b-reel
Latest
How Gorillaz brought a global listening party to your phone
Gorillaz are having a house party at 500 locations around the globe. The animated band -- brainchild of musician Damon Albarn (Blur) and artist Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl) -- is hosting the unusual audio soirée for its upcoming album launch for Humanz. Just streaming the new music to its recently launched app isn't Gorillaz's style, so instead it's created a sort of musical scavenger hunt that's part Pokémon Go, part concert.
Prana: an LED exhibit that breathes with you
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590").style.display="none";}catch(e){} As you step into the shimmering globe of 13,000 LEDs, a sensor detects your presence. It reacts to the rise and fall of your lungs and illuminates the sphere of suspended lights called PRANA. The signal from the chip works its way to a computer that's loaded with custom javascript. The program triggers a variety of light effects – from pitch dark to sparkling lights – that fall in sync with your breathing to wrap you in a hypnotic glow. "Breathing is something that powers the body but you can't see it or detect it in very many ways," says Ben Hughes, managing creative director of B-Reel New York, the creative agency that created the experience. "PRANA is an attempt to visualize the unseen energy of our bodies and augment it in a really interesting way."
3LiveShop woos you into phone contracts by touching your screen from the other side (video)
Feeling lonely? Got some Swedish kronor to burn? Now you can kill two birds with one stone thanks to Three's Scandinavian arm. Hold up, we're not talking about online dating here; but you could certainly start by buying a phone from 3LiveShop, which lets you interact virtually face to face with a human sales rep. Better yet, these folks are equipped with eccentric multitouch workstations (pictured after the break) to let them drag phones and spec sheets around your screen. We had a go on this service just now and apart from a couple of hiccups later on, our Hong Kong-to-Sweden call was surprisingly fluid and fun. Sadly, we didn't get around to filming our intimate conversation with Adam here, but you can watch a promotion video by B-Reel -- the folks behind the touchscreen's Flash interface -- after the break to see how it works. [Thanks, Johan]
