Watch out for a very unusual aerial show in Dublin’s skies this Thursday: a flock of robotic drones that swarm into formation and then disperse, only to reform elsewhere.
The quadcopters are GPS-enabled and create their own wifi network. As they fly and float, audience members can log onto the network with their phones and laptops and interact with the drones. The machines then glow with vibrant colours, breaking formation and their flight pattern becomes more dramatic and expressive.
The show is called “Electronic Countermeasures“, and the free performance will take place outside the Science Gallery in Dublin this Thursday, 21 June, at 10pm. It’s part of “Hack the City“, the gallery’s flagship show for 2011.
Other ‘Hack the City’ events
“Hack the City” will invite Dublin’s citizens to “take control and adopt a hacker mindset to bend, tweak and mash-up Dublin’s existing urban systems – rethinking the city from the ground up”. It will feature exhibits, “hacklab” workshops, events and interventions, from billboards hijacked in augmented reality to “stealth underwear”.
Other events include “Ignite Dublin 9.0” (Friday, 22 June), a “fast-paced geek event” where each speaker gets five minutes of fame.
The Science Gallery has also turned a vacant shop in Dublin at 4 Capel Street into a pop-up workspace. All this week, five teams will be there working on current and future urban problems (admission is free).
Another upcoming event that’s taking place as part of Dublin’s year as City of Science is “Open Here“ (28 June – 1 July), a four-day festival that addresses social, technological and cultural issues surrounding the concept of the “digital commons”. Examples of digital commons include Wikipedia and free and open-source software projects.
Learn more
Visit the Science Gallery website for more details on “Hack the City”
Find out about more City of Science events for kids and families this summer in Dublin and across Ireland
