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Google opens Web Lab at London's Science Museum, because 'the internet is incredible'
Still unable to resist its techno-philanthropic urges, Google has just unveiled the Web Lab at the Science Museum in London. Paid for entirely with Google juice and constructed in a basement area that was previously used for storage, the exhibition consists of five experiments that help us to "discover the power of the internet while we're on the internet." That might sound cheesy, but we've had a good play with each installation and they're actually very well thought out and accessible -- although, if you're already a hyper-connected nutcase then you might find it more appropriate for friends and family. We won't give too much away in case it spoils your fun, but you can get a flavor from the attached promo video we saw back at Google I/O, plus our gallery and the PR after the break. In any case, it's safe to say that each experiment involves creating and sharing media in a way you've never tried before. What's more, everything you do is stored in a little personal account in the cloud that you can access using the unique "lab tag" shown in the photo above. (Incidentally, all those symbols floating around in the background represent other individuals who are also currently participating in the project -- which ought to give you some idea of the overall premise.) The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow, is free to enter and follows the same opening hours as the main museum -- although the lab's online dimension will remain active for a distinctly un-British 24-7-365.%Gallery-160661%
Google teases Web Lab beta, an intersection of art, technology and the internet?
In case you didn't get enough Google I/O news today, the Chrome team has just let loose a video teasing the launch of Web Lab beta. We aren't exactly sure what the Mountain View crew is up to, but apparently, the Web Lab will be revealed through a series of experiments set to be launched later this summer. Apparently, the installations will make their debut at the London Science Museum, and from the video snippets we've seen, they'll leverage the web and some custom machinery to create works of art. You don't have to take our word for it, however, jus take a minute to see for yourself in the video after the break.
Apple products featured in London art exhibit
Technology has spread into everything from cars to washing machines. Even artists, who used to rely on paint and clay to convey their message, are now using technology as the focus piece in their exhibits. An excellent example of this fusion is the Electroboutique exhibit at the Science Museum in London. Russian artists Alexei Shulgin and Aristarkh Chernyshev are the geniuses behind the "Creative Consumption" exhibit which features a spiraling iPhone, a warped iPod and a dog using an iPad. According the exhibit's description, it uses "languages of pop culture, media and art histories, framed by a tongue-in-cheek appropriation of the language of corporate marketing speak." As someone who gets a lot of PR emails, I think I would enjoy this show. The exhibit debuted in November and runs through February 14 at the Science Museum in London. It's free and would be perfect for an weekend afternoon. [Via Gadget Helpline]
London Science Museum undusts Oramics machine, revisits OG electronic music innovation
Practicing its fist pump and channeling its inner Devo, the London Science Museum will be paying homage to electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram by resurrecting her old synthesizer last used in the '70s -- a device that relies on 35mm film to pump out jams. The classic clunker was found in a French barn last month and will be brought out into the open for the first time in forty years at the museum in old Blighty. "Oramics" operators "draw" music on ten strips of clear film to create a mask. The machine then reads the tape as differences in light and turns it into voltage control, which is used to switch oscillators and control the amplitude of the sound. The effect? A creepy vortex of haunting sounds. Fans of glow sticks and synth sounds can check out the exhibit until December, but if a trip to Londontown's not in your future, there's a video you should ogle after the break.
Game On returns to the UK, London's Science Museum
Sure, Europe has to wait for a lot of things, but one thing they did get first was the Game On exhibition. Game On is a touring video game exhibition started by London's Barbican Art Gallery in 2002. Since then, it's been all over Europe, Israel, Chicago (twice), San Jose, most recently Seattle, and is now returning home to the UK where it will run at London's Science Museum from October 21st to February 25th, err, rather 21 October to 25 February.Your £8.50 adult admission nets you access to a lineup of consoles, dating back to the PDP-1 (the Space War machine), drawings by Shigeru Miyamoto, and hundreds of games. Anyone hit up this show previously and care to offer a recommendation to your fellow gamers? [Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]Read - Video game exhibition announced (BBC)Read - London Science Museum's Game On infoRead - Game On tour page
