salomeU2000
The Fly
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/cause/mle_doorsthumb.jpg[/SIMG]
Where new media is the big idea
By Sarah R. Finley
Apparently, Bono is stretched a bit thin these days. Several weeks ago, he stepped down as a director for Media Lab Europe (MLE) - a Dublin-based digital media center that is, ?developing new ways in which technologies can expand human potential.?
But this isn?t the end of the line for U2?s interest in MLE. It seems that The Edge is picking up where Bono left off.
While it?s not entirely clear why The Edge has joined the ranks of tech-heads, brainiacs and scholars as a director (or why Bono did for that matter), perhaps we can find out why by learning a little bit about the lab.
Media Lab Europe is a university-level research and education center that is exploring almost every possible way we can use digital media in our lives. The Lab was established in May 2000 and is the result of a 10-year partnership between the Irish Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab in the United States.
Both the MIT lab and its sister lab in Ireland are the brainchild of Professor Nicholas Negroponte and Jerome Wiesner, the latter of which was the Science Advisor to President John F. Kennedy. Negroponte and Wiesner firmly believed that the fast-advancing communication industry was going to transform many areas of our lives, such education and entertainment. Knowing this, they created the MIT Media Lab in 1985, followed 15 years later by Media Lab Europe, both of which are recognized for their cutting-edge, human-inspired technology.
So why?s The Edge involved with these guys? Well, let?s just continue.
Media Lab Europe thinks up inventions that seem to range from the extremely practical to just plain wacky. For instance, at the more useful end, researchers are creating a computer game to help kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to learn and relax. On the more crazy side of things, they?re making jewelry that glows, blinks or changes color as it responds to the person wearing the jewelry, or to someone else?s ?electro jewels.?
Whether they create techno-baubles or games, the purpose of Media Lab Europe is to bring together scientists, academics, artists, and just about anybody else with a passion for technology, under the same roof to generate digital tools that help people think and express themselves.
Right. So again, what?s the deal with The Edge then? We?re getting there.
About 100 people work at Media Lab Europe and they?re housed in the former Guinness Brewery Hop Store, which is now part of Dublin?s Digital Hub - an area rapidly becoming Ireland?s techno-center. Here, you?ll find all sorts of digital media research relating to video games, television, wireless technology and music to name just a few areas.
In no way is the lab teeming with pointy-head scientists who are cut off from the rest of society. Quite the contrary. The majority of research involves partners from all around the world, further demonstrating its interdisciplinary nature.
Now, to arrive at the question, ?Why is The Edge a director for Media Lab Europe?? Well, one school of thought suggests that his interest in audio spotlight technology sparked this new relationship. Apparently, he?s got quite a thing for aiming sound the same way that one can aim a spotlight. We just might find out what this is like at U2?s next concert tour. The band is currently working with Holosonic Research Labs to create some kind of snazzy audio spotlight system. What will they think up next?
Perhaps Bono can explain The Edge?s new connection with this state-of-the-art technology hub. At one point during the Elevation tour, he introduced The Edge by saying, ?He?s done more with technology than you people put together?a man who has made music out of it?a brain so big he has to wear a hat.? Does this mean that all those blokes with woolies are actually hiding something?
Whatever The Edge?s motivation might be in joining Media Lab Europe, or what Bono?s motivation was, the lads can?t be left behind.
For more information on Media Lab Europe, visit: http://www.mle.ie/
Where new media is the big idea
By Sarah R. Finley
Apparently, Bono is stretched a bit thin these days. Several weeks ago, he stepped down as a director for Media Lab Europe (MLE) - a Dublin-based digital media center that is, ?developing new ways in which technologies can expand human potential.?
But this isn?t the end of the line for U2?s interest in MLE. It seems that The Edge is picking up where Bono left off.
While it?s not entirely clear why The Edge has joined the ranks of tech-heads, brainiacs and scholars as a director (or why Bono did for that matter), perhaps we can find out why by learning a little bit about the lab.
Media Lab Europe is a university-level research and education center that is exploring almost every possible way we can use digital media in our lives. The Lab was established in May 2000 and is the result of a 10-year partnership between the Irish Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab in the United States.
Both the MIT lab and its sister lab in Ireland are the brainchild of Professor Nicholas Negroponte and Jerome Wiesner, the latter of which was the Science Advisor to President John F. Kennedy. Negroponte and Wiesner firmly believed that the fast-advancing communication industry was going to transform many areas of our lives, such education and entertainment. Knowing this, they created the MIT Media Lab in 1985, followed 15 years later by Media Lab Europe, both of which are recognized for their cutting-edge, human-inspired technology.
So why?s The Edge involved with these guys? Well, let?s just continue.
Media Lab Europe thinks up inventions that seem to range from the extremely practical to just plain wacky. For instance, at the more useful end, researchers are creating a computer game to help kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to learn and relax. On the more crazy side of things, they?re making jewelry that glows, blinks or changes color as it responds to the person wearing the jewelry, or to someone else?s ?electro jewels.?
Whether they create techno-baubles or games, the purpose of Media Lab Europe is to bring together scientists, academics, artists, and just about anybody else with a passion for technology, under the same roof to generate digital tools that help people think and express themselves.
Right. So again, what?s the deal with The Edge then? We?re getting there.
About 100 people work at Media Lab Europe and they?re housed in the former Guinness Brewery Hop Store, which is now part of Dublin?s Digital Hub - an area rapidly becoming Ireland?s techno-center. Here, you?ll find all sorts of digital media research relating to video games, television, wireless technology and music to name just a few areas.
In no way is the lab teeming with pointy-head scientists who are cut off from the rest of society. Quite the contrary. The majority of research involves partners from all around the world, further demonstrating its interdisciplinary nature.
Now, to arrive at the question, ?Why is The Edge a director for Media Lab Europe?? Well, one school of thought suggests that his interest in audio spotlight technology sparked this new relationship. Apparently, he?s got quite a thing for aiming sound the same way that one can aim a spotlight. We just might find out what this is like at U2?s next concert tour. The band is currently working with Holosonic Research Labs to create some kind of snazzy audio spotlight system. What will they think up next?
Perhaps Bono can explain The Edge?s new connection with this state-of-the-art technology hub. At one point during the Elevation tour, he introduced The Edge by saying, ?He?s done more with technology than you people put together?a man who has made music out of it?a brain so big he has to wear a hat.? Does this mean that all those blokes with woolies are actually hiding something?
Whatever The Edge?s motivation might be in joining Media Lab Europe, or what Bono?s motivation was, the lads can?t be left behind.
For more information on Media Lab Europe, visit: http://www.mle.ie/
