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ghostlightning. (2010). Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn 02 Unmasked. Available: http://ghostlightning.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/mobile-suit-gundam-unicorn-02-unmasked/. Last accessed 12/12/2011.
Glatz, C. (2011). NASA Photo Chronicles First-Ever Astronaut Jetpack Excursion. Available: http://www.gearfuse.com/nasa-photo-chronicles-first-ever-astronaut-jetpack-excursion/. Last accessed 12/12/2011.
Heroes Wiki. (2010). Nathan Petrelli-Flight.jpg. Available: http://heroes.wikia.com/wiki/File:Nathan_Petrelli-Flight.jpg. Last accessed 12/12/2011.
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Lynx, U. (2010). Oh wow! Leonardo's flying machine really flies! AWESOME!... Available: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/assassins-creed-ii/screenshots/gameShotId,430859/. Last accessed 12/12/2011
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Munoz, D. (2011). Guitar Hero Being Rebooted!. Available: http://igogaming.net/2011/07/20/guitar-hero-being-rebooted/. Last accessed 12/12/2011.
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Kohler, C. (2011). Activision Bails Out of Guitar Hero, Cancels Games. Available: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/02/guitar-hero-canceled/. Last accessed 11/12/2011.
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Glatz, C. (2011). NASA Photo Chronicles First-Ever Astronaut Jetpack Excursion. Available: http://www.gearfuse.com/nasa-photo-chronicles-first-ever-astronaut-jetpack-excursion/. Last accessed 06th Dec 2011.
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Sunday, 11 December 2011
IP Justification
My IP opportunity statement is:
Using modular tools to change the world or beings around the user in a hostile environment.
My statement is based on the idea of making variety a key factor for users. One of the main themes for series such as the Guitar Hero series was variety, first in songs then in instruments, then in a combination of the two. Part of the reason Guitar Hero declined in popularity was because there was not enough good downloadable content being released for it for it to keep up with competitors such as Rockband.
I would like to extend this beyond just music, however. Taking into account the thrill factor of my human flight research was creating danger by challenging yourself to conquer a dangerous natural environment feature using only the equipment you provide. The challenge of an environment set against you should prove an original and challenging design project.
The lessons I should learn from the real life examples are to keep my designs interesting and not limit myself to a gimmick, whilst making the content varied enough to appeal to as wide an audience as possible (Something musical could help me achieve this, perhaps something to do with different music in different environments).
Using modular tools to change the world or beings around the user in a hostile environment.
My statement is based on the idea of making variety a key factor for users. One of the main themes for series such as the Guitar Hero series was variety, first in songs then in instruments, then in a combination of the two. Part of the reason Guitar Hero declined in popularity was because there was not enough good downloadable content being released for it for it to keep up with competitors such as Rockband.
I would like to extend this beyond just music, however. Taking into account the thrill factor of my human flight research was creating danger by challenging yourself to conquer a dangerous natural environment feature using only the equipment you provide. The challenge of an environment set against you should prove an original and challenging design project.
The lessons I should learn from the real life examples are to keep my designs interesting and not limit myself to a gimmick, whilst making the content varied enough to appeal to as wide an audience as possible (Something musical could help me achieve this, perhaps something to do with different music in different environments).
Forecast
Onwards to predicting the future!
Through my research my prediction for human flight is the production of a non-powered flight suit that a human could actually fly with. Though it would require a little 'kick-start' - such as a drop or a jump from a height, the user could ride thermals like a bird or similar gliding creature to achieve lift. This theory is backed up by the research into wing suits in my human flight present research, which clearly shows that slight lift has already been achieved accidentally.
Jetpacks will eventually become a common product that works efficiently, if the development up to this point is anything to judge by. They are becoming more efficient, able to travel further, faster. For them to become truly successful, however, it would be better with an alternate power source, as that is the current constraint limiting development - more fuel means a bigger, heavier pack.
The future of guitars should, if history is anything to judge by, be that they are succeeded by another instrument based off of their current design. This process could be slowed down because of their popularity today - a product of instantaneous worldwide media. In the days of the lute, there was no television or Internet to show the lute in use all over the world, and fads could die out in an area much more readily. This also works as a double - edged sword, as media over-saturation could cause people to become bored with the guitar and instigate the creation of the next musical instrument fad.
