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exhibition

BIQ House: World's first building powered by algae

There's long been speculation and research about algae's potential as a power source. The fast-growing plants waste three-quarters of the sunlight they absorb, so what if that energy could be captured and converted?

That's the premise behind BIQ House, designed by architectural firm Splitterwerk. It's a new algae-powered building that's opening on April 25 as part of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) in Hamburg, Germany. The building's east and south facades are covered in a system of louvres. Filled with microalgae, these louvres form 200 square meters of panels to power the building. … Read more

Qualcomm's Vuforia makes famous art interactive

LAS VEGAS--Vuforia is Qualcomm's new augmented reality development platform, and some of the early demos I saw at CES 2013 were very impressive.

In one section of the Qualcomm booth an exhibitor held a tablet and pointed it at a famous Leonardo da Vinci painting. The software was able to identify the painting (because it was already in the app's database) and the exhibitor was able to use her finger to "wipe away" the top layer of the painting to show the layers of art painted by da Vinci underneath.

Over the past few years, … Read more

Your Facebook profile pic, shown in the Louvre

Seeking to modernize the staid "Baron Von Sitting Down" and "Madame Miss No Emotion" portrait genre of yore, a couple of London creatives have launched an initiative to get as many Facebook profile pics as possible into the world's leading museums.

"Each one of our profile pics is a statement about who we are," says the video for The Profile Picture Exhibition project, which I won't embed here due to its generous use of a word that starts with the same letter as Facebook does. "It's finally time we claimed our space in art history." … Read more

Anyone can be a MythBuster at Explosive Exhibition

SAN JOSE, Calif.--If you've ever wanted a chance to bust a myth like a real MythBuster, your time has come.

Starting tomorrow, MythBusters fans can try their hand at a number of myths and see some of the artifacts behind a number of the hit Discovery Channel show's greatest hits at MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition at the Tech Museum here.

From testing whether you're more likely to get wet by running or walking in the rain to whether it's really possible to pull a tablecloth off a table without destroying everything on it to a … Read more

The weird world where 3D printing and art collide

While we may never think the world of 3D movies, at least the 3D printing ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly in a good direction. With interest in 3D printers, as well as accessibility to them, becoming more commonplace, an increasing number of artists use these machines -- capable of making nearly anything -- to stretch the limits of design.

The first 3D Print Show, held in London's Brewery next month -- October 19-21 -- gives those in the 3D printing industry a centralized venue for collaborating and educating, as well as showing off some mind-bending 3D creations.… Read more

Designing 007: A look at Bond's luxurious life

When the world first met James Bond on-screen in the 1962 film "Dr. No," it changed the way many people imagined the life of a secret agent.

Six actors and nearly 25 films after Bond's film debut, the Barbican Centre in London is commemorating the dapper life of James Bond with "Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style." The massive exhibit features 400 effects from the Bond movie franchise, ranging from rarely seen conceptual art and on-set photos to original costumes and props. … Read more

Take a stroll through 'The Art of Video Games'

If an art museum existed in video game heaven, it would probably look a lot like "The Art of Video Games" exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Twenty game consoles and more than 80 games star in the multimedia exhibit that "focuses on the interplay of graphics, technology, and storytelling" in video games. Spanning consoles from the retro Atari to the modern PlayStation 3, many great game titles like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. 3, Metal Gear Solid, and Bioshock made the cut.

The exhibit, which opened last month and runs until September 30, features terminals showing videos and images from the last 40 years of games.… Read more

Two new Marc Ecko headphones doused in bright colors

Mark Ecko beefs up its Unltd.Sound series of streetwear headphones with two new over-ears blasted with bright colors.

The company today announced the Exhibit headphones that make bold statements in green, blue, red, gray, and white. The guts feature standard 40mm drivers but the presser makes no mention of an in-line remote control to control music on smartphones, which sounds irritating for users that prefer to keep their devices in a backpack or tucked away in a pocket.

The bright designs of the Exhibit headphones are inspired and extended to Ecko's matching CE accessories that include a range … Read more

Samsung Exhibit II 4G review: Android on a shoestring

Want a seriously cheap Android Gingerbread phone that doesn't suck? You got it! Meet T-Mobile's Samsung Exhibit II 4G.

It has T-Mobile's HSPA+ speeds (hence the "4G"), a front-facing camera, a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 1GHz processor. Plus, it's filled with a bunch of useful apps, like T-Mobile TV HD. Overall, it's a nice chunk of plastic smartphone power for just $30 with a contract and $200 without one.

Read all the pros and cons, take the video tour, and peruse the photos (including comparative camera shots) in the full Samsung Exhibit II 4G review.… Read more

Samsung Exhibit II 4G is a $30 Android steal for T-Mobile

Samsung is a company with a penchant for sequels, and just a few months after releasing Exhibit A, here comes Exhibit B: the Samsung Exhibit II 4G.

The specs are modest to be sure, and very similar to the original. It starts with Android 2.3 Gingerbread running behind a 3.7-inch WVGA touch screen and powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. There's a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing VGA camera. In addition to the usual Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth support there's also T-Mobile TV and the Samsung Media Hub.

Of course, there's also … Read more