Becoming a Human Computer Interface

A few days ago, while visiting the Maison d'Ailleurs in Yverdon-les-Bains Switzerland with my brother, I got the chance to become a joystick (literally).

The Maison d'Ailleurs is a museum of science fiction and fantasy that houses more than 70 000 works of science fiction and fantasy. The museum also houses temporary exhibitions.

The temporary exhibition currently at the museum is called: Playtime - Videogame Mythologies, an exhibiton devoted to the culture of video games...

One of the items in the exhibition is called Human to Human to Computer Interface. Here, two visitors get to play a very simple computer game where the players have to navigate the character to a door.

One of the player's control the character using two buttons and the other player controls the player.

Electrodes are attached to the arms of the player controlling the character (me). These are activated by the other player (my brother - who really enjoyed shocking me...). When activated, the current causes the hands of the character controlling player to twitch and press one of the two buttons causing the character on the screen to move left or right.

I have to admit, the current wasn't that strong enough to cause my hands to reach the button so I cheated towards the end but it still was an enjoyable and interesting experience.

The exhibition also includes the development of video games through history as well as concepts and prototypes for future games.

If your interested in video games (past and future) or electro-shocks, the video game exhibit is temporary. However, the collection of science fiction works is permanent and includes some rare and wonderful pieces worth seeing.

The Works of the Grand Engineer

In the film Prometheus; beings known as the "Engineers" are (believed to be) responsible for the creation of the Xenomorphs (the Alien creatures) and the human race on Earth. Although the film answers some of the questions about the Aliens, it also induces of tons of more questions into our minds. Such as: Where did the Engineers come from? and Is there a "Grand" Engineer responsible for the creation of the Engineers? and so on.

Today, I found the answer for the latter of the two, during a visit to the museum of the Swiss Surrealist artist H.R. Giger.

The art of H.R. Giger formed the basis of the famous Alien creatures and won him an Oscar award in 1980. Some of his earlier artworks and designs of the Alien creatures, a couple of sized replicas and his works for other films like Species can be found at his museum along with his Oscar award.

In the Aliens part of the museum, visitors can see some of his paintings, models and earlier designs of the Xenomorphs, the engineers, the Facehuggers, the space ships and much more. You can even come face to face with some Xenemorphs if you wonder away...

Visitors can also see some of H.R. Giger's works and designs he has worked on for the Species series (designs for Sil and Eve as well as a model of the Ghost Train which Sil sees in her nightmare...) and other films.

H.R. Giger designed and inspired the Engineers and the Xenomorphs which in a way makes him the Grand Engineer (at least until the sequel of Prometheus)...

Getting a chance to view his museum (again) at Gruyere Switzerland was a great honor for me (being a hardcore fan of science fiction). I advise everyone interested in the Alien franchise, science fiction or Surrealism to visit the museum. It will definitely be your time.

For those who are planning to visit, mind your head in the Alien exhibit. You never know what is hiding above you in the shadows...

The Return of the Titan

Two years ago; during a trip to Switzerland, I got the chance to visit the museum of H. R. Giger located in the town of Gruyères. 

For those who don't know, H. R. Giger is the person who designed the Alien creatures (also known as the xenomorph's) in the Alien film franchise.

During my tour of the museum, I came face to face with a life size statue of an Alien creature (which is way taller than I am). Seeing something like this can cause many different thoughts to appear instantly, ranging from; run, to stare to take a picture and maintain your distance... It also raised a question: "What is the biological origin of these species?"

Throughout the films, we never get any direct answers to their origins. We know that the Predators (another intergalactic species) like to hunt them down for sport as well as the different reproductive cycle of the aliens... But we were left in the dark about their point of origin.

That is until the arrival of the film Prometheus. Which got it's name from the legend about the titan Prometheus who stole fire from mount Olympus, gave it to the human race and suffered heavily due to giving his gift of fire to the humans (he was tied to a rock and a vulture ate his liver every day (since he is a titan, his missing organs regenerate on a daily basis)).

In the film Prometheus (which acts as a prequel to the Alien franchise), some of our questions about the origins of the Aliens are answered. It appears that the Aliens are actually biological weapons created by beings called engineers (who surprisingly are believed to be the ones who created the human race on planet Earth, who also have the same DNA as humans).

Although the film answers some questions such as the whats and the how's about the Aliens, it doesn't exactly answer the why's...