Technology for guitars could lean towards the creation fo a fully elecronic guitar - strings consisting of lasers and all. These new guitars would need to be incredibly diverse in sound and advanced in design to actually take off, however, so this is more of a speculation.
Through my research my prediction for human flight is the production of a non-powered flight suit that a human could actually fly with. Though it would require a little 'kick-start' - such as a drop or a jump from a height, the user could ride thermals like a bird or similar gliding creature to achieve lift. This theory is backed up by the research into wing suits in my human flight present research, which clearly shows that slight lift has already been achieved accidentally.
Jetpacks will eventually become a common product that works efficiently, if the development up to this point is anything to judge by. They are becoming more efficient, able to travel further, faster. For them to become truly successful, however, it would be better with an alternate power source, as that is the current constraint limiting development - more fuel means a bigger, heavier pack.
The future of guitars should, if history is anything to judge by, be that they are succeeded by another instrument based off of their current design. This process could be slowed down because of their popularity today - a product of instantaneous worldwide media. In the days of the lute, there was no television or Internet to show the lute in use all over the world, and fads could die out in an area much more readily. This also works as a double - edged sword, as media over-saturation could cause people to become bored with the guitar and instigate the creation of the next musical instrument fad.
Technology for guitars could lean towards the creation fo a fully elecronic guitar - strings consisting of lasers and all. These new guitars would need to be incredibly diverse in sound and advanced in design to actually take off, however, so this is more of a speculation.
Horizon Scanning - Guitars
On the horizon for 2012, the first thing I found was the release of a reboot for the Guitar Hero series - published by Activision! It seems that although the games died a death in recent years, Bobby Kotick, the founder of the series is determined to prove that they can still be popular. It will be interesting to see whether the reboot is worth their time and resources, or just a massive waste. Perhaps the media silence surrounding the series for a while will act as a reprieve that means people will be genuinely interested when the series reappears.
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| Bobby Kotick - (igogaming.net 2012) |
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Looking into the technological developments for the guitar I found an article about the 'Q-Tuner' pickup, an innovation from this year that apparently massively improves the quality of sound for guitars and bass guitars. Perhaps innovations like these will take hold in the coming few years, pushing the limits of the instrument and perhaps even instigating the creation of the guitars' successor.
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| The Q-Tuner - (Patent 1991) |
Another technological innovation set for 2012 is the Laser Pitch Detection (LPD) system, that detects what frets the player is strumming and calculates the pitch of the note before it has even been played, this technology could then be used to electronically synthesise exact guitar riffs, or even play a super-advanced, accurate version of Guitar hero that uses the real chords and notes instead of buttons! (Something which could, in fact, be used as a valid reboot for the franchise amongst the musical communities, as a major complaint I personally heard whilst the game was popular was 'It wasn't like playing the real thing').
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| The LPD - (GIZMODO 2011) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
There are a seemingly never ending amount of events occurring in 2012, ranging from rock concerts to classical guitar workshops, to guitar making seminars. The popularity of the guitar worldwide is truly staggering. There are so many events it is hard to distinguish what events are actually new and original and what are more of the same.
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| Screen grabs of a variety of event schedules for 2012 - (Various sources) |
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An interesting article I found concerning what the guitar could develop into was stumbled upon whilst looking for other advances in technology. the chameleon guitar, as the name suggests, can change its sound depending on the type of board the user places into the middle of the guitar. With interchangeable technology like this, more sounds could become available to a player at a more affordable price, without having to buy a whole other guitar. Perhaps the next stage in design is a fully modular guitar, that could be assembled as a bass, a classical, an electric or an acoustic guitar. Perhaps the design could even be perfected to the point as to incorporate other string instruments like banjos, cellos and double bass!
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| Amit Zoran with his invention - (Zoran, A - 2009) |
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| The Chameleon Guitar - (Zoran, A - 2009) |
Back casting - Guitars in the past
The guitar is actually an evolution of the design of the lute - the popular instrument in the period before.
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| A lute player - (Antiveduto Grammatica 1620) |
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| An early guitar, note the extra strings and small body - (Miayf.com 2010) |
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| A modern guitar for comparison of design - (Musicplayer.com 2010) |
It would be interesting to see what kind of instrument will succeed the guitar in its role as a staple instrument in popular music. If it is an adaptation of the guitar, what design features would change? Will the number of strings increase again? Will they revert to the old paired string format? (these guitar designs exist but are not widely used as of yet).
