Have you seen TED?

Greetings fellow colligate constituents,

Not a single day passes that we don’t attempt to make sense of the world around us. For some, this is the very reason communication itself exists. We take in information and apply it directly to the world around us. Today, I would like to share a video I recently viewed on TED.com. For those who aren’t aware of TED, it is a website which shares ideas from very intellectual people on all ranges of topics. TED stands for technology, entertainment and design and it is a site I strongly recommend young communicators (or people of all ages) to visit daily.

Kate Hartman is an artist who is specifically interested in how we, as humans, relate to ourselves, others and the world around us. She is an artist, technologist and educator who instructs courses in physical computing and wearable electronics.

What stirs the most curiosity is the fact that Hartman questions the ways in which we relate and communicate.

(Some of which might be initially considered odd but after a couple thoughtful minutes can be viewed as an essential tool to our everyday lives.)

She asks the very important question of “why bodies matter,” which she follows by saying that we all have one. It is something that we all have in common. This can be viewed in a sense that we all have the ability to communicate in common as well.  (By some or any means necessary) This is an aspect that IABC understands in its entirely. I am not sure if you’re aware of all the ways humans communicate, but other non-human objects communicate as well. Some on levels that you only imagined in your dreams.

She adds that our bodies are our primary interfaces for the world. She also mentioned that some of her devices are geared towards expression and communication.

IE: The “inflatable heart” was designed to inflate and deflate to express how one feels at any given time in respect to admiration and love to anxiety and hate.

Another device Hartman invented pertains to plants and their needs. This device can tweet alerts to owners that they need water or sunlight. Can you believe this?  Or even grasp the thought that maybe someday a robot will receive these forms of communication and take it upon itself to water the plants?

What is fascinating to me is that Hartman “raises the questions about how we communicate with our environment, and with ourselves.”

All of these concepts are new modes of expression and communication, which brings to my mind one question. How do you plan on staying on the bandwagon of these technological advances? And also ask yourself what can you do to play your part in today’s age of communication? We all have ideas… lets start sharing them with each other. You never know.. you can be the next Kate Hartman.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/kate_hartman_the_art_of_wearable_communication.html