Campus Party Silicon Valley

The KAIST's HUBO robot, which made appearance at Campus Party in 2007 with lab director Dr. Jun Ho On, have formed their very own Beatles cover band. The band is a student-developed software project of Drexel University's MET-lab.

Drexel says: four of Drexel's HUBO robots perform the Beatles' "Come Together" in a demonstration that combines cutting-edge engineering technology and research with creative expression, produced by the Music & Entertainment Technology Laboratory (MET-lab). The HUBOs are operating autonomously (not human-controlled). Their movements are directed by student-developed software to perform the gestures necessary to produce the appropriate notes and beats as dictated by a musical score. Every sound in the video was performed by the robots.

MET-lab student Matthew Prockup created the musical arrangement for drum kit and three "Hubophones", novel percussion instruments designed and constructed by the lab for this performance.

HUBO was designed and developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Technology (KAIST) Hubo Lab (Dr. Jun Ho Oh, Director). Drexel Engineering kicked-off National Engineers Week by unveiling seven HUBO humanoids at an unprecedented showcase event on February 20, 2012. Their presence at Drexel is part of a large collaborative project with KAIST and seven other U.S. universities with the goal of rapidly advancing humanoids research.

[via Drexel Engineering]

Remember Google's announcement earlier this year about their new Augmented Reality Glasses? Well, here is our first look at a day in the life of a Google Cyborg. They're less like glasses, and more reminiscent of a mix between the Terminator and Star Trek's Lieutenant Geordi La Forge.

I wonder what Campus Party veteran and first human cyborg Neil Harbisson thinks about Google making it easier for everyone to take one step closer to becoming a cyborg?

Google reports that "Project Glass" won't be on the shelves soon, but they will start testing frames in public in the coming months, so keep an eye out.

What do you think? Will you be in line to grab a pair when they're available?

(download)

Click here to download:

first-look-at-project-glass-google-s-augmented-reality-glasses-naiIAbxnwldGEEBqpuuh.zip (177 KB)

[via Creators Project]

It would have probably looked something like this: 

We're ending March streaming three talks from recent Campus Parties -- Campus Party Europa, Campus Party Valencia and Campus Party Mexico. Also, if you missed last weeks #geekvibrations or just want to watch it again, here's your chance. 

French Astronaut CP EUROPA

French astronaut. Graduated from the National High School of Aeronautics and Space of France where he also studied to be flight test engineer. In 1983, he joined the French Space Agency and since 1992, Jean-François is a member of the European Space Agency's (ESA) astronauts team. Since then, he has participated in many space flights, including a docking with the MIR space station and a mission to repair the the Hubble Telescope.

» NACH Hip Hop CPES15 Nach is one of the most important spanish-speaking hip-hop artists. This year in addition to releasing his seventh album, he joined the “DIVERSIDAD EXPERIENCE," an EU-financed project that recruited several urban artists to produce an album that is being presented in the main European festivals. "Verbo" has been nominated for "Best Original Song" at the Goya Awards.   » ISOPIXEL TWEET ERGO SUM. CPMX2 Raúl Ramírez, better known as Isopixel, is a graphic designer focused on digital marketing and one of the pioneers of the blog movement in Latin America. He is the director of the blog network Isopixel One, an entrepreneur and founder of Café de Altura, a non profit initiative with the aim of looking for, supporting and spreading the work of young tech, Internet and web 2.0 entrepreneurs.

Paco has released the first details about Campus Party Europe on his blog, here's what he had to say about the event which is scheduled for August 21-26, 2012:

Something quite big happened in the last trimester of 2011, our main sponsor Telefónica asked us to create a Campus Party in Germany with the goal of having the largest and most spectacular Campus ever made, even higher than what we are preparing for Silicon Valley. We accepted the challenge and set to work trying to build the impossible: one event even more enormous than we had been preparing for years in California.

An idea added to another, a friend suggested one thing, and other friends some other things, truly the concepts flowed on the initial energy for the Campus at Germany. Besides, the situation of a needed Europe for re-invention gave us the line for the project concept development. Ideas grew from day to day and what seemed impossible was taking shape and becoming a reality.

On the first trip to Berlin we found a place full of magic, the old airport Tempelhofer “that was the site”. Enormous, wonderful, unique and with an incredible history, there was forged in the reconstruction of post-WWII Europe. The idea that in this place geeks could create the biggest encounter of the Internet talent and the goal we set out to reinvent the source code of this old Europe grew super strong.

We were spreading the idea, adding efforts, enticing the European Commission that joined in the project including public and private entities, pushing to our friends from o2 to seal what is already an incredible project.

From 21 to 26 August 10,000 geeks from all over Europe can experience Campus Party Europe in Berlin, the goal: to write together the source code of the future Europe providing thousands of ideas and solutions for the European digital agenda.

It is time to take action. We must act and ask, how can we geeks help our politicians to change things? Ideas & initiatives to help fight unemployment, which affects so many… is an hyper ambitious project but hyper necessary.

