Halfcourt Basketball in the Metaverse Of all the rides in Meta's colossal metaverse project, the first one that caused me to pause for more than a second was the no-frills halfcourt basketball court located at the edge of the Plaza in Horizon Worlds.
Where do you go with your new, free, glowy virtual workboots from Lowe's? Where do you go with your new, free, virtual workboots from Lowe's? The UPS Store. #mainstream_metaverse
Place Report: Mona Playground "How-To" is a big part of the evolution of the metaverse. Hence the Mona Playground. A place to learn anti-gravity, portals, textures, door navigation...
Place Report: Mega Bites Mountain, Decentraland A video Place Report from Mega Bites Mountain in Decentraland. Buried Goldfish, glowing boots, a billboard, a pick axe, and a new backpack, with a virtual salty snack.
WHY Metaverse Gumball Machine? The Gumball Machine is now located in Decentraland, one of the best known metaverse locations. To access the site, you simply log into Decentraland (it's free), and navigate on the map to parcel -41, -108. Both Gumball Machine locations (Decentraland & District Hall) now offer Free NFTs. Why?
WHAT is going on here? WHAT is going on here: in the metaverse > Decentraland > parcel -41, -108 > "Metaverse Gumball Machine"? Let's start with the Metaverse Gumball Machine: It's a space shot into the emerging galaxy (or fake chimera, or group delusion) known as the metaverse. It blasted off from its perch in the Lounge in District Hall Boston in early 2022.
Metaverse Gumball Machine: District Hall NFT Airdrop #1 (public version) This is what you'd see if you were arriving from District Hall, Boston. If you just received a laser-cut token from the Internet-Connected Intergalatic Metaverse Gumball Machine, this is how you'd get your Free NFT.
Metaverse Gumball Machine Decentraland Airdrop #1 (public version) This is what you'd see if you were arriving from the metaverse, from Decentraland to be specific. If you just received a link from the Internet-Connected Intergalatic Metaverse Gumball Machine, this is how you'd get your Free NFT.
Snag A snag is a dead tree that's still standing. I was looking for something to shoot in a vertical format. This snag is vertical, for now.
Some Experimental Phone-First Place Reports Instagram and YouTube have woken up to the TikTok threat. Which means that there are now 3 phone-first platforms available for Place Reports. I tried them out.
Straight Up from District Hall A new direction from District Hall -- straight up. Starting at 100 feet up, looking out at Boston Harbor.
Place Report: A New Canyon in Cambridge: Cambridge Crossing It doesn't make any sense geologically, but there's a canyon emerging in Cambridge. A remote urban canyon, surrounded by tall cliffs of glass, metal, and concrete. Way over on the far eastern tip of Cambridge: past Kendall Sq., past Lechmere, past even East Cambridge. East East Cambridge.
Place Report: Ninja Walking in Bow Market A Place Report visit to Bow Market in Somerville, MA - Ninja style, with a DJI Osmo Pocket 3-axis gimbal camera.
Place Report: Newsprint Art in Allston Art in Print puts out editions of prints by local artists for 25 cents. It is now on its seventh edition. These prints are dispensed in old fashioned metal boxes, so called "honor boxes," in the Boston neighborhood of Allston, which Harvard University recently expanded into.
Place Report: Pine in the Sand After the sprawling, messy, free-form expression along the Somerville Bike Path Sculpture Garden, I was up for something minimal and curated. Pine in the Sand fit the bill. It's a striking installation: a single living pine tree atop a sand dune, surrounded by concrete barriers and a cluster of granite blocks.
Season One Recap: What You Can Expect in 10 Pictures If you walk through your city frequently, and you witness widespread torpidity among visitors, you may also decide to tap "mixed reality" -- the intersection of augmented reality, virtual reality, and the internet of things -- to make some of the local sites more engaging, informative, interesting. Here's how that project might evolve, if your experience is like mine.
