Adam Montandon's Blog
Read my latest news and digital adventures updated every day.
New photographs
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Adam Montandon's recent press photo taken at TwoFour Studios in Plymouth.
This is one of Adam Montandon's all time favourite photographs that was on the front cover of issue 1 of MXDJ magazine in 2004 in America.
This photograph is from a series of photos by Jim Wileman who photographed Adam Montandon for The Times in 2007. The colours in the wall behind me are part of my sound reactive studio I designed for disabled children in the USA and in the UK.
This photograph was taken by Jason Mills in Toronto, Canada.
This photograph of Adam Montandon was taken by Jason Mills in Vienna, Austria, above the rooftops of the city during the Europrix awards that Adam presented that year.
This photograph was also taken by Jason Mills in our first ever tiny studio. We were all crammed into a tiny room when HMC Interactive began in 2003 and 2004.
This photograph of Adam looking very cheeky was taken by the lovely Michele Perras at ICE08 in Canada.
This photograph was taken in the underground dungeon at Port Elliot during the installation of my Hyperfabric project.
Labels: Photos
More photos from Living Coasts
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Here are two more high resolution photos of us behind the scenes at Living coasts. One is of myself testing out our interactive floor with its state of the art infa-red sensors in a system I designed and tested myself. The other picture is of Luke Angell testing out the 3 touch screens mounted into the walls.
If you cant get to living coasts, you can always add Ping the penguin to your facebook friends! He's so cute... but he smells of fish!
More info on the Mini
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HMC Interactive have completed work on the first of three major two-day conferences for the Driving Standards Agency. A touch-screen based interactive voting system was designed and built to allow nearly 300 conference attendees to ask questions, fill out surveys and leave feedback about the conference. This interactive allowed a live Q&A system where DSA employees were able to anonymously ask questions to the Board of Directors about the company and these were answered in situ.
As well as the touch screen system, HMC Interactive created an extra special centrepiece for the conference. A classic Mini Cooper painted in DSA's brand colours was pimped out with a plasma screen TV and custom video diary software. The 'Diary Wheels', as it became known, used the well-known voice of Big Brother to ask conference delegates questions about the DSA. Their answers were automatically recorded and edited into a vox pops video to give everyone a taste of the conference.
This interactive was highly successful amongst the delegates as it was the perfect non-intrusive feedback system which was also fun to use and original.
As well as the touch screen system, HMC Interactive created an extra special centrepiece for the conference. A classic Mini Cooper painted in DSA's brand colours was pimped out with a plasma screen TV and custom video diary software. The 'Diary Wheels', as it became known, used the well-known voice of Big Brother to ask conference delegates questions about the DSA. Their answers were automatically recorded and edited into a vox pops video to give everyone a taste of the conference.
This interactive was highly successful amongst the delegates as it was the perfect non-intrusive feedback system which was also fun to use and original.
Guildhall Revamp
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By Matt Fleming
Business opportunities in Devonport are set to be 'potentially immense' when the area's historic but run-down Guildhall is transformed next year, say those behind the scheme.
Transformation of the Grade I-listed building in Ker Street into a cultural and business centre will bring 'major business opportunities for local people', says the social enterprise driving the plan forward.
The bid has been led by the Plymouth office of the Real Ideas Organisation (RiO), a community interest company.
This week it learned the Big Lottery Fund had approved in principle a £1million grant to help it 'once again flourish and become one of the South West's key hubs for culture, business, media, education and social and community activities'.
RiO has grown out of the Government's flagship Creative Partnerships initiative in the South West and is devoted to creative and cultural regeneration. For the past eight months it has been working on the Guildhall bid in collaboration with Plymouth City Council, consultants and architects GHK, the Devonport Regeneration Community Partnership and CoastNet, which promotes sustainable management of Britain's coastline and seas.
This week's £1m funding indication means the alliance can start on the development of full-scale plans in consultation with the Devonport community and other partners.
RiO says it hopes the move will see the Guildhall fulfil its potential as 'a key South West centre for learning, culture, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurialism'.
"Some of the key factors needed to create a good environment for entrepreneurship and business are diversity and strong networks", said Ed Whitelaw, lead developer for RiO.
"The Guildhall will bring a number of public, third-sector and private organisations further together within one place, creating a critical mass of activity.
