Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Philly’s new pizza museum, hands-free luggage, horrific pockets and more in our look at the web this week
1. Rain Room
One spotlight, 100 square meters, a grid of water spigot panels and an array of cameras enable the profoundly rad experience that is Rain Room. Installed in Barbican’s Curve Gallery in London, the Rain Room uses 3D mapping of moving bodies to give visitors the experience of walking through a rain shower without getting wet.
2. RockMelt for iPad
Social web browser RockMelt launches its first iPad app. Unlike most web surfing apps, the central component of the main page is not a search bar, but instead an integrated list of new articles sourced from the publications and people the user interacts with most. Tailored to the user, the app aims to give people quick access to the channels and sites they frequent most.
3. Hop
Named after obedient bell staff, the hands-free Hop is a new way of carrying luggage. The prototypal suitcase contains three receivers that are honed through your smartphone, allowing it to follow you remotely.
4. Earthflight
Five years ago filmmaker John Downer began mounting microscopic cameras onto birds with the hopes of capturing the real bird’s eye view. Hundreds of hours of tape later, Downing is now set to use the incredible footage in a new wildlife program on the BBC called Earthflight.
5. Fresh Off The Boat
Since opening Baohaus in 2009, Eddie Huang has steadily garnered significant praise for his delicious take on the Taiwanese-Chinese bao sandwich. The hilarious food guy aims to raise a few more eyebrows with his new show, Fresh Off The Boat, presented by Vice. Think Anthony Bourdain—who’s a friend of Huang’s—but with more gangster rap and motorcycles.
6. Nick Holonyak
As GE gears up for the release of a 40-watt LED lightbulb, which will replace the standard 100-watt incandescent bulb, GE physicist and inventor of the world’s first LED Nick Holonyak reflects on the revolutionary history of light and the future of low-power LED bulbs.
7. Bedlam
Taking place deep in the bowels of London under Waterloo Station is the third (and final) year of “Bedlam“—the lunatic-inspired exhibition curated by London’s Lazarides Gallery. Running through 21 October 2012, the site-specific installation spans 30,000 square feet in the Old Vic Tunnels and serves as a dark alternative to the bright lights of Frieze Art Fair.
8. Pockets
One of Dazed Digital’s short films for Channel 4’s Random Acts series, Pockets takes a bizarre and absolutely creative approach to the standard horror flick. Cut to just three minutes, the film follows the mind-bending aftermath of a mugging gone wrong.
9. Zara Home
Fans of Zara’s affordable approach to fashion will delight in the launch of Zara Home—a new in-store and online component peddling covetable textiles and interior decor.
10. UFO
Levitating above a lone railway station platform in Lille, France is a UFO. Designed by Ross Lovegrove for festival Lille3000, the extraterrestrial sculpture of sorts features blinking lights to accompany its generally convincing form.
11. Pizza Brain
Pizza aficionado Bryan Dwyer opens the world’s first pizza museum in Philadelphia with a celebratory pizza parade. Doubling as a restaurant, Pizza Brain is definitely the work of a true enthusiast and the perfect place to pay homage by downing your favorite slice.
12. Nike+ Kinect Training
The vastly growing phenomenon of fitness games is changing the way people perceive the home gym. One already receiving high marks is Nike + Kinect Training, a game that affords you the experience of a personal trainer as you work your way through different exercise modules, customized to fit your workout needs. Nike+ Kinect Training will be available 30 October 2012 for $50.
