Simulacra and Simulations
The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth--it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. -Ecclesiastes If we were able to take as the …
The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth--it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. -Ecclesiastes If we were able to take as the …
An interviewer once asked Pablo Picasso why he paints such strange pictures instead of painting things the way they are. Picasso asks the man what he means. The man then takes out …
In 1930 Germans envisioned our Society of Simulations.
Researchers at Stanford and the J. Craig Venter Institute recently created the first complete computer model of an organism. The simulation models the genome and life processes …
Within our society, imitation and simulation are typically seen as inferior symbols of a distorted mediated culture – think of fake Rolexes, plastic Christmas trees, silicone …
As technology progresses we constantly have to adapt ourselves to an ever changing media landscape. Designers try to smooth the changes with a ' progressive nostalgic ' strategy: …
Is a colorized antique photo more or less "real" than the original?
Ten books that continue to inspire the next nature philosophy—gathered for you to read this summer.
Simple yet elegant short film on a girl that forgot here phone and realizes the impact of our Society of Simulations.
To explore deep sea Standfort University developed OceanOne: a humanoid diving robot, which at the same time creates a simulation of the underwater experience on land.
Little over a week after the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) became operational it broke down. As the world's largest particle accelerator isn't working, c omputer simulations are the …
Dutch girl fakes an exotic holiday with the power of Photoshop and Facebook.
Dividing the sidewalk in two lanes: one for cell phone users and one for non-cell phone users.
Spiritual leader Deepak Chopra just unveiled a 20-minute therapy session inviting us to come back to the present moment through virtual reality.
For those experiencing symptoms of motion sickness in VR , it’s now possible to step inside a real-life simulation of what it could be like to ski on mars. Last week, desert dust …
You’ve probably heard how Virtual Reality (VR) is going to change everything: the way we work, the way we live, the way we play. Still, for every truly transformative technology, …
In this video, Geert Mul uses online photos to tap into the divine presence in image search #powershow http://bit.ly/uk79b0
# Baudrillard wrote that, "Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, whereas Los Angeles [is] no longer real, but belongs to the …
Emotionally the avatar has a similar position as ones best friend, despite its "virtual" presence and the often longer lasting relationship with ones best friend.
Food companies are hard at work inventing processes to make luncheon meat look "deli fresh".
A hotel where all communication is conducted by Twitter hashtag.
Supersonic jet replaces windows with massive live-streaming screens.
An artificial illumination that is "authentic" enough to replace natural light.
There isn't an App for everything, and we need a sticker that reminds us so.
A virtual reality headset could give chickens the freedom to roam without the roaming.
This Sunday next nature maven Koert van Mensvoort is interviewed in what is arguably the finest show on Dutch television: VPRO Tegenlicht.
Games are typically played to escape our dull or stressful everyday reality, yet they are also made to become increasingly realistic.
Meet the anti-smartphone. It literally does nothing but make and answer calls.
The Bored and Brilliant project asks people to measure their smartphone use take some conscious steps to limit the digital interactions.
An Australian study has shown the use of lifelike robot babies increased teen pregnancy, rather than discouraging it.
Researchers at MIT have created a system that is able to simulate sounds that are so perfect that they can even fool human listeners.
Sports have always had an important place in human societies, providing entertainment, exercise, and a demonstration of the exceptional things the human body can achieve. But in a …
This story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
At the end of every cold winter there is a debate in the Netherlands on whether the forestry service should feed the oxes, horses and deers grazing the Dutch nature resorts. The …
Two master's students have created a speculative device to simulate the sensations of eating.
An olfactory device for Smartphones that spreads the aroma of barbecue using an app.
The first digital life form is an interactive worm based on its real biology.
Indulge in this video simulation that displays the flight path of every commercial flight in the world over a 24-hour period.
Did Vincent van Gogh ever imagine his paintings would be sold for millions?
Want to grow some vegetables but don’t want to get your hands dirty? There is an app for that!
Nowadays humans suffer from diseases that didn't exist in the past, a trend that will probably continue into the future. A wide range of new disorders, especially related to the …
Researchers at Nasa's Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) in Maryland can deploy a supercomputer called the "Discover".
The eggplant emoji became a political weapon and gain cult status being the forbidden fruit of the web.
Take a look at this video to get an idea of what life with a virtual anime assistant would look like.
Farming is more than manual labor. The hard part is knowing how to get the best yield. Thankfully, there’s an app for that: growing crops in silico.
NNN fellow Govert Flint discusses Enrichers in Frame magazine.