In the late 80's, Bill and Ted's excellent adventure was the start of the stoner-comedy movement, present today with films such as the 'Harold and Kumar' series. In the movie the main characters are in a fictional band, "Wyld Stallyns". The movie is arguably the first instance of air guitar in popular media, starting the phenomenon now present with the world championships sees in my present research.
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| Bill and Ted 'Air guitar-ing' - (DEG 1989) |
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| Spinal Tap - (MGM, 1984) |
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| The Gorillaz - (Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett 1998) |
On television, there were a number of cartoon series that had heavily guitar based theme tunes to relate to the music tastes of the time, I myself remember the themes of shows such as Biker Mice from Mars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and they influenced my taste in music today.
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| The Teenage mutant hero turtles original comic - (Mirage studio 1987) |
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| The Biker Mice - (Rick Ungar 1993) |
If music from popular cartoons works as a direct inflence on music taste as it has for me in the past, could companies use this to their advantage by running various shows and genres in tandem?
Saturday, 10 December 2011
State of the art analysis - Guitars
The guitar is one of the most popular instruments in the world, and is often seen all over the media in the hands of many a celebrity and amateur alike.
This section of research was fairly easy to gather information for, as there is a saturation of guitar-related media!
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| A small selection of V-Festival guitarists - there are many more! - (Various sources) |
Learning to platy the guitar is probably the most numerous instrument learning hobby. There are a wide range of books, websites and magazines (even a T.V style website channel!) dedicated to people learning how to play. The popularity of the guitar is staggering. I wonder what the next method of learning will be - interactive tutelage from a computer in a virtual reality environment perhaps?
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| One of the popular 'For Dummies' series of books, dedicated to the guitar - (Mark Phillips 2003) |
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| (Total Guitar, 2011) |
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| The Guitar Player TV site - (New Bay Media 2009) |
Even if you choose not to learn how to play the guitar, or don't think you are very good, modern phenomenon in the games industry Guitar Hero can give people the feeling that they are playing like the guitar players they idolise, with similar games like Rockband branching out to the use of drums and bass guitar too. Though their popularity has dropped in recent times (shown by the removal of the games from Activision's funding list and agenda), the series could perhaps be rebooted at a later time (New instruments?).
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| (Activison, 2007) |
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| (EA Distribution 2007) |
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| Guitar Hero controllers - (Harmonix 2007-2008) |
Looking further into playing the guitar without actually playing the guitar, I found the air-guitar championships, a competition that comprises entirely of people pretending to play the guitar and being judged on their performance. This could be counted as a dance act than a musical one, and as odd an event as it seems the event is growing in popularity every year! Perhaps other, similar events will try and adopt this, or maybe the event itself will follow the same pattern as the Guitar hero series, in the coming years we could see whole bands of air-guitarists, air-drummers and air-bassists!
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| Competitors in the air-guitar world championships - (Inertica 2011) |
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| The 2011 air-guitar world champion - (Inertica 2011) |
This quote is taken from the website, showing the light-hearted spirit of the competition:
The purpose of the Air Guitar World Championships is to promote world peace. According to the ideology of the Air Guitar, wars would end, climate change stop and all bad things disappear, if all the people in the world played the Air Guitar. This is why the whole universe is invited to play the Air Guitar for the world peace at the end of the competition.
- (airguitarworldchampionships.com 2011)
The air-guitar IP has also been developed into clothing that reacts to the user, such as the guitar hero belt buckle that picks up the users' movements and creates sound accordingly. Perhaps if this technology was developed, a new kind of electronic instrument that uses your body as an input could be developed - a mixture of dance and music working in tandem.
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| The Guitar Hero belt buckle - (Krunker.com 2008) |
So far I have seen a pattern emerging of people actually having the skill to play the guitar becoming an imitation, up to the point that people are being rewarded for not playing the guitar at all! If this continued, would people be rewarded for just listening to music? It seems very counter productive to me that alot of the trends appearing seem to be about making things easier for the user to the point of not having to develop any kind of skill at all. Although fun, it isn't challenging the user to improve themselves.
The challenge here I see would be to create something that is both fun AND helps the user to improve their creative skill.
Movies featuring guitars such as School of Rock are in my opinion a positive influence, as they put a fun, positive spin on learning to play an instrument and becoming part of the music scene, and show a journey where the participants are not instantly rewarded, but work for their achievements - a realistic, respectable trait (Though the movies themselves do not have to be overly realistic).