However, being a fan of science fiction, it was a film I really enjoyed watching and I advise fans of science fiction and the alien series to watch Prometheus. There are some really colourful characters like Sir. Peter Weyland and David the android, mysteries within mysteries and lots of thrills. It is definitely a film that won't be easily forgotten...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUxdAWrsag8

The Evolution of Racism to Intergalactic Levels

            District 9 is an alternate history docudrama where an alien mother ship appears over Johannesburg South Africa during the eighties. The aliens (referred to as the Prawn due to their looks) are isolated from the general public in an area known as District 9. The film focuses on the social and cultural relation between the humans and the prawn as well as adding some action and science fiction events.

            Wikus van de Merwe (the protagonist of the film) is an employee at Multinational United (MNU) – a private weapons company that the South African government has turned to for dealing with the Prawn – who is placed in charge of the eviction operation that aims on moving all the Prawn to District 10 (a camp located 200 miles from Johannesburg to which Wikus refers as a “concentration camp”.). During the eviction process, Wikus gets some alien “fuel” (a black slimy substance formed by processing material from alien technology) on his face. This alien fuel messes with his genetic make up and causes him to become a human/Prawn hybrid.

            Wikus’s transformation allows him to use Prawn technology (which is sensitive to Prawn DNA), see the Prawn from a completely differnt perspective and at the same time be a target for MNU (and possibly hundreds of other corporations). His views about the Prawn at the start of the film compared to his views at the end are completely differnt from each other. At the start, he views them as dumb aliens who have a love for catfood (he even calls for the extermination of an alien hive during the eviction process), whereas at the end of the film he sees them as living beings that have a right to live.

            One of the major themes of the film was the way the local (mainly black) South African population treated the Prawn. Many years of being ‘crushed’ under the rule of the “whiteman” has turned the local blacks into similar creatures as those who step on them. They treat the Prawn almost the same way they themselves were treated by the whites. The whitemen on the other hand (especially MNU) wants to turn the aliens technology into profit.

            Glimpses of signs separating the Prawn from humans in public areas are seen throughout the film. These signs bare similarity to those that was used to sparate the whites from the colours in America and South Africa during the times of race inequality.

            District 9 is a film that shows that the darker side of the human race can also evolve and spread as time progresses foreward, even if we live along with the aliens, we will still view ourselves as the greater beings and the aliens (even if they are more advanced than us) as the lesser “opportunities”. However, District 9 isn’t the only example in media where humanity views itself as the superiority of the universe.

            In a alternate world far far away (the expanded Star Wars universe), we can see even more extreme examples of human superiority. The Galactic Empire is famous for it’s non-human protocols and ideologies (also known as the Human High Culture) stating that forebid aliens from gaining high ranks within the Empire (with the exception of Admiral Thrawn). Although not as extreme as the Empire, District 9 also shows the viewers that we too aren’t that far away from the “Dark Side” as we believe we are.  

Art in Science

Many people claim that art and science are the two opposite ends of a stick. One represents fact and the other portrays fiction.
What both sides fail to see is that there is a little art in science and vice versa. We are absorbed into it so much that we fail to see the art in (and of) science.

Here's an example you will (probably) enjoy:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkN5yP4iSY

A New (Chilling) Look At Grendel

One of Beowulf's greatest enemies, the monster Grendel brings fear to the people of Danes (King Hrothgar's people). However, what if the beast really existed? Could there have been more than of them living in certain regions of the world? What if they are actually species waiting to be discovered?

We overlook this possibility because we don't see them anywhere. But what if we overlooked something? What if the "Grendels" evolved into something else? Nature is full of surprises.

Could the creature be the grand-father of whales or even a missing link in evolution?

If the questions in the previous paragraphs sparked your interest, then Ice Hunt by James Rollins is a book that will give you a new perspective of the famous beast. Set in the Arctic regions, the science and action packed plot will glue you the your seat and give you a whole new visual definition for Grendel. After all the truth is sometimes chilling...   

"There is Nothing Normal About Nature" prompt

We tend to see nature as a series of cycles. The seasons, the weather, even life... It is a normal part of Earth. Yet, we forget that nature is more superior than us and that it doesn't always stick to the "usual cycles"...

Is nature really understandable? Could it be controlled? The answer to both these questions is no. At any random moment, nature can choose an unexpected path. It has happened countless times in history and will happen again in the future. It cannot be controlled but it can be angered and once it becomes angry, It's wrath can cause complete devastation.

When we look at it from a differnt perspective, we can slowly understand that "there is nothing normal about nature" (Loren Eiseley). It causes evolution, it selects the worthy ones to survive and eliminates the rest. Even today, nature is still conducting thse tests.

We may believe that we can change it, control it and even use it for our benefit. But we should also know that nature isn't limited with our Earth. Her reaches are far greater than people expect. We must also remember that it isn't as simple or as normal as we believe it to be.