooth planet via semapedia) you just need to purchase the Laser Temporary Tattoo Paper and VOILA! (and funny note the brand is called HYAZ ;) I will need to write longer about this. In fact it is not the first time I am exploring the collapsing of boundaries. Here is below a picture of a project I had done at MIT (2000) with the Center for Advanced Visual Studies: in short it is… place mirror TV camera hinge filmed space across a window…

Also I was thinking about my earlier idea, tagging to advertize rooms for rent: it is easy, you make your 2D code print based on the craigslist url of your ad, and you paste it on a special “real estate surface” on the building facade. Proposed designs of the “real estate surface” to come super soon!

Yes… I could get a signal on my cellphone instead… But I’d like to go beyond SPAMSPACE…

Lol

There certainly hasn’t been much studies I know about being lonely in the digital world and the relationship with screens/gadgets… especially when always on the move (physically, mentally or digitally…) except maybe the legendary Life on the Screen by Sherry Turkle who talks about introverted teenages…

Think also about women travelers having to juggle with taking their pills on time despite the jetlag and time zones change… well now you can have a shot of hormones regulation for few months in a row eliminating the hassle of remembering when to take it (… I guess neo-nomads could use that too; though too dangerous to my taste :).

The following deserves our attention… look at the new gadget (via the Wired blog Gear Factor)… OhMiBod (isn’t it so sleek that you want to have it just for the sake of a conversation?):

I particularly like the comment by “mythster34″ who says that “Somebody needs to create an iMix for this thing. Like: “I’m gonna take you higher” “Move to the Music” “Don’t Go out Much Anymore” “Shake That Thing” (Do what you’re gonna do) etc.”

Lol again…

TRAIN AWAY a collection by Puma… pretty interesting “practical fashion-forward products for business travellers.” The shoe has a “unique hotel card storage slot in outsole”… well… it is to put your [W] hotel key. Free to roam, but tied to a chain hotel?

Now I have a nano - black - (Thank you Jean!), and that I have all the time in the world (and no excuse not) to go running ;) I shall pay attention to the next gear to come: the Nike+iPod!!! Jean also pointed out the Wired article: “Making the iPod more sensitive“… We could even be changing the tempo of the music according to our pace! How much virtual power does this give us?!

Jennie Pineus, Headmask renamed Cocoonmask, 2000; Find it at Promise Park!
“The “cocoonmask” instead is a portable version that can be taken anywhere. It folds up and comes in its own bag: an individual personal relaxation sheath. It can be used on the train, at the airport, in the office, library or any public space. Material: Tricot (which breathes), plastic rods Colour: White”

On my way out from that bookstore, I saw her with a funky bag. I could not get my eyes of… the bag… Random encounter, how many times do you dare to ask? Who makes it? She said “A friend from Seattle, check www.alchemygoods.com; it is made of recycled advertisement banners…” I don’t think I can help it… But I like bags… as Steven Connor writes “If you were to arrive on this earth from another planet, what would be the thing that would strike you most about humans, compared with other species? […] It would be our need, apparently unshared by any other species, to carry things around with us.” And again, “We don’t seem to transport ourselves without transporting things with us. Bags mean this possibility. Bags mean ownership, identity, self-possession. They are memories, the weight of all we have been.” [1] What I like about this bag? It is urban, and as mentioned in the website “The material was printed on and then lashed to the sides of buildings all over Seattle to promote various products. No two bags are alike, so the only thing you’ll be advertising is your individuality.” After zipik, the Ad bag :)

[1] Steven Connor, Rough Magic: Bags, 2000 in Ben Highmore, Everyday Life Reader (Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2002); p. 346 and 348

The “F+R Hugs (Hug Shirt) is a shirt that allows to exchange the physical sensation of a hug over distance.” Check out this project by cutecircuit! Another example of the use of technology to replace the missing link/sense when living physically separated… Is there out there a research/project to encapsulate the sense of smell?