Clubs of the future

[elbows]

Anyone care to set their imagination in full flow regarding the future of clubs etc? Clearly they have slowly evolved over the years, how will technology transform them in the future?

Personally Im looking forward to future display technology that allows wallpaper to be a screen. So every wall, celing, floor in the club could be programmed to display whatever you like :) This will have big implications for the future of how we interact with our PCs I guess.

I always get sad because years ago I read about such display tehnology in a lab somewhere, but who knows if I will even live long enough to see it in mass use?

I would also hope that cultural changes will make clubs different - more like 24 hour social places, a space for people to chill, dance, whatever whenever they like in safety, with the drug of their choice. Not sure that human nature or governments will allow that one to happen though :(

[LEVLHED]

Although I'd love to see your ideas become a reality, I just don't see that happening.
Barring some sort of world-scale phenomenon that will change absolutely everything, I see the club of the future actually not being a physical space at all. It will be in VR where you'll sit at home with a helmet on.

This of course doesn't mean or job would disappear, in fact I dare say it would become more important.

[unjulation]

in conection with the artical i wrote, i'd say that, no, things are not going to become vertiual, the whole social aspect of direct physical contact/interaction that happens within a club space can not be replcased by a vertiual world, spercificly if we take the drug of choice used by millions of clubers is a stimulant that can be directley afected by physical contact with anouther.
now there will be changes to the technolagy of how we reproduce sound and vision that are part and parcel to the experiance, but overall all a club is is a space to be in and interact with outher people which unless there is some dramatic shift in why and what we do at clubs then realy they aint going to change that much.

[murph]

actually, it sounds like the "wallpaper screen" stuff isn't so far off, they're now able to PAINT lcd screens! (in a lab of course, but it wasn't so long ago that flat panels seemed space aged)

http://www.nature.com/nsu/020429/020429-7.html

[Anyone]

What I'd like to see happen in a more recent
and realistic future,
is that clubs have the same approach to VJs
as they do with DJs...

as DJs dont bring their mixer, amplifier and speakers,
VJs of the future should only have to bring
their (visual) records(ie tape,CDR, DVD,etc) and start playing...

Oh, and also get proper respect,
as well as good money...

"I have a dream, that one day,
club artists will be judged not by the type of their media
but by the strength of their audiovisual character"

VJ Anyone (King Jr)

[unjulation]

there are already lots of clubs out there that have some wonderfull set ups, the only troubel that i've found with them is that there corperate clubs that have the mony to create such a set up. evaloution in leeds is such a club. a ring of screens allround the dance floor with 10 to 15 vid projectors all hoked up to one controle deck. all you have to do is tern up and plug in, loveley, but the management/ bouncers/ atitude is shit and corperate ( shouldn't slag them of to much 'cos thinking about it could be a very good place to do a vj central bash) oh and the beer is way to expensive!
this seams to be the problem if a club can aforde to get a set up like that then it has a tendancey to be to corprate

[Anyone]

gosh, that's a one of a kind venue!

keep them sweet!
hopefully they'll be more of those club settups soon!
(with better attitude as well)

question:
Can anyone else tell us of such clubs in the world?

ne1

[murph]

Trying to build one here in Minneapolis. Plush has two spandex screens & projector mounts, in front of the speaker walls, with a third above the stage with a permanent 2000 lumen projector coming soon. It's not 15 screens, but Minneapolis could never support a club that size. They're down with the video thing, though they still don't pay much.

[Acid]

hi all

there are some clubs in amsterdam that give more respect
like the kremelin and the escape

but your main idea is good i with u anyone

[orx-qx]

Yeah, there will be clubs with all visual, VJs will separate into floor lighting specialists, wall decorateurs, laser shooters... (hasn it happened yet?).
I wonder how shall they communicate to make the feeling. Perhaps everything will be interconected with sometning like DMX for lights now, from DJ mix to lasers, VJ proggiez, people behavior sensors.... and controlled centrally by some kind of AI, developed to be a brand for the specific club.

