Wired NextFest – looking back, wishing I was in LA
2 years ago i attended Wired Next fest in Chicago and blogged bits of it. I skipped last year’s fest because most of the exhibitions were just about the same as what i had already seen. This year it appears there is more new stuff, thus I am kicking myself for not going to LA. Instead i will look back at my old next fest posts and see what’s new this year. Thankfully the nextfest site has lots of info (doesn’t substitute for actually being there, believe me), plus there is bound to be coverage on science channel and the many blogs around the web.
So…
Renewable energy tech
Then: GE Solar Exhibit
Now: Sphelar
“The Sphelar solar cell can absorb sunlight coming from any angle, converting even indirect and reflected light into electricity â?? a marked improvement over traditional flat photovoltaic technology.”
Robots
Then: PKD – Phillip K Dick project “Do androids dream of electric sheep”
Now: Albert Hubo The first ever walking robot with an expressive face (and iconic hairstyle).
They’ve got lots of robots this year…including one that can play chess.
*lots of other great stuff, but a full comparison would make this post too long for you ADD types, plus i’ve got to catch some zzz’s then be back to write a post for you…’Where are the African futurists?’ hint…right around the web!
For those in the LA area its not too late to attend, you can get tickets for friday 14th, saturday 15th and sunday 16th. Friday is ‘learning day’ perfect for taking your children. Borrow nephews and nieces so you can see them get all wide-eyed with wonder and jaws dropping at the stuff they will see, or maybe that just might be your reaction to Next Fest. Feel free to come back to this post, describe, gloat and make me green with envy.
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Ideas, Innovation, Tech, gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