"These social, cultural and educational organisations will not only work in synergy together but will also further connect the local community to citywide, regional and national opportunities", he said. "With organisations such as RiO and the internationally-known HMC Interactive delivering work in one place, the possibilities this creates for local young people are potentially immense.
"To get to this key point in the Guildhall development process has been a very long but extremely worthwhile journey with a lot of hard work from an extensive team of extremely committed people.
"I can't wait to be standing in Devonport in a year and a half's time a see a vibrant and redeveloped Devonport Guildhall that not only serves the needs of the local community but is a also a cultural centre of regional if not national significance."
Labels: Press
Cyber Chandelier
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Today I have been working on the latest designs for my Cyber Chandelier with Anais Van Delft! I am so excited! It will be a very low hanging Cyber Chandelier that will hang in our Plymouth studio.
I am designing it to incorporate light and interaction at every level. It will not simply give off light, but play with it and react to it. The end result will feature over 30 miniature screens and hundreds of lazer beams to create a truly unique light work.
Labels: warehouse
Tamar River Project
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Last night Mike Hooton from weir-quay invited me and some of the crew from TwoFour to join him on an amazing and beautiful boat ride along the river Tamar.
Mike is setting up an amazingly innovative project where he will be designing and building a solar powered floating classroom. The idea is to create a special boat covered in solar panels that can take around 60 school children up and down the river to learn about its rich cultural significance. It will also feature leading edge learning tools that I will be helping him with in the future. Mike is very excited to see how people will interact with large scale digital tables that reveal the secrets of the river in a hands-on way, and allow children to experience something that changes throughout the journey on the river.
Working in a solar powered boat will be a completely new experience for me and I really hope that Mike finds the support he needs to get his project off the ground. He's got a long way to go, but I'm sure it will be great when its done.
Warehouse concepts
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Over the next 2 weeks I will be working on some new cutting edge innovative projects for our new MediaLab:Warehouse. Now a few of you have asked about what they will be, and many of the projects have been kept top secret. However I can reveal this one concept image for an interactive light garden. There will be a path and trail through light. There will be blobs of light on the floor, like glowing orbs, and they will respond to your movements and actions. Some of them might even try to communicate directly back to you. There will also be an amazing installation on the ceiling that I am very excited about, but I cant tell you more details until next week.
All the concept art is being finished today and we begin production this afternoon. The first phase of the warehouse will have several beautiful interactive sculptural elements, like the above image by Anais Van Delft
I will also be looking to create an interactive reception room piece, but I'll give you more details on that later.
Labels: warehouse
2008 Museums And Heritage Shortlist
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My company HMC Interactive was short listed along with Newangle, Machineshop and Sysco for the prestigious 2008 Museums and Heritage awards show for our work on the Weller Galleries at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. We were short listed in the Best use of Technology category and the Readers Choice award as well.
The award show was excellent fun, and it was great to see so many people in the UK working hard to make amazing visitor experiences in museums.
When I was a kid, museums always seemed so static, dull and boring, and unfortunately many still are. It’s down to the creative community to generate new and exciting ways of dealing with learning, education and interactivity to reach new audiences and amaze and inspire the next generation.
“We have once again been overwhelmed by both the number and quality of entries we have received for this year’s Awards for Excellence,” said Anna Preedy, Director of the Museums and Heritage Show and founder of the awards.
“Not only do the Awards provide a much needed platform to celebrate the incredible achievements of our cultural attractions, they also provide us all with an opportunity to share in the wealth of knowledge and experience that exists within our industry. We are looking forward to another fantastic Awards in 2009.”
The awards were judged by a panel of industry professionals, including: Bernard Donoghue, Head of Government and Public Affairs at VisitBritain; Diane Lees, Director of V&A Museum of Childhood; Matthew Tanner MBE, Director of ss Great Britain and Phil Reed, Director of the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms.
Labels: awards
Seeing things in a different light
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The following article is from a BBC report by Greg Wade. If you have Real Player you can watch the video here.
A Devon inventor has come up with a revolutionary device to help people who are colour blind to identify colours.
Reporter Greg Wade has been to see the device in action.
Imagine a world where you couldn't see any colour, and where oranges were grey and red peppers were an even darker grey.