Oh yes, and people will have a plasma lights, which others will energize by personal laser taggers, so the best dancers and entertainers will radiate in rainbow colors and of course the AI systems will be synchronized with realtime brainwave scans of this most loved ones...

:nod:

[orx-qx]

And maybe future clubs will look like in this indie animated short

http://www.cronimation.com/

;)

[robotfunk]

somehow this reminds me of a dream I had on Ibiza last year.

After finding a beautiful persian tapestry on the street thinking it would make a nice coat and when I tried it on I found a fat wallet inside so I went back into the club to give it to the cloakroom.. when I arrived there some nice beats lured me to the dancefloor, I got so excited from the music that I leapt into the air only to discover I stopped falling halfway and could float 10 inches above the dancefloor. The rest of the dream/night I spent trying out mad dance moves so for me an antigrav dancefloor would be a big attraction :)

[rossco]

woah robotfunk that sounds like one crazy dream... I reckon you could definately pull off some blazing moves with an anti - grav dancefloor!

as for things that might happen a little sooner. I'm working on an idea for having VR controls to manipulate visual mixing.
I suppose its more a tech development than a club evoulution but its something along the lines of having a responsive suit that reads your body movement and relates the movement to parameters that are then represented visually.

oviously one would need to set and learn the parameters but then the vj could literally mix his set by dancing ( maybe not so good for all the stiff limbed people!)

as I say, its now a preliminary idea but i reckon it would be pretty damn cool.

come on ravers :cool:

[infopocalypse]

This group Type-Zero in Pittsburgh has done this system where you have basically an interactive screen... an example is that they make a fortune cooking bounce around, and, if you jump up and "tap" the fortune cookie, it breaks open.

[okashi]

Clubs in the future will be exactly what the market wants them to be...when clubs and the people that own them realise that they can make money from projected visuals they will start hiring VJ's.

If we make good work that people really feel.......they will buy it.

In a kind of yard sale zen way....we can make the clubs that we want.....if its cool...people will come

[brain]

hello there,

a pity that the future thread seems to collect the most dust :)

last week i met someone who is deep into electro stimulation. low level voltage can be used for a variety of purposes from medical rehabilitation to erotic stimulation and even torture. what you percieve depends from various parameters and there are lots of techniques. things CAN be dangerous and have to be handled carefully.

now this person gave me a very impressive demonstration of some high end device.

the sensations are hard to describe and may range from exciting gentle touches, sizzles, throbs to full scale s/m intensity. there are several channels which can be seperately tuned, and of course it makes a lot of difference whether the several contact pads are strapped to your leg or stuck up your ass :)

now why i write this here is that the unit had an AUDIO INPUT. it worked not just like an boom-boom on/off bass perceptor, but reacted finely to volume and frequency. incredible!

maybe in a few years someone will sell tight lycra suits with conductive fabric woven into and pack the control in a light belt (even now the whole thing including accu is just the size and weight of two vhs). going to a club will feel way different! maybe the people will even allow the stimulus to be remote controlled by someone else (E-Jay?). wheew... maybe i should copyright the whole thing :)

still sizzling: brain

[fluchtpunkt]

Originally posted by brain

...now this person gave me a very impressive demonstration of some high end device.
...going to a club will feel way different! maybe the people will even allow the stimulus to be remote controlled by someone else...

...now all you need is a contact to fetish parties & you're in for business!
:)

[brain]

hey fluchtpunkt,

yes fetish/sm context seems obvious, but i think there's much more to it.

i mean, in the unit i've tested you have a range from 0 to 99% - from 10 to 15% you start to feel "something" and the range up to 25 or 35 (depending on the program and tuning) means fun tickling and strange sensations, from 30 onwards things get more intense and from 50 up serious...

but in the lower levels you may use this for fun and pleasurable exitement.

well i imagine when 40 people on the dancefloor have the sensation of someone moving a tickle slowly up the back of their legs when the DJ's risin tension for a bass boom... that may cause hysteria :) !

well i dont't want to turn this into an ad, but maybe someone wants to get into research:

http://www.erostek.com/html/products.html

[holly]