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| (Paramount pictures, 2003) |
Another positive find I came across is the website Guitar Getaways - A business devoted to teaching people how to use guitars with social interaction. The idea of the site is that you go on a holiday with a guitar teacher, basically having a controlled, relaxing environment chosen by you with someone there to teach you a new skill (or develop your current one). I think this is an excellent idea as it not only provides a solution to the potentially very slow pace of self tutoring, but allows the holiday goer to relax in a new environment. Perhaps an idea similar to this could be adapted for other areas of the creative industries?
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| The Guitar Getwaways site - (GuitarGetaways 2010) |
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Horizon Scanning - Human flight
Time to look towards the future of human flight, with whats arriving soon in the modern market.
In the world of games 2012, titles like Mass Effect 3, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and Star Wars: The Old Republic all use devices that humans may use to fly, often with a jetpack or similar device. All of these titles are Science Fiction, it is unusual to find a title that uses flying machines in a retro format (possible market niche?!)
In the world of games 2012, titles like Mass Effect 3, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and Star Wars: The Old Republic all use devices that humans may use to fly, often with a jetpack or similar device. All of these titles are Science Fiction, it is unusual to find a title that uses flying machines in a retro format (possible market niche?!)
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| Jetpack combat in Mass Effect - Jets are attached to the attackers' feet. - (BioWare 2011) |
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| Gundam robots flying (although often in space, they are seen flying in atmosphere too) - (Konami 2011) |
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| A Star Wars bounty hunter using his jetpack - (Lucasarts 2011) |
The use of jetpacks in games as a mode of transportation are an indication of where the world expects that technology to progress to. Although the commercial jetpack is still a fantasy for the everyday person, their increasing use in games and films, as well as the media coverage of actual real life jetpacks being developed, is demonstrating that this technology is becoming much more of a reality.
I have further enforced this point with my research into the present.
The Birdman competition happens August of every year, in which participants try and 'fly' the furthest off of a pier, using man powered contraptions. While most of these are only costumes, some people try to make genuine machines to achieve a decent distance when flying. I stumbled across this event looking at upcoming competitions involving flight for 2012.
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| Flying contraption being set up - (Worthing 2011) |
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| One of the contraptions in use - (Worthing 2011) |
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| And another! - (Worthing 2009) |
The competition holds a certain charm, and while very basic and low-tech, shows that people will try and create a flying contraption in the name of competition (A marketable quality!).
If I create my IP based on anything to do with human flight, then the more promising paths to follow as it stands are using flight in a historical setting, reinforced by the work of Leanardo da Vinci and making it competitive in some way.
Looking to the skies of the year ahead 2012, there is news that China is starting their own manned space program. This apparently has all the current superpowers taking an ever increasing interest in how much of a threat they are. If this trend continues, will there be a habitation zone in the Earths' atmosphere as well as it's surface? - Will there be a whole new world built above our own? Will it have it's own divides and territories like the world below it, or will the scientific minds that create these stations be disinterested in the political affairs of those below?
There are theories that the launch of the American SBL (Space based laser) tests taking place in the coming year could also mark the beginning of a new age of warfare, warfare launched from space. Whether this is a paranoid theory or a genuine concern can only be discovered in time. What is the next step? War was fought on the ground, then the air, then the atmosphere? Will the next terrifying man-made threat appear from another planet? It seems the further we get into space, the more paranoid people get that we will create doomsday devices to blow ourselves up.
The article also goes on to talk about the American policy seeming to be to make it into space with weaponised technology first so that they can have the monopoly on space security and control affairs both on and off world. This seems to be going very much in the way of George Orwell's '1984' - 'Big Brother is watching'.
Looking to the skies of the year ahead 2012, there is news that China is starting their own manned space program. This apparently has all the current superpowers taking an ever increasing interest in how much of a threat they are. If this trend continues, will there be a habitation zone in the Earths' atmosphere as well as it's surface? - Will there be a whole new world built above our own? Will it have it's own divides and territories like the world below it, or will the scientific minds that create these stations be disinterested in the political affairs of those below?
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| Chinese astronaughts - (Chinadaily.com, 2008) |
There are theories that the launch of the American SBL (Space based laser) tests taking place in the coming year could also mark the beginning of a new age of warfare, warfare launched from space. Whether this is a paranoid theory or a genuine concern can only be discovered in time. What is the next step? War was fought on the ground, then the air, then the atmosphere? Will the next terrifying man-made threat appear from another planet? It seems the further we get into space, the more paranoid people get that we will create doomsday devices to blow ourselves up.