Discover the Next Nature Habitat VR and explore four future environments we might live in someday.
And it’s already showing incredible results. VR transports us to faraway worlds without even asking us to leave our chairs. Yet we usually hear about it in the context of video …
Would you like a dog snout, cat eyes or fluffy bunny ears? The choice is yours. Virtual selfie filters have become a widespread phenomenon on social media platforms such as …
Images largely shape our experience of reality. Just consider how imagery of nature continues to rise in popularity: only a society no longer grounded in their natural landscape …
“ Google choose the fastest route to home.” Today, drivers are better informed about routes and traffic than ever before . Using 'mapping apps', drivers can see traffic before …
While Elon Musk may be trying to initiate efforts to colonize Mars, scientists on Earth are attempting to build an accurate digital twin of the planet to simulate in the future. …
10 design requirements to fully immerse ourselves into the 21st Century—in which technology makes our world richer, not poorer.
The first essay ever written on Next Nature, published in Next Nature Pocket and in Entry Paradise, New Design Worlds . ( download pdf ) (German version: Erkundungen im Nächste …
Written by Debbie Mollenhagen PART 1: FROM LINEAR TO CIRCULAR Designer living has become designing life. I often ask myself: did it taste like the real thing? But when I open my …
Almost by default, we associate simulation with modern media: games and virtual reality. But what about the Phyllium giganteum ? It is not a leaf but an insect disguised as one. …
Fakeness has long been associated with inferiority. Fake Rolexes that break in two weeks, plastic Christmas trees, leaky silicone breasts that cause cancer, imitation caviar. Even …
Parks are not nature. Parks are culture: man-made simulations of nature, carefully constructed to provide walkers, runners and mountain bikers with a recreational, yet confined – …
The rock formations in the High Altitude photo series don't exist physically, yet they are very present in our society of simulations . The photos visualize the development of the …
Many scientists believe that we will soon be able to preserve our consciousness indefinitely. This could be done by copying and transferring these contents into a computer, or by piecemeal replacement with parts of the brain gradually replaced by hardware.
A screen of water displays images by controlling drops of water falling down. Density creates light/dark shades that create the image— Project site
Die Natur verändert sich mit uns (English version: Exploring Next Nature ) by Koert van Mensvoort , published in Entry Paradise, Neue Welten des Designs, Gerhard Seltman, Werner …
At the edge of the woods along the motorway near the Dutch town of Bloemendaal, there stands a mobile telephone mast disguised as a pine tree. This mast is not nature: at best, it …
The Lascaux cave conserves some of the first images created by man, dating back to around 15,000 BC. The depiction of large animals on the cave walls is considered as a …
For the Venezuelan Magazine Platanoverde , Gabriela Valdivieso y Lope Gutiarrez-Ruiz interviewed artist/scientist Koert van Mensvoort and discussed some of the idea's behind Next …
Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle could be the single best-loved structure in the world. Ever wondered where Walt Disney got his enchanting fairytale aesthetic? The castle, which …
So what to think of this? A toilet spray that mimics the smell of clean linen. It is great in the beginning, yet in time your bed will smell like a toilet. Found in the futuristic …
Our beloved King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who died tragically at the age of fifty after suffering cardiac arrest, was one of the most widely beloved entertainers and influential …
Buttons are everywhere: throughout your day you press them on phones, alarm clocks, keyboards, elevators, dishwashers and of course on the computer screen. Although buttons did …
I vividly remember being offended throughout my high-school education because 'atoms' where consistently presented as these perfect slick round little spheres. At one time I even …
Although this TED video has been all over the web and commented on this website already, it still deserves a separate post: Desigineers Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of the MIT …
In the classic Milgram Experiment conducted in the 1960s, volunteers were told by an authority figure to deliver electric shocks to another person as punishment for incorrect …
Have you heard the buzz on virtual money in online games? Some years ago the first virtual millionaire was announced, yet there have also been reports on people being practically …
In the last few decades there have been numerous films that take the struggle between mankind and its increasingly intelligent and autonomous technology as a leitmotif. Ranging …
Image consumption has never been as cool as in this brand new clip by Studio Smack , which was created for the upcoming Graphic Design Festival . The ‘Transparency Suit' …
Tikker, the watch that counts down your life, shows the amount of time you are estimated to have left.
Pair-bonding sets humans apart from our relatives. But where did it come from?
Baudrillard intersects with social media in the world of fake online girlfriends.
From the handshake to the sanitary, gender-neutral fist bump.
A new technology enables us to produce electricity from living plants at practically every site where plants can grow.
