dorkbot-boston 200903 - Gilad Lotan, Todd Vanderlin March 31, 2009

Dorkbot-boston is a monthly gathering of people doing strange things
with electricity. Bring your projects, in whatever state they are in,
and bring 10 friends!

This months presenters:

* Todd Vanderlin (www.toddvanderlin.com) is an artist, designer, and
technologist at the R&D Lab at Arnold, a Boston based new media
agency. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, his research involves
exploring touch and flocking interfaces, eye tracking, large-scale
projections, computer vision, and sensory design. Todd is also a key
contributor to the openFrameworks project (openframeworks.cc), a
software toolkit for creative coding and art. His recent work
includes software experiments w/ iPhoto, interactive projections,
touchable sound installations, and a drawing robot.

* Gilad Lotan (http://www.giladlotan.com) is an artist, designer, and
technologist at Microsoft Startup Labs, Cambridge. He is passionate
about the intersection between culture, technology, and spatial
design, made possible through interactive design. Previous work
includes imPulse -- a technological interface for augmenting intimate
moments between people at a distance by allowing users to share their
pulse with one another, stage design for Faust International Theater,
Hong Kong, and Kotel -- an installation that uses 3d technology and
touch sensors embedded within a rock to interact with live images from
the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Some of his work from his time at
NYU-ITP is featured in Tom Igoe's "Making Things Talk"

"My background is in both computer science and design and my
professional identity centers around bridging these two worlds. I am a
seasoned traveler, anxious to learn about and experience new ideals
and cultures. While I dream of a network that connects us all, social
and cultural barriers are reproduced online. People tend to stay in
their familiar neighborhoods, even when consuming through the safety
of their screens. My goal is to create work that takes down these
existing walls, and presents its viewers with a new perception for a
diversity of cultural perspectives."

* OpenDork - Everyone is encouraged to bring your own recently
completed or projects-in-progress for OpenDork, a lightning
round-the-room session of peer-review and general showing-off. Art and
technology projects at all stages (sketchbook to polished) and of all
levels of complexity are welcomed. This is the perfect chance to say,
"Hey, I’m trying to do something interesting… here is what I’ve got so
far. Can anyone offer suggestions to move forward?"