Creative Tech Roundup: SXSW Edition
A look back at some memorable innovations from SXSW 2018
It hasn’t even been a week since Austin’s famed music festival and tech conference shuttered for the year, and 2019’s dates have already been announced. But it’s hard to even find the bandwidth to think about next year’s festival if you’re still recovering from those 10 halcyon days of SXSW 2018 — which was nothing short of a desert wonderland for creative technology, if you ask us. Sifting through some of the more memorable creative technologies (and technological applications to creativity) to come out of this year’s tech conference is a Herculean feat, but we think we’re up to the task, and if not, well, that’s what the comment section is for.
Bio-Tattoos
By winning the Interactive Innovation Award in the category of Scifi No Longer, Dermal Abyss secured the honor of “the coolest scientific achievement or discovery that before 2017 was only possible in science fiction.” So, what exactly does the project, which blends the worlds of tattoo art and biotechnology, involve? It’s better to let them explain …
Sony Wow Studio
Wow is right, because Sony’s done it again. It was only the company’s second year bringing a full VR- and AR-oriented warehouse to South By, but with interactive experiences like “Ghostly Whisper,” “A(i)r Hockey,” and “Hero Generator,” something tells us it’s only going to get better and better. The real takeaway here wasn’t which of these exhibits would be consumer-ready in the shortest amount of time, but how VR and AR could be applied successfully to entertainment, sports, live action role-playing, “theme parks, museums, aquariums, and corporate showroom installations.”
The Atrium
While SXSW’s Virtual Cinema wasn’t entirely glitch-free, it featured some of the coolest cinematic AR/VR/MR experiences. Of particular note was The Atrium, which was developed by Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment organization, Meow Wolf. The VR art exhibit was “Meow Wolf’s first virtual interactive installation,” and it built “on the story of the acclaimed immersive exhibition, The House of Eternal Return.” This type of installation might just be one indicator of the direction in which the conceptual art world is headed as it collides with exponential technological advancement.
Too Much Music Tech, Too Little Time
The abundance of creative music technologies up for consideration was a given since tech’s better half at SXSW is one of the world’s most important music festivals. This year, some of the more interesting applications of technology to music included Microsoft’s Hands-Free Music Project, which aims “to restore critical expressive and creative channels for people severely affected by disabling conditions, such as ALS, spinal cord injury, and related conditions, with potential to isolate and erect innumerable, formidable barriers between people and their loved ones and communities.”
Another admirable application of technology to music wasn’t so much a new innovation as it was the ability to harness an existing service for the purpose of inclusion and mitigating cultural appropriation. With Music Liberates Music, Bermuda-based spirits company Bacardi leveraged Spotify’s power of influence and revenue generation to donate free studio time to eight “aspiring Caribbean artists” — artists whose music and culture are appropriated in watered-down versions for mainstream Western audiences. You might be surprised at how successful the strategy was (with a little help from Major Lazer, of course) …
SXSW 2019 Ready
There was a ton more exciting, new creative technological innovations at SXSW that we’ve glossed over here, so don’t be surprised if your favorite gadget didn’t make the cut. Limited pre-sale tickets for 2019 are already available, so there’s always next year, right?