Yeah, Yeah! I'm into it! S/M shock suits, and everyone wears VR helmets and have mohawks and blue hair. All women are beautiful and completely naked except for some blinking jewelry or O.L.E.D. body paint. All men will be (half naked) sexy, edgy drug dealers in cool rubber trench coats (cause it rains all the time outside after the atmosphere collapses:p ) with interesting facial hair but the drug they sell will be a small custom chip about the size of a pencil eraser tip -- they're organic so after being inserted under the skin (called "chip popping" by the news media) they rearrange your DNA and force your petuitary gland to output massive doses of seretonin and vassopressin, estrogen or testosterone (your choice) so you are smart AND sexy untill they eventually disolve and you have to get more....

The latest implant isn't cranial but spinal. With your new DataSpine? you don't just hear the music in your head, you FEEL the music in your body.... DJs and VJs play live and local (no national broadcasts!) but the new king is the SpineJockey who floods your body with remote control hormones and emotions of excitement and joy, well-being and bliss, or inspiration and goodwill. Men don't buy Viagra; instead they download the entire Kama Sutra into the DataSpine, and also some Gypsy, Latino, and Jewish sex techniques!:jump: People don't limit themselves to male/female, gay/straight, kink/vanilla, Dominant/submissive..., because this is all just options that change with your mood -- like pizza toppings. What turns you on is more about the moment and not about a lifestyle, label, or catagory. Sex is done with your whole body, not just a couple of parts. Boys are trained in school how to please their lovers like a sport.

Cops all have degrees in psychology and get paid professional wages (not thug wages) so they are well educated and in peak physical shape. Prostitutes have a union and a retirement plan. No one is allowed to profit from the misfortune of others (lawyers, reporters, doctors, and charity workers are all held to a high code of ethics). Male or female, deaf or hearing, blind or sighted, walking or wheels, EVERYONE no matter what race or geographical location has the same opportunities for work and education. Governments are not at the mercy of the corporate dollar, all borders are open, and every product that hits the market must first prove its benefit to the world population. Oh, yeah, and there are no paper goods. Plastics are all edible and biodegradable and grown on a farm. And television (all mass media) is outlawed (artificial lyfestyle propaganda) so the only broadcasts are pirate underground stations run by low-budget rebels.:yep:

Sorry, I know this thread is about clubs, so here's a pic of the perfect party (courtesy Syd Mead, futurist):

[MoRpH]

Originally posted by holly
Boys are trained in school how to please their lovers like a sport.
Some of us already are ;) how about some training for the ladies out there:nod:

[holly]

how about some training for the ladies out there

I've never heard any complaints in that dept. Men are easy to please. Just show up!:jump2:

But yeah, unagressive girls can be such a lousy lay -- leaving it all up to the guy is a sure road to bad sex.:nod:

Ladies, never just lie there and take it! Work his body like the summer olympics! In the perfect (my) future, women are taught to expect more from a relationship than passive submission (unless that's what they're into so there's special training for that...). Guys have just as many holes as girls do -- they're just a little smaller and tighter but it doesn't mean you can't go there! The prostate is a boy's G-spot.

Ok, I'm gonna shut up now.

[LEVLHED]

oh well...there goes this thread...like a freight train veering off the tracks and falling into an oiled, soft-yet-firm, warm, damp gully of darkness...





suprised this hasn't happened sooner....

[BrainStove]

Originally posted by LEVLHED
suprised this hasn't happened sooner....

Hehehe, Yeah Lev, just the smart female factor was lacking in here...

Falling in love over here with such inner beauty inside of such great Babe wrapper :D

P.S. BTW Holly, your post remind me 3 of my favourites old movies:

1.- Altered States (William Hurt) Ken Russell's movie
2.- BrainStorm (Natalie Wood, Christopher Walken) Douglas Trumbull?s movie
3.- Strange Days (Juliette Lewis, Angela Bassett, Ralph Fiennes) James Cameron?s story

[infopocalypse]

Originally posted by LEVLHED
oiled, soft-yet-firm, warm, damp gully of darkness...


