Press: TechnoSphere Fact Sheet

Press: TechnoSphere Fact Sheet

 

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FACT SHEET

[Click to download PDF version: TechnoSphere Fact Sheet]

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Updated: 19 November, 2014

 

Media Only: press@technosphe.re; images available upon request.

Kickstarter Campaign: Wednesday, 19 November, 2014 – Wednesday, 24 December, 2014

Online: https://technosphe.re/ | Twitter.com/TechnoSphere |  #BringTSBack Facebook.com/TechnoSphere2.0 | info@technosphe.re

 

TECHNOSPHERE 1995

  • Originally launched in September 1995, TechnoSphere was an artificial life environment populated by over 1 million creatures created by over 100,000 unique users. They sent email messages to the users about their lives: they hunt for prey, they mate, they give birth to babies, and they die. User-creature interaction was limited but coveted.
  • Created by Jane Prophet and Gordon Selley, TechnoSphere was hosted at what is now University of the Arts in the United Kingdom.
  • In 1999, the team created a graphic interface of the real-time 3D game version of TechnoSphere for the National Media Museum in the UK. Visitors could use touch screens to interact with the creatures, which were projected in real-time on two screens.
  • TechnoSphere gained popularity and media coverage, having been featured in Wired, Guardian, and other outlets, and that led to a population explosion. The project went offline and the creatures went into hibernation in 2001.
  • Media
    • Video Introduction: The History of Technosphere (03:53) http://vimeo.com/107021314
    • Press clippings and images available by request.

 

 

TECHNOSPHERE 2.0

  • In 2014, the creators are revamping the experience by merging real and artificial life for the first time on an Android app using augmented reality. When relaunched as a suite of android apps, users can quickly create their own creatures in 3D and change their colour and textures in real-time. This development will greatly enhance the user-creature interaction. For more information about other capabilities, please see the press release on our website.
  • To support the development of the TechnoSphere mobile apps, a Kickstarter campaign will run 19 November to 24 December, 2014 to raise funds.

 

 

TEAM 

Mark Hurry (Lead Developer) has worked in the field of 3D computer graphics for over 20 years, with experience of working with many organisations throughout the UK, Europe, North America, South East Asia and Australia in various technical, managerial and senior executive roles. In addition to Mark’s 3D computer graphics skills which have been utilised in games and simulation products and projects, he has worked on web based automation, control, sensor and surveillance systems, the Internet of Things (IoT).

 

Jane Prophet (Lead Creative, Digital Artist, Founder) is a British artist and professor who co-founded TechnoSphere in 1995 with computer scientist, Gordon Selley. Her collaborative artworks with scientists have been recognized by a UK National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts Fellowship (2005) and a Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship, Hong Kong (2014). When she’s not working on TechnoSphere she makes large scale light works and 3D printed objects: miniature trees made from mathematical data; human hearts from MRI and sculptures of her brain as she meditates on death.

 

David Richardson (Lead Finance and Business) is a financier at heart and has worked for small start-ups as well as large corporates (e.g., Bank of Boston, Grant Thornton, Land Securities). His skill set is derived from project and transaction management, accounting, business research and more broad based economics. His entrepreneurial streak runs all the way back to university days at Dartmouth, where a friend of his and he started a company that sold ski boots.

 

Natasha Carolan (Lead Research, 3D Print Guru) is a maker and researcher who works with digital fabrication tools. As a product designer, she has been working with fabrication technologies since 2007, most notably at Makies, a toy and games start-up in London where she developed the retail and production facilities. On the research side, her work targets both the user experience (how to make 3D printing engaging, fun and creative) as well as the services and products which support that experience.

 

Gordon Selley (Advisor): is a Software Engineer with a specialized knowledge base in ALife, 3D Graphics, Game UI Development. Along with Jane, he is one of the original founders of TechnoSphere.

 

Twitter @Technosphere | Facebook TechnoSphere 2.0 | www.technosphe.re

general inquiries: info@technosphe.re | media inquiries: press@technosphe.re

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