EARTHQUAKES - New Exhibit Going Live at the California Academy of Sciences, Powered by my electronics / code
Coming Soon!
Obj-c, Perl, Python, Assembly, Max/MSP, rear projections, arcade-controls, and more.
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Meet my robots at Stanford VAIL during National Robotics Week
I'll be presenting some of my robot friends at the amazing Robot Block Party hosted at the Volkswagon Automotive Innovation Lab at Stanford.
There’ll be wonderful robots on display ranging from Mars Rovers from The Tech Museum, to middle school robot projects. Cutting edge robotics companies represented at the Block Party include industry leaders like Adept, Bosch, Willow Garage and researchers from SRI International and the Center for Automotive Research. Smaller startups are also on display, like MLB drones, the Robot App Store and Beatbots, who created the lovable dancing robot toy ‘Keepon’.
![[ROBOT BLOCK PARTY]](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/aPsLo6v-EJDaMChM31tZNQWRUmf3VpUkIbyOAIYLkPJvQG-AQDIVvpaP8dMQ797aXMO9N6nfTeuV2BbznLfNV3n1Grb-qr_kdlD4cP8XQofKearUgCs)
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"Animal Attraction" iPad interactives are live at the Steinhart Aquarium
The Animal Attractions Exhibit is live and on the wall at the Steinhart Aquarium, featuring the iPad app I was part of developing. This exhibit provides interactive signage, video and stories of the few dozen specimens in 18 tanks. 
The exhibits focuses on the unusual courtship, relationship and mating habits of different animals, from scorpions and a coconut octopus to the and common garden snail with their rapey "love darts."
The Steinhart Aquarium had this to say: "Enter and discover the surprising secrets of meeting, mating and repopulating. The colorful and diverse beauty of the natural world would not exist without the mixing and passing of genes."
(image credit to Tosh Chiang)
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GROWBOT, aka Robotany, is awake and farming
I publicly debuted the Growbot, a symbiotic aquarium and hydroponic garden that's managed by a rudimentary AI robot, at the California Academy of Sciences Nightlife last week. Growbot is based on the Propeller chipset by Parallax and OSX (with a Playstation Eye camera), and can monitor Ph, lighting, temperature, watering, humidity, plant health and disease, feeding, draining, and more.
I'll be putting the source code and schematics online here, so check back and Build It Yourself.
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ROBOTS! I'm going to make some friends on February 23 (No, literally.)
Tosh and I will be standing next to some robots we've made, who will in turn present their skills to the world, at Nightlife at the California Academy of Sciences on February 23. 
Expect some underwater research vessels, and autonomous battle-bot-protester with realtime crowd-analysis and targetting, and something that'll react to precisely how drunk you don't know you are.
Come have a drink and enjoy lively debate with some new robot friends.
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Educator's Extravaganza, and Electronics for Educators
This week, November 5th, I'll be working with Tosh Chiang to lead two workshops at the California Academy of Sciences' Educator's Extravaganza, 
highlighting interesting ways educators can employ electronics, engineering and applied science to engage students in their classrooms and lecture halls. This full-day event is free to teachers, and has received a tremendous response already. Please RSVP, and expect to be sent home with some interesting toys!
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Vibrating at the Bay Area Science Festival
As part of the Bay Area Science Festival, Bart Bernhardt of Nerd Nite fame will be hosting Nerd Speed Dating on November 4th, during the science pub crawl. I'll be giving a very short talk on the electronics and mechanical history of vibrators, from steam and wind-up to high-voltage, and doing my best to make it not-creepy while you people meet cute nerds of varying genders.
Potential door prize: A MacGuyver-hackish vibrator made out of "stuff" broken up and salvaged live!
