Visiting Calit2 at UC San Diego

The Everyday Digital Money workshop in Calit2 at the University of California Irvine was the trigger for my trip to California. Thanks to the organiser Prof. Bill Maurer I was introduced to Prof. David T. Goldberg, co-founder of HASTAC and the competition on “Digital Media and Participatory Learning“.

Hence the “magic of networking” led me to visiting Calit2 in San Diego where I received the red carpet treatment, for the world’s experts in visualization appreciated what was different in my ability to re-visualize digital images.

Three innovations impressed me:

1. the multi-disciplinary exhibition of projects created by summer students, ranging from psychology and archeology to weather management data – including an artistic installation
2. the biggest virtual reality cave that I’ve ever seen (the one at UCL in London is smaller with less sides)
3. a wall of 70 linked computer screens as a new instrument of observation.

This wall is what I’d like to ‘export’ to the right place in London. For it would be the ideal ‘carrier’ for the information that my software will be able to deliver concurrently: data, static snapshots and real time simulation.

Let’s see whether I can make this dream come true!

Meanwhile a fond digital memory thanks to Doug Ramsey, Director of Communications at Calit2.

Maureen Curran recorded my visit here.