Hanx Writer, an app that digitally simulates the experience of typing on a typewriter.
When I was a kid, my parents took me to the beach every summer. We’d swim in the ocean and play on our inflatable raft in the surf. When the tide was low, I’d build a sand castle …
This story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Want to see your work here? Get in touch and …
Octavio Paz says calls The Invention of Morel , “ without exaggeration… a perfect novel. ” According to Borges, “ to classify [it] as perfect is neither an …
A report from 2021 from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine tackles a controversial question : Is solar geoengineering – an approach designed to cool the …
Written by Werner Lippert & Peter Wippermann, Curators of the Entryparadise exhibition (26/8 until 3/12, 2006, at Kohlenwäsche, Zollverein) Design is about to undergo a …
Photojournalist Robbie Cooper captured images of gamers and their real-life selves. Here are their stories. Bae plays a man because she thinks that male avatars have more …
Despite the metaphor, current virtual desktops (a) have little resemblance to the look or feel of real world desktops (b). Bumptop explores making virtual desktops behave in a …
The flower depicted in the image is a good example of Hypernature. While fake nature is always a flatter surrogate of old nature, hypernature is a simulation of an old nature that …
The Earth is heating up. The sun will blow up within 5 billion years. The human race will probably go extinct before entering the posthuman stage, or the probabillity that we are …
In ancient times heroes like Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus explored the unknown territories of the globe. Today world traveling has become a teenage tourist activity, but …
Now let us analyze this setup for a moment: You are looking at an avatar character inside a 3D model of a virtual reality cave, enjoying a 'natural' landscape – welcome in the …
The Fake for Real Memory Game playfully visualizes the classical theme of Fake vs Real. Is everything that was once directly experienced, in our media society now replaced by …
The Fake for Real Memory Game – consisting of 60 cards that playfully visualize the classical theme of fake and real in our society – has temporarily been taken offline due to …
One might think this video is just another witty flick made by some media artist. It is not. This is a real bird living in Southern Australia. In order to attract females, the …
Recently, I had a nice day in the Dutch dunes with the people of Blocter.com , who show the people behind blogs. We closely investigated the Scottish highland cattle that acts as …
No, this is not another example in our fake for real series , comparing an artificial with a human hand. Rather, you are looking at twice the same hand: with and without its …
The Fake for Real Memory Game consists of 60 cards that playfully visualize the classical theme of Fake vs Real. Is everything that was once directly experienced in our media …
"Paris, printemps 2019: Oh Darling, you look gorgeous." Nowadays we are so used to Hollywood hyperbodies – a simulation of a body that never existed – it is good to see a …
By highlighting the geometric and mechanical structure of flowers, computer graphics illustrator Macoto Murayama produced these beautiful renderings. These flowers must not be …
With who or what do we have contact the most in our daily life routines? Our family, our bed pillow, doorknobs maybe? The answer is probably: Display. And now there is even a …
Robots are penetrating our homes... disguised as cats? On July 30, Sega Toys releases an el-cheapo simulation cat toy for robot cat lovers with allergies or pet-unfriendly …
After the plant that glows when thirsty , the plant that calls when thirsty , the dataplant , plantvertizing , the emphatic plant and the blogging houseplant , there is now a …
In 1961, the name of Marshall McLuhan was unknown to everyone but his English students at the University of Toronto – and a coterie of academic admirers who followed his abstruse …
Make no mistake, you're not looking at the latest Barbie line: These are the The Pussycat Dolls. Formerly an LA stripper show burlesque show, now upgraded to be pop music …
I remember the smoke the most. That pungent smell permeating the camps of tribal people. Everything they touch is infused with the lingering perfume of smoke – their food, …
As a child, I already saw some great tiger potential in my cat and some shark-ish attitude in the behaviour of my goldfish. Personally, I think that since we started domesticating …
Nature demanded that we make a choice between immortality and sex, but the Next Nature of the 21st century may not. For help, we can look back to the 20th Century, which had many …
On June 10, the digital currency Bitcoin lost 30% of its value in a few hours, dropping from US $28.92 to $20.01 per coin. Bitcoins are a largely untraceable form of money, …
Along with the Heck cattle and Scottish Highlanders , another reconstructed species roams the Dutch dunes . The sturdy Konik horse , also known as the Polish primitive, is the …
At the 2011 Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, a photograph of a flesh-and-blood woman advertises a RealDoll, the life-sized sex mannequin made for people with a fetish for …
Long for farm-fresh eggs on the table? Dream about going to bed each night worrying about racoons, rats and foxes? Like the feeling of scraping chicken shit off your hands? For …
During the coming weeks, we will present a selection of our favourite pages from the Next Nature book . To kick the series off, we’ll start with a spread about hypernature; the …
The nature of humanity in the twenty-first century is, according to sociologist Steve Fuller, a ‘bipolar disorder’ beset with dualisms of identification such as divine/animal, …
All the "fun" of a cruise vacation, with none of the seasickness.
