Unlimited Connectivity – Globally Connected Events
GloNet (Globally Networked Event) is a new model for group-to-group globally networked events.
The GloNet globally networked event was a part of a FutureEverything Innovation Lab exploring the theme of unlimited connectivity and distant collaboration, also including investigations into what will become possible with effectively unlimited bandwidth and near-zero latency.
GloNet at FutureEverything 2010 from FutureEverything on Vimeo.
In 2009-10, FutureEverything developed GloNet, a new model for group-to-group globally networked events. The goal was to innovate in new forms of distant participation, and to reduce the need for participants to fly to festivals and conferences. It was developed for the FutureEverything Festival in May 2010, in partnership with the British Council, Distance Lab, and Lancaster University.
Live events in five cities used experimental formats to bring real and virtual audiences together around a central theme through talks, performances, an art installation and networked social spaces, all in one day and spanning five time zones. In each participating city there were a venue and remote groups, and the project networked social spaces, both physical and virtual. Participating cities were Manchester, UK; Sendai, Japan; Istanbul, Turkey; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Vancouver, Canada.
Innovations in GloNet are the group-to-group connectivity, and in networking the social spaces and informal interactions. The project designed bespoke technology solutions, interaction forms, and event formats. It developed a network of project champions to participate in the satellite events, and in one case, led to a residency exchange between the cities.
This is something new, it is not one-to-many (Broadcast) or many-to-many (Internet), but group-to-group (GloNet). Our goal is that the GloNet will be an event format with our partners we can replicate, and continue to develop, in other settings.
The GloNet 2010 Experience
Live events in five cities used experimental formats to bring real and virtual audiences together around a central theme through talks, performances, an art installation and networked social spaces, all in one day and spanning five time zones. In each participating city we had a venue and remote groups, and we networked the social spaces, both physical and virtual.
View the GloNet 2010 microsite.
GloNet 2010 Conference
The focal point of GloNet 2010 was a telepresence Conference, reducing the need for participants to fly to the festival hub. The conference was a huge success, seamlessly integrating participants around the world using a number of bespoke telepresence formats.
GloNet Talking Boxes
A design project by Distance Lab and FutureEverything, the Talking Boxes were scattered in the social spaces of the international venues, connecting multiple sites in an inviting physical form that supports spontaneity and chance encounters within the bustling social areas of the event.
GloNet Front Room
A telepresence artwork by Paul Sermon commissioned by FutureEverything, using virtual-studio technology to see someone on the other side of the globe magically transported into the chair next to you, and bring remote festival participants into a shared telepresent interactive and performative setting. View artist website.
Out and About, and Always On
A project illustrating how to get creative with *ubiquitous* infinite bandwidth. Groups in Manchester and New York roamed the city streets, capturing and sharing visuals and sounds in real time.
GloNet 2010 Serendipity City Challenge
Serendipity City Challenge invited thinkers and designers in the 5 GloNet international cities to to respond to a provocation by Drew Hemment and Adam Greenfield: if there is no creativity without serendipity, how do we foster serendipity in the networked city?
GloNet 2010 Remote City Themes
Each of the four remote international GloNet 2010 partners addressed a specific theme in relation to the overall festival theme (Sendai : Creative Cities, Istanbul : Urban Growth in an Age of Networks, Sao Paulo : Transitory Geographies, Vancouver : Open Data).
GloNet Credits
GloNet is a new model for group-to-group globally networked events, developed by FutureEverything in partnership with British Council, Distance Lab and Lancaster University. Co-produced by FutureEverything with Sendai Creative Cluster Consortium, FesLab and TRUNK in Sendai, Japan; amber in Istanbul, Turkey; Vivo arte.mov, Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) and Escola São Paulo in Sao Paulo, Brazil and W2 in Vancouver, Canada for the FutureEverything Festival 2010 in Manchester, UK. GloNet Front Room is supported by the University of Salford. The GloNet residency project is supported by Northwest Vision and Media. GloNet 2010 was sponsored by NorthernNet and funded by British Council.
GloNet 2010 Articles
Introduction to GloNet by Drew Hemment
GloNet Tech Innovations by Stefan Agamanolis
Imagining Infinite Bandwidth by Shaun Fensom
Exploring new ways of connecting people and ideas by Louise Wright
Unlimited Connectivity
First generation broadband technology gave millions of users an ‘always-on’ connection to the net for the first time. This led to unforeseen, unanticipated and disruptive new applications like Wikipedia and YouTube. Next generation fibre optic broadband will be an even bigger challenge, with the potential for almost unlimited bandwidth and latency approaching zero. The chances are technology will have taken another step ahead of imagination. Can we imagine? Can we anticipate the sort of new applications and services that might develop? More importantly, what new technologies will become possible with effectively unlimited bandwidth and near-zero latency?