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Human-Computer Interactivity and Engineering the Cyberpunk Future
On November 3rd, I'll be taking part in a series of IGNITE talks, presenting, "Human-Computer Interactivity and Engineering the Cyberpunk Future. The synopsis: Poking keyboards and wiggling mice was fine for its time, but the future of Human-Computer Interaction will enhance lives invisibly and tangibly. Highlighting a variety of sensors already in Academy exhibits, and previews of some that will control next year’s, Jon Britton will examine the weird and frequently unnatural relationships between people and data. "
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Microsoft Research Nightlife - Kinect WWT
I'll be presenting my Microsoft Kinect powered interface to World Wide Telescope at Nightlife on September 29th at the California Academy of Sciences. The theme of the night is Microsoft Research and uses of its products at the Academy. There will be live tours of the Earth, satellite and rover data, DJ's, booze, and you can fly through the known Universe using Minority Report style gestures, throw a planet, and possibly control an animatronic mimic-bot.
Warning: commanding the Universe after a few cocktails can induce being awesome. And vomitting. Win a date with me if you can find the easter-egg in our solar system.
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Thermographic IR at the "Summer of Slither"
The Academy of Sciences is opening the "Summer of Slither: Snakes and Lizards" exhibit to the public for the rest of the summer. In addition to having live animals and other artifacts on display, I've designed an interactive, thermographic IR camera display helping visitors understand some snakes' "heat sensing" vision. More features and interactivity will be added later.
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The Technology of Science Visualization at San Francisco Nerd Nite #10
I'll be talking about life, the Universe and everything at San Francisco Nerd Nite on Wednesday, March 16th. Be sure to RSVP here, (though it isn't mandatory.) Nerd Nite had this to say:
The Coolest A/V Club in the Universe: Science Visualization at the California Academy of Sciences
What happens when A/V geeks grow up? The Morrison Planetarium. Boasting the largest all-digital dome in the world, state-of-the-art projection and software, and the finest scientific minds—and best data—at its disposal, the California Academy of Sciences has some pretty awesome ways of educating the public. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the new Academy’s immersive theaters, digital exhibits, and production pipeline, as we take a whirlwind tour of the known universe.
Jon Britton is Senior Systems Engineer and Production Engineering Manager of Electronics Engineering and Science Visualization at the California Academy of Sciences, and still actively trying to figure out what, exactly, that means.
--
I'm presenting alongside Chris Woodfield, Sr Network Engineer at Yahoo, and Alex Handy, director of the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment.
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Science of Sound at Nightlife
We'll be presenting the Science of Sound at the Nightlife event at the California Academy of Sciences, in Africa Hall. I'll be explaining, playing, and letting you rock out on my theremins, and possibly demoing sound visualization software based off the line out of the instruments. We'll also have oscilloscopes, an optical theremin, a function generator and a laundry list of things to play with and talk about -- it's about as hands-on as one can get with a theremin. 
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Life: A Cosmic Story opens in November
We're in the final stages of production for Life: A Cosmic Story, a new full-dome film at the Morrison Planetarium. 
Narrated by Jodie Foster (with some scientific sign-off from Jill Tarter herself,) and using a 13.1 space-mapped audio profile, Life will explore the origins of life on Earth, the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe and the human influence on our environment. The show opens the first week of November at the California Academy of Sciences.
Check the trailer here: http://video.calacademy.org/details/278
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ALC9
Track my ride for ALC9, a 588 mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I personally raised $3000, which benefits the SFAF and the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. Please donate to the ride or these organizations if you can.
View Lifecycle in a larger map
About my 588 mile ride:
I'm staying vegan the entire ride.
Riding on a Surly Long-Haul Trucker, carrying panniers by Laplander Bags
I'll be powering the computer/GPS with a combination of solar and kinetic charging (the kinetic charger is my own design.)
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Morrison Planetarium in Wired
The Morrison Planetarium is featured in Wired Magazine, here:
http://www.wired.com/video/planetarium-tech-beyond-the-infinite/1813637559.
It's an interesting video despite the introductory line, "Wired.com goes into the bowels of The California Science Academy to see how it works."
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