Scientists claim to have discovered a “prehistoric version of Facebook” used by ancient tribes to communicate with each other.
A new device replicates the kicking and moving of a baby inside a mother's womb.
A 2 million pound investment to hide economic decay with fake storefronts.
The pictures of Google Street View come to life.
Hong Kong has a rather cynical solution to the problem of ugly air pollution.
Next, we are anticipating recipes on how to turn pork into dinosaur filet.
A Facebook version of Monopoly forces players to interact with each other in meatspace.
Floris Kayak discusses online hoaxes and the future of technology.
Imagine bumping into a cola dispenser after a hike in the pristine Canadian forests for three days. Would you believe your eyes?
Beautiful Mutation series from Belgian designer Maarten De Ceulaer show how herpes would dramatically enhance the look of your Yves Klein blue sofa. Indeed the velvety series …
Indulge in the Next Nature stump speech at TEDx from Dr. Van Mensvoort
Artist Filippo Minelli aims to point out the gap between the reality we still live in and the ephemeral world of technologies.
The Sniffer – aka Google Nose – visualizes odors using a smell sensor, which is as good as a dog’s nose, and a glass in front of your eyes.
For NSA, spying on you isn't enough, they monitor your avatar too.
When you look into the anamorphic abyss, the anamorphic abyss also looks into you.
New wealth and old laws mean that China is awash in forged artwork.
Draw to unlock, a virtual experience seeping into physical world.
If the Korean Virtual Shopping Store becomes a success, all shop shelves will soon be LCD Screens.
3D printing cancer could be the future of treating cancer.
There is a similarity between strings of binary and strands of organic DNA: they both carry actionable information encoded into reconfigurable symbols. Using nature’s biodiversity …
Buckle up for some tracking technologies beyond the beyond.Buckle up for some tracking technologies beyond the beyond.
Facebook data science analyzed what happens to our virtual life when we fall in love.
The oPhone and oSnap allow you to send pictures with aromatic vocabularies.
We have entered the Anthropocene epoch, in which humanity and its instrumentalities are the most potent and influential geological force.
Your next phone could be the noPhone: a technology-free alternative to any smart mobile device.
"It's time to recognize the Internet as a basic human right" its inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has said.
The smog in Beijing has become so thick that only place to hail a sunrise is on the huge digital commercial television screens across the city.
Thanks to 3D Babies and a mere $600,- you can now experience that excitement of holding your baby in your hands before he or she is born.
Turning 100,000 entries from the Wikipedia into a growing nebula of human knowledge.
No longer is the perception of the analog limited to its physical elements.
Do you think you are made from bits and bytes? Stop playing video games and spend some more time offline! Both atoms and bits are basic parts of matter.
he always-available camera in our pockets compels us to shoot photos and videos every minute a day.
In 1996 Tamagotchis were the most bought pets in the world. More than 40 million(!) were sold.
Los Santos is a big, fictional city in the state of San Andreas inspired by the City of Los Angeles.
Social media empowered the mass by providing them with a tool to spread their voices.
Some modern thinkers argue that new technology is making us antisocial.
First-person shooter games let you immerse in a battlefield from the moment you press play.
Dutch developer Jeffrey van der Goot got questioned by the police after one of his Twitter Bot released a tweet containing a death threat.
The Green Brain Project aims to create drones that will think, act and sense like a bee.
Sixteen-year-old Japanese singer Hatsune Miku grew in short time to a worldwide popstar. With her colourful appearance she counts millions of followers on social media, she …
Kirsten Zirngibl's illustrations depict imaginary landscapes that are formed by microbots.
America artist Mac Cauley created a new way to experience the painting in virtual reality.
This augmented reality helmet allows the wearers to see all around them without having to turn their head.
Google filmed the most recent NYC Veteran’s Day Parade in 360-degree video and created a VR version that would allow disabled or ill-healthed veterans to experience the parade as well.
There is now a new application that allows random people to cheer you up on Twitter.
Inside the Chinese military-style rehab center for internet addicts.
De Motu is an interactive music app that let you experience your body through music and influence the sound with your own body.