Hmm... a little too Freudian a description for my tastes.

[holly]

Ok, so really I didn't want to hijack this thread so I'll try to put it back a little on track....

The problem I see with some visions of the future is the "I'm going to the club to strap on a huge backpack full of gear and wear a cumbersome helmet..., etc." Sure, in the future it might just be sunglasses and headphones but the problem is the same. What's the point in being in your own world when you're surrounded by people -- or vice versa?

Most people would never be into that. It's like when those obnoxious blinky goggles came out and people were like "Ooooh, it's an electronic high. You can halucinate patterns, blah, blah, blah." Ugh. Those are SO for the geek brigade. I remember watching some kid wearing those and and me and my girlfriends laughed and laughed at how stupid he looked. If he knew what we were saying about him he never would have worn them in public again.

The reason people go to clubs is to socialize! To meet boys and girls and hang with your friends. And to imbibe chemicals that alter your behavior. Ever heard the saying that beer invented civilization...? Beer's been around for about 6000 years. Ecstacy since the 1890's. These help to breakdown social barriers and inhibitions.

I think technology can enhance the social experience if it makes people more connected to others in the club -- not dis-connected like a VR helmet or blinky goggles. In NYC there is a videochat bar called Remote Lounge. Almost every booth has a video monitor and a control panel that allows you to access tiny remote cameras all over the club. There's a telephone that lets you "call" the person you're looking at on the screen and if they decide to pick up, you can have a bit of sexy phone chat (although it's so loud in the bar it's hard to hear), or you can eavesdrop on another video signal and just watch. I thought it would pull people away from socializing with their friends, but it actually creates new ways to meet and socialize with strangers. Yay.

The only reason most people go to clubs is to socialize. Not to hear the latest tunes or see cutting edge tech (although that has appeal for the tech-buffs) or even to do drugs. We should be working on ways to break down those shy feelings and help people meet each other. Put them in the right headspace where they want to be friendly and chat with strangers....

I have no idea how that's supposed to work, but that's where I see the future of clubs. Weren't there some attempts to link up different parties over the interenet? Share visuals and music and such? I'm sure it was a failure because it was really only about DJs becoming broadcasters and that doesn't help people to socialize much. I think the tech should lead to real people meeting physically and hooking up so that means in the bar where you are. Keeping it local. The VR club helmet thing could be done from home, and any geeks wearing the gear in public are just going to get laughed at for their inability to socialize with the people around them.

[KillingFrenzy]

I agree about the current state of goggle wearing VR and its social uselessness.

A friend and I have been trying to come up with some interactive installations for shows, but so far we've leaned more toward performance. The reason being that if the experience isn't going to be visually interesting for spectators, and easily accessible for participants, then why bother. My goal is to get our "gear" for the users down to something as simple as a wristband or specially colored glowstick and then have enough effects layered on the output that the audience just takes them as proper eyecandy if they don't catch on to the interactive side. My goal is to take a dance situation and add an element of play and cooperative creation. So, letting people "paint" in some manner, or play games with output.

I also agree about broadcasting. I could really give a rats ass about seeing other people partying somewhere via webcam. What appealed to me was the idea of creating video walls at different locations and having people be able to walk up and interact with the other space. Of course, the logistical problem with this is that you end up talking to someone in a different timezone that isn't at the same point in a party. Still, I think the same way that people were connecting with the phones and cameras at that club could be expanded out to work in a more global sense.

[noplex]

yeh I like this idea of interactive installation too.
I'm sure we've all seen dance floors fill as the event goes on...Could that be used as a source, the clubbers author the content in some way. Or to use the gradually increasing wieght on the floor, or increased thumping on the floor over time to slowly increase the pitch/speed of the content?

I've seen this done with pressure pads hooked up to max/msp in an open space art installation, but on a club scale it might involve digging up the dancefloor :P Or maybe motion detector..infrared?

I'm sure some sort of sensor used in some sort of way could be used in club scale events......?

I'm starting to confuse myself now !

noplex

[infopocalypse]

this guy Godon Kummel in Chicago makes an interactive dancefloor.