I hope to have you among those 10,000 european geeks meeting in Berlin. We will soon launch the web with all the information.

We are working to achieve a Partner Program that allows us to help that 50% of participants (5,000 Campuseros) come with some form of transport support or the entrance from any part of the planet.

It is time to focus now and make the best event in the history of the planet! You are invited to help the old Europe from 21 to 26 August here… http://g.co/maps/suknq

Follow Paco on Twitter for the latest on all Campus Party editions worldwide @pacoragageles

In celebration of the first week of spring, we're bringing out some of our favorite talks again. Catch them all streaming at Campus Live.

» Alfonso Cuarón

Mexican director known for his films "Great Expectations", "A Little Princess", "Y tu mamá También" and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". Cuarón has been nominated for two Academy Awards.

» Paolo Nespoli Paolo has worked in the IT Support Unit used by the MIR space station and also in the Space Flight Training Division for the International Space Station (ISS) crew at NASA.   » Eduardo Arcos Founder and CEO of Hipertextual and General Editor of ALT1040. He describes himself as an entrepreneur, technologist, creative and photographer. Obsessed with the Internet, communication, social networks and interactions through technology and its ability to improve everyday life. » Joan Tomás Tomás is a multidisciplinary photographer focused on portrait and documentary photography. He began his career as a photojournalist and industrial photographer and later transitioned into fashion and advertising. He is well known in the film industry as the creative eye behind the posters for "Lucía y el sexo" and "Mar Adentro".

What is Curation? from Percolate on Vimeo.

What is curation and why do we need it? With sites like Pinterest and Tumblr everyone is a content curator. NY-based startup Percolate spoke with some notable currators to talk about what is curating to them, how it differs from aggregation, and why it has become the newest Internet buzzword. 

From year to year, the moon never seems to change. Craters and other formations appear to be permanent now, but the moon didn't always look like this. Thanks to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we now have a better look at some of the moon's history.

[via NASA Explorer]

The 5^th anniversary of Campus Party Colombia is shaping up to be an incredible one.

Tickets are available now for the festival, which takes place June 25 – July 1^st at the Corferias Center in Bogotá. #CPCO5’s theme is “Connected Citizens.” Within each of the content areas we’ll explore the idea of “multitudes inteligentes” or informed masses and connected societies, and how they transform science, innovation digital culture and entertainment. 

Campus Party Colombia has 5,000 spots available for Campuseros, but the expo area will be open to the public to participate in digital inclusion programs and check out the latest technology. 

We hope to see you there! 

Tickets

Tickets for the event went on sale last week, and over half of the 5,000 spots for Campuseros have already filled up. If you planning on joining us get yours soon!

• Early registration tickets (available until March 30^th) are $94 (not including camping & catering)
• Early registration camping passes are $12
• Starting in April, regular tickets will be $142 while spots remain.

Speakers

Akira Yamaoka

Famed video game producer and composer Akira Yamaoka will take the stage to discuss music, gaming and design. Yamaoka is best known for creating the music for the Silent Hill series, including the feature length films. Yamaoka is a veteran of Konami, and recently joined Grasshopper Manufacture.

Jon “Maddog” Hall

Campus Party veteran superstar Jon “Maddog” Hall, the President and CEO of Linux International and Open Source evangelist, returns to Colombia. Maddog is credited with being instrumental in providing the resources and equipment Linus Torvalds needed to accomplish his first port for Linux. In 2006, Hall was awarded the Lifetime Recognition Award at the UK Linux and Open Source Awards for his services to the open source community. 

Neil Harbisson 

Artist and composer Neil Harbisson was the first person in the world to be recognized as a cyborg in 2004 after being fitted with an eyeborg that allows him to hear colors. Harbisson was born with achromatopsia, a condition that limits his vision to black and white. Today, he can hear up to 360 different hues of colors through microtones and different volume levels. 

In 2010 Harbisson founded the Cyborg Foundation, an international organization to help other humans become cyborgs and to defend their rights. The foundation focuses on creating cybernetic extensions to the body, such as the eyeborg, to increase human’s abilities and senses. 

Velázquez is a digital forensic examiner and President and Founder of MaTTica, the first digital crime research laboratory in Latin America. He is also a professor of Cybernetics and Computer Systems at the University of La Salle in Mexico City and an associate professor of Network Security at the University of Advancing Technologies in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Pedro Medina

Pedro Medina is a social entrepreneur, educator and a catalyst. He led the McDonald’s franchise in Colombia for seven years, becoming the largest employer of university students in the country. In 2001, Money Magazine recognized him as one of the top 20 entrepreneurs of the year. Medina is a professor of strategy and business development at the University of the Andes, Rosario and CESA. In 2002 & 2003 he was a Fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University where he researched methodologies to build social capital in Colombia. He is currently a Fellow at the Batten Institute at the University of Virginia where he is developing innovative ways to teach entrepreneurship. 

Day 4 of Campus Party Brazil