Technology: A Vehicle For Amazing Creation

Today's TED talk actually features two different talks.  These talks both use technology in a powerful way to impact an audience and tell a story.

The first, is an extraordinary performance by a dance troupe... a small, metallic dance troupe.  You guessed it, robots.  Bruno Maisonnier or Aldebaran Robotics choreographs a group of tiny humanoid Nao robots.  It's amazing!  Their performance brings us on a journey, soaring past just "Wow!" to a incredible realization at the complexity and depth of their surprisingly emotional piece.  The power of technology to evoke emotion rings loudly in this talk.  Let it be an inspiration, not just to those I know who are interested in robotics or dance, but anyone who is looking to create art that moves people.  See Dance, Tiny Robots here.

The second talk involves an aspect of technology that I am quite new to: emoticons.  Even though most of you, I would bet, are very fluent in the "developing language" of emoticons, I, myself, basically rely solely on the smily face to punctuate my emotions :).  If you had asked me before, I would say the need for elements of punctuation to represent emotions only shows that our writing lack power and strong description; however, after seeing this talk, I think I'm jumping on board!

Performance artist and storyteller Rives has been called "the first 2.0 poet," using images, video and technology to bring his words to life. Full bio

A Junior Varsity Cheerleader!

His Ted Talk A Story of Mixed Emoticons is creative and engaging.  It is a typographical fairytale that is "both short and bittersweet."   It's a whole new type of storytelling!  

I encourage all of you out there to let these two unique, but creative, TED talks plant seeds of creativity in your imagination as you consider how you can take storytelling and art to the next level.  Let the technology in your hands be the vehicle to create something amazing!

Enjoy!