A group of students at the MIT Media Lab are working on an electronic textile that might help us interact with people more easily.
The new year is right around the corner, let’s forget about long-term future for a while to check out what new tech trends will hit it big in 2016. At the end of every year, …
A virtual reality theme park where visitors can explore the virtual world in a physical environment.
If you experience virtual reality sickness, here some solutions for you.
Nausea is a common feeling while playing video games. A solution would be to add a virtual nose to VR experiences.
Researchers discovered that people's reactions to 3D images of facial expressions are more emotional than the responses to classic 2D images.
Using immersive virtual reality and aromatics to make the brain believe we are enjoying a delicious dish.
Australian programmer started a social experiment called “Twitch Plays Pokémon”. Over a Million People Play Pokémon in Social Experiment
According to a study our PC, equipped with a list of things we "Like" on Facebook , knows us better than our friends.
TThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows defines anemoia as the felling of nostalgia for a time you’ve never known. This word may not be frequently used, but it describes a common feeling.
Around 100 Polish teenagers aged between 12 and 18 agreed to withstand 72 hours totally offline: no phone, no computer, no TV. What were the results?
The Microsoft HoloLens is a holographic computer that enables you to interact with high-definition holograms through augmented reality.
It is the era of smart toys, but they certainly raise difficult questions for parents.
The latest researches showed how AI can recognize human faces even if pixelated and meant to be incognito.
On the aftermath of such a historic day for Britain and the EU, it's easy to get swayed into the polarities of political discourse, particularly on social media and the Internet, where things heat up and move fast. The results of the referendum have just come out, and the Internet is already burning with tension. This is called "climate change" - just not the one you are used to hear about.
What if a camera would say "no" when you press the shutter because there are already too many similar photos on the internet?
team of computer scientists at the universities of Germany and California has created what they call photoshoping videos in real time.
At Hyowon Healing Centre in Seoul you can experience the emotional cost of a suicide during "Death School" classes.
Google launched the Mzansi Experience, a virtual tour to South Africa through Street View.
Facebook provides a new tool for suicide prevention
This father in China hired some professional gamers to find his son on online games and kill his avatar.
Due to an algorithmic error, Facebook mistakenly "memorialized" vital user accounts with a banner announcing the user’s passing – turning their friend walls into memorial walls.
Loneliness is a major social issue and can only be 'cured' with real world interaction.
This Instagram model makes her fans wondering whether she is fake or real.
A new Google Maps app is designed to get kids exploring the Himalayas without having to actually go outside.
Is the use of personal devices becoming a replacement for the spectrum of emotions that make us all humans?
The human ear is a miracle of mechanical evolution. It allows us to hear an astonishing range of sounds and to communicate and navigate in the world. It’s also easy to damage and …
Speculative designer Agi Haines' work focuses on (re)designing the human body, and speculates upon future scenarios.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona.
Exploring the surface of Mars at least 15 years before a human being in flesh and blood will be able to, this is the new ambitious idea of the people at NASA.
How will the future perceive our so-called modern VR technologies?
Cinemas for Millennials will include special sections where texting is allowed.
To celebrate the 500 year anniversary for Hieronymus Bosch, Studio Smack made a contemporary interpretation of 'The Garden Of Earthly Delights'.
Disney's Frozen is causing tourism overload in Norway, and it's not sure if that is a good thing.
Our evolutionary stage does not allow us to physically navigate outer space - at least just yet. In fact, only a tiny, tiny fraction of our species ever ventured beyond Earth's atmosphere.
These two boys use the nap of their flip-flop as a camera to take an imaginary selfie. Still, their selfie went viral and it became our peculiar image of the week.
What if we can no longer rely on authenticity of voice recordings? A demo software to alter them premiered recently.
Pokémon Go is shaping social relationships amongst individuals.
What happens when someone places a virtual property on top of a physical one?
Our online reputation is becoming a valuable currency that is hard to earn and easy to lose.
Why are children still learning to read from a book? Therefore Amazon is reinventing the children’s book in the form of an educational reading app, called Rapids.
Additivism is a movement that calls for radical rethinking of new technologies, such as 3D printing, the plastification of the world and our human position within it.
After calling, texting, chatting, video chatting, teledildonics (interactive and touch emulating sex toys) and sync-watching TV series while miles apart, you can kiss your beloved one over the Internet from wherever you are with Kissenger.
Jill Watson has been performing as teaching assistant for 5 months, but she is not a real person, and students didn't notice.
Emoji are taking our communication to a faster, simpler level.