Place Report: Somerville Bike Trail Sculpture Garden With District Hall closed for the holidays, and a second Covid surge descending like a cloud on indoor places all over, I decided to take my placemaking research outside. I started with a sculpture garden that had sprouted up alongside a nearby bike trail in Davis Square, Somerville.
Not an Advent Calendar, an Invent Calendar, and I'm Day #6 Proud to be part of a Holiday Countdown, alongside a Floral Book Wreath and Origami Robot Paper Circuits Kit.
Holiday Tree at District Hall features "TikTok Lights" When District Hall joined up with a neighborhood "Holiday Tree" campaign, I knew our tree would feature TikTok lights.
Maker-in-Residence @ District Hall Blinky lights: check. Capsules loaded with refreshing moist towelettes: check. Scrolling text explaining what's going on: check. A giant, glowing QR code that links to an introductory tour: check. No sense holding off any longer: my initial Maker-in-Residence build is now live at District Hall, Boston, USA.
A Community Partner - Tikkaway The Gatchapon Prize Capsule Machine is popular at District Hall, no doubt about that. Every time I visit, the "Recycle" container is brimming with opened capsules and unfolded origami message strips. Now we're pointing it at something.
Gachapon goes interstate Gopi reports that he just received a call from the manager of his New Haven restaurant, the original Tikkaway a few blocks from the Yale University campus. "He told me that two new customers had presented long, colorful strips of paper with a 15% discount offer," Gopi said. "He was wondering where they came from, and what he should do with them."
District Hall Entrepreneur Mixer Features Gumball Machine Gumball Machine attends an Entrepreneurial Mixer at District Hall in Boston. Dispenses dozens of "ice breakers."
A District Hall Featured Community Partner District Hall, Boston's "public home for innovation," and a Mixed Reality Challenge host, bestows "featured Community Partner" status on the operation. Honored!
Mixed Reality Challenge appears in Fab@CIC promo video Fab@CIC has posted a new "who we are" video, and the Mixed Reality Challenge has snuck into a few shots.
A New Version of the Mixed Reality Challenge at District Hall, plus an Instagram Shoutout A new, improved version of the Mixed Reality Challenge is live at District Hall (better display, more consistent dispensing), and Adriana Kattan Saca honored the occasion with an elegant post on Instagram.
Mixed Reality Challenge at CIC Kendall Square Housewarming That's Joey Lindsey, of Fab@CIC, demonstrating the Mixed Reality Challenge at the housewarming event at CIC's newest facility in Kendall Square. The celebration marked the culmination of a multi-phase launch for CIC and the start of CIC’s 20th year in Kendall Square, where the company was founded in 1999.
A Night Out for the Toy Capsule Machine Cambridge Hackspace joined forces with Fab@CIC to work on a new version of the Wifi Connected Gumball Machine. So it made sense to make a joint venture to a Cafe Night at District Hall. The theme was inspireHER. Also a good excuse to try out a cheap Chinese action cam.
Road Trip. The Mixed Reality Challenge Moves to CIC Boston for a Night For one night only, the Mixed Reality Challenge moved about 25 city blocks east, and 20 stories straight up to a lively Arts Technica night at CIC Boston. The goal of Arts Technica was to highlight how artistic expression is incorporated into modern technology. In addition to the Mixed Reality Challenge, the demos included virtual reality, video game graphic demonstrations, art installations using ePaper technology.
Sony ZV-1 camera A new camera from Sony, aimed at "content creators" who are ready to graduate from their smartphones. Not a bad marketing plan. Lots of stuff you may not need, but a solid camera with a good-sized sensor.
Using Mixed Reality to Create Places, from a Standing Start Another reason why I wanted to sprinkle some mixed reality around the neighborhood: all those futuristic technologies I've been talking about -- AR, VR, IoT -- are still trying to claw their way out of the vaporware swamp. So it's a legitimate question: Is this all BS or what?
Placemaking Report