The article also goes on to talk about the American policy seeming to be to make it into space with weaponised technology first so that they can have the monopoly on space security and control affairs both on and off world. This seems to be going very much in the way of George Orwell's '1984' - 'Big Brother is watching'.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Back casting - Human flight in the past
Considering that jetpacks and base-jumping are considered fairly new phenomenon by most, researching into their origins it is amazing seeing how far the jetpack in particular dates, with very little progress made in terms of making it into a fully fledged mode of transport!
A marvellous example of a jetpack in use in mainstream media was the movie 007:Thunderball, where Sean Connery uses a Jetpack to escape the clutches gunmen. If James Bond using a jetpack doesn't make it 'cool' and relevant, I don't know what will!
My personal favourite is the corkscrew design, which is theorised to have been a study on propulsion rather than a practical design (Perhaps I can adapt this method of working to create my own designs?).
A marvellous example of a jetpack in use in mainstream media was the movie 007:Thunderball, where Sean Connery uses a Jetpack to escape the clutches gunmen. If James Bond using a jetpack doesn't make it 'cool' and relevant, I don't know what will!
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| The top cell of this poster shows 007's jetpack in action, as a selling point! - (Thunderball, 1965) |
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| Sean Connery wearing the 007 Jetpack during filming - (Thunderball, 1965) |
The jetpack used is actually a Bell Rocket belt (the earlier name for a jetpack), which I discovered whilst reading up on the 007 sequence.
The Bell Rocket belt is, insofar as I can gather, the original Jetpack, from which nearly all others have been based on to this day.
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| One of the original patent diagrams, filed June 10, 1960! - (U.S Patent Office, 1960) |
I wonder how different this technology could be had the original rocket belt been made differently. Would we be further advanced than we are now? Would we even need cars or would we be sailing through the skies with our own not-quite-rocket-belts?
Looking into the act of human flight in entertainment, I started looking at human cannonballs, seeing the modern performers on Youtube made me look into their origins, finding this:
The 14-year-old human cannonball, a young girl called Zazel (real name Rossa Matilda Richter), who was launched by Farini-designed contraption. The perceived danger of these acts caused protests and put the venue's licence in doubt but continued to drew crowds.
- (Shadyoldlady.com, 2011)
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| A human cannonball's trajectory caught on film - (Daily Mail, 2007) |
It's nice to know that even in 1877 the possibility someone might get splattered drew crowds (thrill seeking without the danger). Perhaps acts like this started the daredevil fascination that still exists today. (using popular examples like Evil Kineval, movie stuntmen adding to a film's appeal, and so on).
Even in ancient history, human flight features in myth, with the story of Icarus flying to close to the sun, melting the wax that was holding his wings together and causing him to plunge to his death. (Perhaps an ancient way of saying humans were not meant to fly?).
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| Mourning for Icarus - (Herbert James Draper, 1898) |
As much of a flight of fancy as it may be in my opinion (humans do not have the necessary shape of arm strength to fly like a bird), I think it acts as a wonderful demonstration of one of the earliest recorded dreams of flight by a human. It would be incredible to hear the reaction of an ancient Greek to seeing an aeroplane, or any airborn vehicle we have today.
When browsing google results I came across the same question time and time again, The Jetsons- Where are our Jetpacks?! Looking into what the Jetsons were I found them to be one of the early family sitcom cartoons (The predecessors of TV shows such as the Simpsons and Family Guy). The Jetsons was first aired in 1962, and frequently features flight technology - something that people seem to have associated with the future ever since, particularly in science fiction (As seen in movies such as Star Wars, The Fifth Element, Star Trek and so on).
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| The Jetsons- (Hanna and Barbera, 1962) |
Something that I personally have always found fascinating are the designs by Leanardo daVinci for his own flying machine. He had a fascination with flight, believing that man would one day achieve it (he was right!) I would love to try and design something as intricate and outlandish as some of his original designs, which at the time must have seemed even more peculiar!
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| daVinci's designs for a bat wing based flight machine - (Leanardo da Vinci 1485) |
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| The 'corkscrew' flight machine, which some believe to be the predecessor to the helicopter - (Leanardo da Vinci 1485) |
My personal favourite is the corkscrew design, which is theorised to have been a study on propulsion rather than a practical design (Perhaps I can adapt this method of working to create my own designs?).