Well for many who are colour blind - whether partially or fully - that is their reality.
But that is about to change, thanks to a new invention from a Plymouth inventor.
Adam Montandon has used computer technology to produce a device called an Eye-Borg, which enables people to hear the sound of a colour.
For example, blue creates a high sound, while red creates a low sound.
Neil Harbisson, an art student from Spain who is based in Dartington, South Devon, is the first person in the country to be equipped with the device.
He suffers from total colour blindness, so for him the device is especially useful. Being an artist and a musician, visuals and sounds are very important to Neil.
When he first got the device he often spent an hour in the fruit or flower section of a supermarket - just so he could experience for the first time the sound of the vibrant colours.
The Eye-Borg consists of a digital camera and a backpack which contains the computer and headset for Neil to listen to colours.
Neil said: "It has completely changed the way I see the world and the way I perceive things. Everything has an extra layer.
"I can go out and buy red peppers now, which I couldn't do before - I had to ask."
Eventually, Adam hopes to produce a miniature version, maybe shrinking it to the size of a mobile phone or eye glasses.
The device has all sorts of uses - from the electrician who is colour blind, to the artist who wants to explore a new and exciting world of colour and sound.
Between Adam and Neil, they both hope to improve and advance the Eye-Borg so it is more accurate and sophisticated.
A Devon inventor has come up with a revolutionary device to help people who are colour blind to identify colours.
Reporter Greg Wade has been to see the device in action.
Imagine a world where you couldn't see any colour, and where oranges were grey and red peppers were an even darker grey.
Well for many who are colour blind - whether partially or fully - that is their reality.
But that is about to change, thanks to a new invention from a Plymouth inventor.
Adam Montandon has used computer technology to produce a device called an Eye-Borg, which enables people to hear the sound of a colour.
For example, blue creates a high sound, while red creates a low sound.
Neil Harbisson, an art student from Spain who is based in Dartington, South Devon, is the first person in the country to be equipped with the device.
He suffers from total colour blindness, so for him the device is especially useful. Being an artist and a musician, visuals and sounds are very important to Neil.
When he first got the device he often spent an hour in the fruit or flower section of a supermarket - just so he could experience for the first time the sound of the vibrant colours.
The Eye-Borg consists of a digital camera and a backpack which contains the computer and headset for Neil to listen to colours.
Neil said: "It has completely changed the way I see the world and the way I perceive things. Everything has an extra layer.
"I can go out and buy red peppers now, which I couldn't do before - I had to ask."
Eventually, Adam hopes to produce a miniature version, maybe shrinking it to the size of a mobile phone or eye glasses.
The device has all sorts of uses - from the electrician who is colour blind, to the artist who wants to explore a new and exciting world of colour and sound.
Between Adam and Neil, they both hope to improve and advance the Eye-Borg so it is more accurate and sophisticated.
Labels: colourblind, Press
Backstage at LegoLand
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Here is a short video interview following my keynote speech at the LegoLand innovation conference in Denmark.
After the keynote students asked me questions on innovation and creativity, and here is the result.
Institute of Biomedical Engineering
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Yesterday Professor Yang and his team from Imperial College kindly offered to show me around the robotic facility and demonstrate some of his latest research projects. I was guided around the amazing Institute of Biomedical Engineering near South Kensington.
It was absolutely fascinating to be allowed to play with state of the art medical robotic technology, and the work Professor Yang and his team are doing is truly mind blowing. Firstly, her showed me a robot-surgery machine that allowed you to use 3D vision to manipulate medical tools in a very easy to use way. The robots responded to your finger movements very smoothly, and it was a truly unique experience to play with this sort of technology.
He also showed me a "cufflink" sized chip that was fully wifi enabled, and was able to detect the motions of your inner ear, sensing balance and transmitting it wirelessly. Not only does this have amazing medical potetial to detect bone, joint and balance problems, but it could also be integrated into hearing aids to detect a fall or trip. This would be a fantastic "first alert" service to the elderly and those with mobility problems.
Also I was pleased to see that Professor Yang's team had a good sense of humour and had re-programmed their amazing tiny microchip for some really fun gaming experiences. They had created a sort of "snowboarding" type 3D game where you must shift your balance to control the characters on screen down an icy hill. It was such smooth interaction. I expect that we will see more of this kind of subtle wifi interaction in the future.