[JodyBlueskies]

I have to say that by what i am reading here that the market in Germany seems to be more evolved than in the UK.
In all the gigs that i have done since i am here i had just to bring my equipment and plug it to the video projectors.

There are few venues that do not use visuals has a way of attracting audience and they are paying between 250 Euros to 400 Euros per gig.

The VJ is not considered - in most cases - as a background artist but as a important element for the gig.

Recently I did visuals on the main floor for "Kings of the Jungle" the Drum&Bass event and the treatment that i got from the promoters was just excellent.

How does this contrast with other markets?

[neoteo]

mmm im kind of late but here it goes

holy , id love to live in your future ...

about the future i think most of things dont disapear to give place to others .. that takes too long ... things mix up ... we may have top tecnolagie and the most futuristic kind of thinking ... but we cant forget there is still places with no drinkeble water ...

we will have clubs with VR ... holografic projections ... interactive dance floors and walls ... but the speakers will be there also ...
i believe in 50 and more frame rates ... GHZ of sound quality ...

we are so near the future :cool:

:alien: :jump: :jump2: :jump: :alien:

[evomedia]

I always hate to be the voice of reason in here but have to give the possible other side to everyones dreamlike visions of future clubs, at AVIT Peter Rubin talked about nanobots beaming info into the brain in 20 years.

I ask you in 20 years we've made tv's flat, the world has changed alot, but these ideas of direct manipulation of the brain are alittle far fetched...after all no society is going to allow anyone other than themselves put ideas in their own head. People are paranoid enough without wondering if what they are thinking is due to external control.

For all those that see vj's being paid as much as the dj, well to quote another avit quote, vj's have just been squatting clubs for 20 years, now I realise that this was meant to say, hey clubs havent used us enough, but the truth is while clubs are owned by businessmen, which lets face it will be always, then they will spend only as much money as they feel they have to spend. They know a club without a dj amakes no money but a club without a vj still makes money. Therefore,owners view a vj as non essential... so why pay him as much money. And to be honest I agree, I've worked in av fitting out clubs for years, and virtually the only people who believe visuals are essential are vj's.

Prime example, cream are opening small chillout bar resturants, we put 20 plasma screens in, sounds great but due to zelot av salesmen trying to push the sale, but with this tech its only showing 360% panarama's of fields, and all automated. The owner wants to make it visual but he wants branded self-running content, he doesnt want vj's coming in and costing him money, he wants everything to run on its own and cause no hassles.

And this is where the problem lies, as soon as scatchable dvd comes in, it becomes possible for the dj to start playing the music from dvd, and with that wont be long before the dvd video and music are sinced on the disc. if the dj starts scratching he also scratches the video. The clubs owners love the idea, as they only need to cater for the dj and hey presto they get visuals for free. Thats the crux, it saves them money and they get more value from the dj.

So what happens to the vj? well I've said it before and I'll say it again, we ALL need to be going along the av line, becuase if club owner have an alternative to paying us they will. But if you provide the music then you take the place of the dj, then you can play visuals all night, get paid more and also get more work. If you dont play the music you'll always be the person that doesn't fit. After all, people dont come to see the vj, people dont dance because of visuals and if a club is without visuals then people dont miss it.

Remember its always about the money with clubs.

[zap25]

Frankly it's anybody's guess what the future will look like.
The good thing is, we can go a long way in shaping it. Any of us could start a club of their own. Or a bistro/bar type thing with visuals coming from every which way.
I'm keeping my eye out for something like that. And I know some people who can help realise it. Perhaps in the not too distant future I will take the step.

I'm not to keen on nanobots or any other type of technology inside my body. Suppose one of these critters gets a virus and starts nibbling at my body.

Some say singularity will occurr in our lifetime. Meaning that technologic development will continue to speed up exponentially to a point where to the outside viewer it is instantaneous.

[JodyDigitalMan]

A glimpse of the future already lies in Lisbon,Portugal in a club called Lux-Fr?gil.

Check it out if you are there!