Samsung just revealed the prototype version of Bedtime VR Stories, a technology that connects parents to their children in virtual reality, right before bedtime.
United Nations aims at turning a playful technology into a serious medium.
As the digital age makes people more lonely, Chuck McCarthy created a service to walk with strangers.
Web 0.0 is sa project by street-artist Biancoshock where web apps are contextualized in real life.
A robot monk has been created in China, mixing spirituality with artificial intelligence.
The movie The Matrix brought ectogenesis to the public eye.
At the beginning of 2016, two artists made a 3D scan of the Nefertiti bust in the Neues Museum in Berlin and uploaded it to the Internet.
Go world champion Ke Jie has lost two games of 'Go' against Google's DeepMind AI system AlphaGo.
Say goodbye to bad selfies with Adobe’s latest AI photo editor.
Future workspace, human interaction and unique experiences: here’s how artificial intelligence and VR impact on architects and engineers.
One fan has become so impatient for the conclusion to "Game of Thrones", he's programmed an AI to write it for him. Move over, George R.R. Martin!
Our peculiar object in these summer weeks is a sculpture by Aram Bartholl, made for the Odyssey expo in Arnsberg.
Have you ever wondered what the infosphere looks like? Dutch designer Richard Vijgen’s app Architecture of Radio is a field guide to the hidden world of digital networks.
The biggest artificial sun was set up in Germany to find out how carbon neutral fuel can be produced.
Barbie has been turned into a hologram version of herself and will now be your kids assistend.
Emoji translator wanted! London firm is looking for an emoji translator, take the test to find out if you're good enough.
In the desert landscape of the Californian Coachella Valley, artist Jennifer Bolande installed a series of billboards that camouflage themselves with the surroundings.
Do you feel information overloaded? Do you experience stress? Do you feel like you are addicted to your smartphone, laptop, or the Internet? Get yourself digital detoxed!
When life gives you digital lemons, make a virtual lemonade!
We asked Ritsert Mans, our second ECO coin award nominee about his bike, the technology that fuels it and his hopes for the future.
Virtual reality experiment tries to help people frightened of death with outer-body experience.
Last week, our NNN fellows gathered to discuss the Next Habitat; how will we work in the future? And how does this affect our personal lives?
Our Next Nature Habitat VR experience has won the Sweden International Virtual Reality Award in the category Best 360 Video!
What if you could upload your fondest memories to the cloud? Watch episode 4 of our Intimate Technology video series.
"Misbehaving (Ro)bots" asks whether technology could hope to replicate these small bothersome quirks that instill a feeling of intimacy.
We think of selfhood as residing in our everyday stream of consciousness. But could we possibly have a second digital self in our online behaviors? Watch episode 3 of our Intimate Technology series.
The last episode of our Intimate Technology series follows a minute in the life of a hyperconnected family in the digital era.
This live stream video of a Bald Eagles family nesting in Florida has counted more than 72 million viewers.
Lyrebird is an AI model capable of synthesizing anyone’s voice from just a one-minute audio sample.
Imagine being able to enter your office through a digital representation of reality. It sounds crazy, but it’s possible with augmented and virtual reality.
In the next nature, many people spend as much time in the digital world of gaming as they do in the real world. We have covered video games before, but this year we thought it …
Nomophobia, no-mobile-phobia, is the fear of being separated from your smartphone.
With the rise of modernity, we have domesticated ourselves with new technology: discover how the world spends one minute on the Internet.
Ever stood in front of a mountain and wondered which other mountains you might like after seeing this one? No? Well, it's what we do everyday. London-based artist duo Scott Kelly …
A new feature rumored to be in the next iOS update called Theater Mode could dim smartphone usage in cinemas.
A Japanese Start up brings Farmville back into real life by letting players grow physical food.
After mounting criticism from environmentalists, a firefly-themed park in China announced that the glowing bugs will be replaced by lasers.
Replika is your friend for life. He is 100% AI chatbot that you “raise” by chatting with it.
This is post number five of our serie 'Robots at Work'. In this last episode we present you five jobs for the extraordinary, the ones who won't let themselves be categorized.
Forever by your side. Elrois a South Korean firm developed an app that allows you to engage with your dead friends lovers or idols.
Shazam for Plants app lets you catch around 400.000 plant species left on our planet through the lens of your smartphone.
Smartphones have become almost a part of who we are. According to tech industry experts, however, the smartphone's days are numbered and that number is lower than you might expect.
Sophia the Humanoid, a human-like robot in appearance and mannerisms, was granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia and became the first robot with citizenship.