It may also be worth noting that the top flying machine is strapped to your back - in a time before engines or any kind of contained propulsion, you could consider this the first jetpack!
The following information was included with the pictures above:
About 1485 he drew detailed plans for a human-powered ornithopter (a wing-flapping device intended to fly). There is no evidence that he actually attempted to build such a device, although the image he presented was a powerful one. The notion of a human-powered mechanical flight device, patterned after birds or bats, recurred again and again over the next four centuries.
(C.Gray 1998-2003)
Indeed, the designs have been referenced in the modern day for game mechanics and designs for modern inventions such as the parachute and the hand-glider, I have included a screenshot of the use of one of his devices below.
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| Using daVinci's flying machine in Assassin's Creed 2 - (Ubisoft 2009) |
It's amazing that we see much of this the technology I have talked about as futuristic, when it's roots go as far back as the 15th Century!
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
State of the Art analysis - Human flight in the present day.
To begin my research I have created a mood board to identify consistent visual themes of my topic.
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| Human flight mood board - Various sources |
From looking at my mood board I see several consistent visual themes. Attempts at human flight range from emulating nature to glide with 'wing suits', to developing and using jet-packs to physically lift the user off of the ground.
The shapes and sizes of flying device have a huge range of variation, and colour takes a lesser precedence to form (as without the form, there is no flight).
When gathering the images for my mood board, a consistent recurring theme is the sport of base jumping, and the people who have taken that one step further by trying to develop a means to actually fly rather than simply glide (or - in the words of Buzz Lightyear 'Fall with syle' - Buzz will feature later in the blog!)
With this observation in mind, I will start my research with base jumping.
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When gathering the images for my mood board, a consistent recurring theme is the sport of base jumping, and the people who have taken that one step further by trying to develop a means to actually fly rather than simply glide (or - in the words of Buzz Lightyear 'Fall with syle' - Buzz will feature later in the blog!)
With this observation in mind, I will start my research with base jumping.
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The first thing I am greeted with on the official Base Jumping community site BASEjumper.com is:
BASE Jumping
BASE jumping is a highly dangerous sport that can easily injure and kill participants. Think long and hard before making a BASE jump. We do not recommend BASE jumping to anybody. You, and you alone, are responsible for your safety.
Always seek proper training and mentoring before attempting any sort of BASE jumping. Wherever you jump; take only pictures, leave only footprints.
(Basejumper.com 2011)
(Basejumper.com 2011)
...which gives me some idea of the dangers involved with the sport, relevant because the idea of humans trying to fly at all is fraught with danger (falling from great height towards solid ground isn't good for your health). These kind of adrenaline-seeking sports are popular with certain crowds of people, and are known as extreme sports.
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| New base jumping video is like Superheros flying in slow motion - Trinidad, E |
Extreme sports such as base jumping and skydiving are growing in popularity after the media coverage provided by television shows such as Modern Marvels and The men who jump of buildings.
Despite heavily emphasising the illegality of alot of the base jumping activities, and the amount of danger involved, people are still drawn the the thrill factor of the sport and similar activities, especially with the growing media coverage.
Despite heavily emphasising the illegality of alot of the base jumping activities, and the amount of danger involved, people are still drawn the the thrill factor of the sport and similar activities, especially with the growing media coverage.
Rather than looking at just base jumping, however, I'd like to focus on how people have developed it's basic idea and tried to translate it into more genuine flight.
The next step up that I can identify are wing suits, full body suits that give people a way of gliding remarkably similar to a flying squirrel. Currently these suits are being used in the world of base jumping and skydiving for competitions all over the world
While looking into wingsuits I also stumbled across this:
The next step up that I can identify are wing suits, full body suits that give people a way of gliding remarkably similar to a flying squirrel. Currently these suits are being used in the world of base jumping and skydiving for competitions all over the world
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| A wing suit in action - Squidoo.com 2011 |
While looking into wingsuits I also stumbled across this:
APACHE FLIES UP! OLIVER GAINS ALTITUDE IN HIS WINGSUIT
Oliver Furrer managed to climb briefly in his Apache during the Gransee event, although much talked about this is the FIRST time a "climb" has been recorded in a controlled environment.(Tonywingsuits.com 2011)
If this is possible with a non-powered suit, perhaps with some development it would be possible to fly using a suit with no means of propulsion! - an innovation of the future?
