high rise
Latest
One Millionth Tower documentary elevates the art of HTML5
Impressive demos of HTML5-based wizardry may be more common than ever now, but that doesn't mean there isn't still room to be impressed. One of latest to raise the bar is the One Millionth Tower documentary from the National Film Board of Canada's Highrise project. The main feature itself runs just over six minutes if you choose to simply sit back and watch, but things get quite a bit more interesting if you dive in and explore the highrise neighborhood that's the focus of the documentary, which is realized in WebGL-based 3D environment. Naturally, there's also a behind-the-scenes look at how the documentary was made, and the NFB has even made the source code available for those that want to dig deeper. Head on past the break for the trailer, and hit the source link below to check out the full thing for yourself -- we'd recommend switching your browser to full screen mode for the best experience. [Thanks, Kat]
Robotic smart buildings under development in Japan, J.G. Ballard says 'told ya'
Think of it as home automation but on a far larger scale: The Small Robotics Building project is a joint undertaking by Shimizu Corp and Yasukawa Electric Corp in Japan. Utilizing smart infrastructure technology and robotics, the companies are creating an automated living environment that can handle such duties as reception, deliveries, cleaning, and security, without the need for human intervention. Instead of relying on individual robots to perform functions like human detection and device control, all this is handled by the building-wide network, which then dispatches robots to perform various tasks. Sure, this all sounds very High Rise, but don't start mulling over notions of postmodern alienation yet: all we have right now is a demo called the Smart Showroom, where visitors are greeted by an adorable robot, who gives a little presentation while involving spoken explanations and a projector. Sounds innocent enough, right?
Korean robots to build high-rises by 2010
Dude, Korea knows we've been sending humans to do a robot's job for far too long already, and in a few short years the dangerous world of high rise construction could be left to the true masters of the craft. By 2010, the Korean Construction and Transportation Ministry hopes to have an almost completely automated construction process in place for high-rise projects that could cut labor costs by up to a third, project timelines by 15 percent, and reduce the number of construction-related injuries on these typically dangerous projects. Of course, an inevitable robotic Jurgis Rudkus will be blowing the whistle on robotic working conditions shortly thereafter. Still, civilization stands to benefit greatly from the accelerated completion of super-sized skyscrapers -- at least until the builders turn on us and convert us into human fuel cells.