A study shows that screen time for kids between six months and two years triggers expressive speech delay.
Dutch commercial telecom provider Ben recently launched an advertising campaign to sell smartphone plans by promoting disconnection.
Exploring methods to better connect people to the natural world, Waag Society, in collaboration with the Dutch Botanical Gardens Association, have developed an app that allows visitors to talk with plants.
A cellphone antenna tree with an empty billboard and a tiny label that reads: Media 24/7.
A rosy-cheeked kid learns her first words, cries when her babysitter leaves, smiles when she’s happy, but she’s not real. BabyX is an AI research-in-progress by a company named Soul Machines.
A Facebook chatbot that offers interactive cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s called Woebot and it's your personal virtual counselor.
Using alternative reality as a cure for the socially excluded.
A virtual museum for poetry opens "its doors" at Museumplein in Amsterdam.
Virtual reality is already becoming a part of the conversation surrounding social media. Will it become the next popular social network?
Today's peculiar image comes from New York's Met Museum. No, the woman depicted in the sculpture isn't holding a smartphone!
Augmented reality applications are a promising alternative to GPS. At least that is what Blippar’s AR City app claims to be.
If you've been dreaming of disconnecting and ridding your day of digital distractions, there's an island destination that would love to have you this weekend. Tonight, in one of …
Recent years have proved that if you want to look for which countries are adopting innovative digital governing solutions, you don’t look at the usual tech suspects like the US or …
When two people have a fight it is not really the end until it’s e-end. We finally have a chance to kick somebody out of our lives. People typically remove someone from friends or …
eSports is the huge industry that’s growing up around competitive online gaming. Let’s take a look at how this cyberpunk sporting world came to be.
Today, artificial intelligence is doing all kinds of things: It can write an episode of game of thrones , it may revolutionize the teaching industry , and it's drawing new streets …
The appearance of “seen” has created a new phenomenon: opening messages partially, having a peek at the beginning of the message and assuming the rest so that the other person …
Virtual reality has come a long way. Like most technological leaps, it’s had a huge push from the entertainment industry, but current applications span a wide range of social and …
Sex is one of the most powerful, fundamental human drives. It’s caused wars, and built and destroyed kingdoms. It occupies a significant percentage of most people’s thoughts. As …
Physics teaches us that it is not possible to be present at two places at the same time. However, some users of social networks seriously challenge that fact. The amount of …
Astonishingly, we’re still living in a world where most women feel uncomfortable talking about their periods and some don’t even have access to sanitary products. This is why …
Not only does this phone case conceal your engagement ring in preparation for the big moment, but it’ll then take a video of your partner as you go down on one knee.
Cosmetic surgeons have always fielded seemingly odd requests to recreate body parts from celebrities: Angelina Jolie’s lips, David Beckham’s calve, or perhaps Salma …
Checking for new notifications has become a habit that is hard to resist. For some users of social networks it is a kind of an impulse. When receiving and opening notifications, …
A team of German researchers published a study earlier this week indicating people can be duped into leaving a robot turned on just because it “asks” them to. The …
Researchers are using VR as an empathy tool to help neurotypical teachers understand their students with autism. There have already been attempts to use VR to help autistic …
Don’t adjust your TV set, that’s just a new computer-generated news anchor working out the bugs. Xinhua, a Chinese state-run media company, and Sogou, a Beijing-based search …
New technologies – from artificial intelligence to synthetic biology – are set to alter the world, the human condition, and our very being in ways that are hard to imagine. The …
Submarines feature a special device called a periscope that allows people inside the submarine to see what's going on above water. Controlling such an eye requires hours of …
A team of researchers from Tel-Aviv University developed a neural network capable of reading a recipe and generating an image of what the finished, cooked product would look like. …
The idea that AI can compose electronic music may sound a little off to people. It raises essential questions about creativity as a product exclusive to humans: can an AI be …
Although all likes, shares, and retweets come from the same act of clicking, not all of them carry the same value. If you are in love, the most valuable like will be the one from …
You know climate change is real when dead coral Pokémon start to wash up on (virtual) beaches. Behold, Cursola, world’s first dead coral Pokémon. On the origins of Cursola While …
With New Year’s resolutions in full swing, many people may have chosen to cut down on their tech use – or even give it up altogether. The growing popularity of such “digital …
Playing e-dead means to avoid being visibly active online because of not having answered to someone’s message or comment. This is a part of a social media code of conduct; if you …
There are many reasons why somebody doesn’t want to take a photo at a certain place in a certain moment or with a certain people and put it online. The reason might be anything …
If your Instagram feed is anything like mine, it’s littered with timelapses of injected lip fillers, Kardashian-promoted beauty products, and Story filters that “enhance” your …