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In the world of comic books, flying humans and humanoids feature all the time, whether by means of a jet pack or suit, or as a natural (or unnatural) ability. Some good examples of the characters that are popular and relevant today are Storm from the X-Men, Iron Man (particularly relevant as he is a very much in the spotlight, as well as using equipment that could in theory become real), and Nathan Patrelli from the TV series Heroes.
Storm's method of flight, although very unlikely is not entirely out of question, with scientists working on new technology to control the weather. according to this article:
Although a long shot from the personal manipulation of your own air thermals to fly with, it is a start, and who knows where this technology could lead us?
Nathan Patrelli and his ability is very much flights of fancy, as he is born with the ability to naturally fly.
Iron Man, however, is very much a plausible creation. Maybe not in the next five years, but at some point in the future. Perhaps this adds to the charm of the character, and adds to the popularity of the recent movies of the Iron Man franchise. My next direction is to look at manufactured methods of human flight.
Continuing on the theme of powered flight, there are a number of innovations in the markets of entertainment and leisure, and experimental innovations underway.
Researching into this, I have found information concerning Jet Packstoys.
Steamboy, Space Marine, LittleBig Planet and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
In reality, jet packs have had little practical use on earth as gravity and the suitability of the human body for flight are very limiting factors, and as such the most effective jet packs have been used in space by astronauts for out-of-craft operation.
There are companies, however, that are challenging themselves to make viable Jetpacks for commercial, military or even social use. This upcoming technology is currently at the point where use and operation is very limited, though this can only improve!
In the world of comic books, flying humans and humanoids feature all the time, whether by means of a jet pack or suit, or as a natural (or unnatural) ability. Some good examples of the characters that are popular and relevant today are Storm from the X-Men, Iron Man (particularly relevant as he is a very much in the spotlight, as well as using equipment that could in theory become real), and Nathan Patrelli from the TV series Heroes.
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| Storm in flight - (Marvel 2010) |
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| Iron man in flight - (The invincible iron man volume 5, 2010) |
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| Nathan in flight - ( Heroeswiki.com 2010) |
- Technology created 50 rainstorms in Abu Dhabi's Al Ain region last year
For centuries people living in the Middle East have dreamed of turning the sandy desert into land fit for growing crops with fresh water on tap.
Now that holy grail is a step closer after scientists employed by the ruler of Abu Dhabi claim to have generated a series of downpours.
Fifty rainstorms were created last year in the state's eastern Al Ain region using technology designed to control the weather.
(Dailymail, 2011) | ||
| weather ioniser diagram - (Daily Mail 2011) |
Although a long shot from the personal manipulation of your own air thermals to fly with, it is a start, and who knows where this technology could lead us?
Nathan Patrelli and his ability is very much flights of fancy, as he is born with the ability to naturally fly.
Iron Man, however, is very much a plausible creation. Maybe not in the next five years, but at some point in the future. Perhaps this adds to the charm of the character, and adds to the popularity of the recent movies of the Iron Man franchise. My next direction is to look at manufactured methods of human flight.
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Continuing on the theme of powered flight, there are a number of innovations in the markets of entertainment and leisure, and experimental innovations underway.
Researching into this, I have found information concerning Jet Packstoys.
Steamboy, Space Marine, LittleBig Planet and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
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| A Jetpack on the cover of the Steamboy soundtrack - (Domocast.tv 2005) |
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| The Jetpack power-up from Littlebigplanet 2 - (Littlebigplanet 2011) |
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| Buzz Lighyear using a Jetpack - (Pixar, 2000) |
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| Astronaut Bruce McCandless, free floating in orbit with a nitrogen jetpack- (NASA, 1984) |
There are companies, however, that are challenging themselves to make viable Jetpacks for commercial, military or even social use. This upcoming technology is currently at the point where use and operation is very limited, though this can only improve!
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| A banner from the site proclaiming it's jetpack's success! - (Jetpack international 2011) |
The above jetpack is the most current and realistic example of human flight I have been able to find. It will be interesting to see what ideas I can develop from them after some research into the origins of the topic!
On a side note, I also happened upon a little known Indy band called The Human Flight Committee, although unrelated to the actual topic I thought it was interesting to see my topic crop up in the music industry, even if only by name!
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| promotional poster featuring the band - (The Human Flight Committee, 2008) |
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