warning: nerd content ahead

warning: nerd content ahead

Review of Nextfest 2006. It wasn't exactly the Nerdfest I had been expecting. There were all types of people there: families, teenagers on dates, very old married couples, babies, and... nerds. But it was really fun. And everything was free, after the $12 "student" admission. I've included some visual aids* where appropriate and available, because since this is the technology of the future, it can't quite be described to those who have not experienced it. (m.s. I did not take any of these videos or photos.) Some highlights, in no particular order: 1. Laser Harps. The very first exhibit. Giant harps with, instead of metal strings, red laser beams. I could have stayed all day perfecting my art of being a harp virtuouso, but there were robots to be seen. The harps were cooler than the ones in this video, but videos on laser harps are very limited. Video of laser harp 2. NASA. Spacesuits, Mars-roving robots, astronauts, and stickers. I waited patiently for an autograph of one Mark Kelly. He didn't understand why my hair was pink. Because the purple faded. Why was it purple? Because I like purple. Now just sign the damn photo (which incidentally, is the exact photo as on the wikipedia entry linked to above). I wanted to get an autograph for my 16-year old brother, but the Boyfriend reminded me that 16-year old boys are both too old and too young to think astronauts are cool. So no autograph for Brother. He'll be sorry in like 10 years. We did get super-futuristic blue-screen photos of our faces in a spacesuit during a spacewalk. Because I don't have a scanner, you can't see them. But they're really cool. I'd also like to point out that the NASA technology of printing digital photos was the slowest technology at the whole fair. I found it ironic. 3. Robots! You didn't know that (mostly) Asian robots are taking over the Earth, albeit slowly. Very slowly. I met Actroid, Alex Hubo, and Jules, and heard their inventors speak. a. Actroid. For the record, Actroid is not based on any particular real person. However, she is very realistic, and a little creepy. I know this because I asked the inventor myself. That's right, I had a conversation with a Japanese robotics expert. And not even in the Q & A session in the demonstration**. I sought him out later and talked to him privately in his broken English. He bowed thank you. And so did I. Didn't even ask about my hair. Video of Actroid*** b. Alex Hubo. For some reason, the head of Albert Einstein was put on a robot, making this the first walking, talking robot with an expressive face. Again, bordering on the creepy side. --> Video of Alex Hubo c. Jules. From the same people that designed Albert Einstein's head (Hanson Robotics) comes this completely androgynous android. It was taken from a computer-made average of thousands of faces of both genders and made into a (creepy) head. It is used in socio-psychological experiments on gender identity. Sorry, no picture available. m.s. - They also designed a head of Philip K. Dick, but the inventor left it on a plane and it was never seen again. That was funny. 4. Coca-cola Blak. I don't know why this was there, but they were giving away free samples. I guess it's the soda of the future. I'll admit I did like this weird blend of coffee and soda more than regular soda, but that doesn't mean anything because I'm not really a "fan" of soda. But it was tolerable. Not tolerable enough that I'm going to start buying it, but it was ok for free. 5. The future of "green." Environmentally sound houses. Plants that remove arsenic from the soil. (Why is there arsenic in my soil?) Ragbags - cool purses / handbags that are made of recycled plastic bags. Solar powered cars. Wind powered everything. Lots of super stuff that I don't feel like listing or showing pictures of. And so on. 6. Brainball. Strap special headbands on and sit at a table, staring at a tiny ball. The headbands measure brainwaves, so the ball goes away from the most relaxed person. The object is to relax so much that the ball goes in the goal across from you. I don't have to mention this, but I will to show I'm not a sore loser: The Boyfriend kicked my ass at Brainball (twice!) before I even got a chance to relax. It was a savage brain-beating. 7. Video games. What would a nerdfest be without video games? What I've learned is that the future of videogames relies on optics and cameras instead of wires and controllers. There were several games where you act out what your vg character should be doing, such as karate-chopping the enemies. There were also several in which the game was projected onto a screen and your shadow affected the action. Those were fun. Video of Kick-Ass Kung Fu 8. Hug Shirt. Bluetooth-enabled shirts that you and your long-distance lover wear at the same time. You hug yourself, your phone sends a text message to your lover, and they feel the hug in the shirt. It was useless and lame. But I guess some folks like it. 9. Vein Viewer. A special camera that you shine on your arm to show your veins so that you can get shots easier. A good idea, but it was weird to see. 10. Paro. Robotic toy seals used for therapy. When you pet them, they react. They are soft and cute, and lonely people in nursing homes like them. One lady was complaining that the reaction time was too slow, and I told her that obviously she wouldn't benefit from the therapy. Then we had a robo-fight. She's dead now. Anyway, cute little Paro even helped the Japanese Prime Minister, according to this video. Video of Paro 11. Xerox. As their ad campaign for their new package-less ink, the "nice" people at Xerox were taking thermal photographs of us and printing them out. Again, because I have no scanner, you can't see ours. You can actually tell whose photograph is of The Boyfriend because the outlines of his facial features were a slightly different temperature than the rest of him. It's weird. Mine doesn't look like me except for the blue triangle that is my nose. Apparently my nose is the coldest part of my body. That was weird too. There were many many more things that were super cool, a lot of them useful only for entertaining nerds. We got there early (luckily) and stayed for about 5 hours before the balance of crowd versus neat stuff to see gave out and we went home. The moral of the story is: If Nextfest comes to your city, go to it. It's worth the $15. *Even though I spent several hours collecting and embedding the videos, some of them didn't work. So I've included links to go watch them, instead of having broken videos on my page. These videos start automatically when you go to the page. **We left the Q & A because the first person asked if the robots were anatomically correct. There was an akward silence, and the mediator (Adam Rogers, Senior Editor, WIRED Magazine) decided they weren't allowed to answer that question. *** You speak Japanese, right?