The world is developing, climate change is happening and it's time for us to do something. Now. One strategy would be to simply stop eating meat — or at least reduce the amount of …
Ibis, A popular European hotel chain, just introduced the world to the “social media sitter.” It’s the answer to a problem few knew existed, and even fewer though we needed …
When perceiving the world around us as a potential Instagram post, some thoughts, stories and situations can easily be packed into a tweet or a photo, while others are harder to …
“Please refrain from hand shaking" is a common sign we now see as a result of public health organizations advising people to avoid shaking hands as a greeting. As people still …
With most of us stuck at home because of lockdown, for the singles around us intimacy may have turned into a distant dream. Could we find our salvation in technology? And what …
The virus is forcing all of us to sit at home. While we are allowed to have social contact—albeit at an appropriate distance, intimate contact is hard to find. How to cope with …
Facial recognition is increasingly being used in many countries around the world. In some cases the take up has been dramatic . As a result, people are being observed by cameras …
This story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Would you like to see your work here? Get in touch …
Since the 16th of March 2020, the government of the Netherlands applied new measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Schools, cafes, restaurants and sport …
It's that time of year again; the Unicode Emoji 13.0 has announced that 117 new emojis are to be implemented in the second half of 2020. It got us curious of what these new emojis …
This story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
This story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
During these challenging times, we have tried to find happy moments together where we could find them. From weekly Zoom lunches to having online wine tastings, still, it doesn't …
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is a common phrase people associate with romance that has been forced apart by distance. But for long-distance couples (as many of us can …
Recently, Twitter announced it would be clearing all inactive accounts in an effort to free up dormant usernames and prevent the risk of old accounts being hacked. The new policy …
Current social distancing measures are all about keeping a physical distance from each other in order to flatten the curve. But this does not mean we have to keep a distance from …
At this moment in time, many people are staying at home in order to flatten the curve . It is times like these that we realize how vital technology is to us and our societies. It …
Data Dating is an exhibition that explores what it means to find romance in the internet age. Love it or hate it, technology has transformed the way we date. So, how are digital …
As the viral pandemic continues to spread, so too does the world’s collective uncertainty. As a result, people are turning to media for some levity. And can you blame them. …
Last week I was strolling through the aisles of the supermarket when I heard a buzzing sound coming from my pocket. I looked up from my cart and saw it was a message from …
Imagine if everyone spoke a language that you don’t understand. It’s not a foreign language–it’s been spoken around you since the day you were born–but where as everyone else …
Play is a core part of a healthy childhood , through which children develop social, communication, cognitive and physical skills. Children’s play adapts to its circumstances. …
In 1953, a Harvard psychologist thought he discovered pleasure – accidentally – within the cranium of a rat. With an electrode inserted into a specific area of its brain, the rat …
Technology is not neutral; the same tech might empower some and disempower others. It is time to check our Technoprivilege, argues author Hendrik-Jan Grievink.
Trading animal skins for pixels, our digital selves call for a digital wardrobe. The Institute of Digital Fashion , led by CommuneEast founder Leanne Elliott Young and Digi-Gxl …
What is the metaverse and to what extent should we believe that the vision being presented to us is really going to be central to our daily lives?
Soon it will be possible to grow flowers with your phone. Niantic and Nintendo joined forces to create a new mobile game connected to the Pikmin franchise. In this augmented …
When we think of robots, we typically do not think of small cellular organisms made with embryonic cells from frogs. However, this is exactly what the joint teams at University of …
Memories are often considered very personal and private. Yet, in the past few years, people have got used to notifications from social media or phone galleries telling them they …
The times where memes were geeky and funny, somewhat disturbing images have been over for years. Even a simple frog such as Pepe is not innocent anymore. Memes were hijacked by …
The idea of colonizing Mars has become the big speculative future of humanity on Earth. But, artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg has radically different ideas to contribute to the …
Next time you are taking a walk to work, have a look around you. You will probably notice that most of your fellow pedestrians are glued to their phones, rather than enjoying the …
This story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Many aspects of the current metaverse were already familiar 143 years ago.
In conversation with architect Julia Watson, a leading expert on Indigenous technologies and author of 'Lo-TEK, Design by Radical Indigenism'.
Why memes might be the next tool to make sense of on our increasingly hybrid virtual and physical environment.
What if an ancient mammoth found herself resurrected by humans into our modern age?