It was nice to hear Professor Yang talk about "pervasive computing" from a medical perspective, as this will have huge impact on peoples lives.
Alton Towers
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For the past 3 days I have been working on a really nice project in Alton Towers for the DSA. Its been a lot of fun, but I've had no sleep whatsoever! I will be posting pictures as soon as I can, and you will see the amazing interactive Mini Cooper we produced. Its a beautiful old mini done up to the nines with an amazing bright orange paint job. The inside is modified with a huge plasma screen, video camera and interactive steering wheel. It features the voice over from the Big Brother guy, and records Diary Room style video from inside the blacked out mini. It has been so popular over the past few days.
We have also installed 32 interactive touch screens in the conference rooms for live voting and crowed interaction. Its really sweet.
Aardman Media Sandbox
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Merging animation with real life video footage on screen is something that has been done for years. Classic films like ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ have spellbound adults and children alike. What if this could happen in real life? Can a cartoon reality become part of our reality, creating an augmented hyper-reality?
This project will examine platforms that allow HMC to bring Aardman characters to life, utilising a number of playful and interactive delivery systems in and around locations across the City of Bristol. The Project aims to understand the city as a canvas, and experiment how digital media can augment space and location, culminating in an event that will showcase the methods that have been uncovered.
HMC Interactive is an award winning multimedia production company, based in Plymouth, UK. With a passion for exhibition and educational output, HMC have enjoyed success with a range of projects for clients such as National Museum of Scotland, Battle Abbey Visitor Centre, the Royal Observatory, the National Waterfront Museum Swansea and Cadbury World.
Aardman is a multi-Oscar winning studio and a world leader in character led 3D animated film production making animation for idents, short films, commercials, web series, web content, TV services & feature films. Best known for Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Creature Comforts, Angry Kid. Recent commercials clients include British Gas, CocaCola, Johhny Walker, Kelloggs, Hovis & Budweiser.
Flogos
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Francisco Guerro, a former magician and co-founder of SnowMasters Inc, watches one of his floating logos – branded Flogos – drift away, above. Mr Guerro has developed a machine that can send foamy clouds as wide as 4ft and shaped like corporate logos drifting into the sky. The Walt Disney Company will use it next month to make Mickey Mouse-shaped clouds at Walt Disney World in Florida, he said. Mr Guerro, whose firm in Lexington, Alabama, makes fake snow for Hollywood, says the foam is environmentally safe and pops like bubbles when it lands. There is an amazing video here.MyBlogLog
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Hi Everyone
I have added a little widget thingy on the side of this page that will allow you to see your face on the site every time you visit! Yay! You need to sign up with MyBlogLog (its free) and you can upload your photo and information, and that way every time you visit the site your link and photo will be left here. Give it a try, its a bit of fun.
I have added a little widget thingy on the side of this page that will allow you to see your face on the site every time you visit! Yay! You need to sign up with MyBlogLog (its free) and you can upload your photo and information, and that way every time you visit the site your link and photo will be left here. Give it a try, its a bit of fun.
Futility in Technology
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This is the ultimate in futile technology. You flip a switch, and a little hand comes out to switch itself back off again. I absolutely love this project.
Richard and Judy interview a cyborg
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This is a few years old now, but it was a lot of fun!
Labels: colourblind, TV and Live
Thought of the Month
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Sometimes, the slightest change can have dramatic effects - much like nudging a sleeping man in a church.
Labels: thoughts
AquaJelly
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This is the absolutely beautiful robotic Aquajelly that has an amazing video here.AquaJelly is an artificial autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive unit and an intelligent adaptive mechanism that emulates swarming behaviour. It consists of a translucent hemisphere, a central watertight body and eight tentacles for propulsion. AquaJelly’s translucent hemispherical dome houses an annular control board with integrated, pressure, light and radio sensors. The orientation of the propulsion system is constantly monitored by a processor. The control board also contains 8 white and 8 blue LEDs, which together with the sensors allow communication between several AquaJellies. On the outside, AquaJelly has two concentric silver rings coated with conductive metal paint; connected to these is a charging control unit that supplies the jellyfish with energy. When AquaJelly approaches a charging station located above the water surface, it is drawn towards it and supplied with electricity.
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