

Microsoft’s Cube debuts at Decibel, creating a one-of-a-kind digital dance party - prostoalex
http://blogs.microsoft.com/next/2014/09/24/microsoft-cube-decibel-dance-music/

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kgabis
"Canvas for a new kind of creative expression", "unique technological
sculpture", "the cube is community". All those buzz phrases make it feel like
it's an april fools ad parody.

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rossjudson
Any intended positive effect of this project is nullified by having a "senior
marketing director" stand in front of it, emit a bunch of pointless
superlatives, and take credit. Nerd cool factor approaches zero.

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Mithaldu
The funny bit here is that a marketing director ruins the marketing effect of
the thing. :)

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alttab
A 3 minute video of all the cool interactions we spent so much time attempting
to visualize ourselves would have been all that was needed. Then a 5 second
explanation of how it was done at the end. Something like this needs all
killer no filler.

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smtddr
_> > The Kinects can read up to three people on each side, and you can see
others through the Cube, which acts as a portal, virtually connecting people
who are separated in physical space. [http://www.wired.com/2008/11/eye-
contact-tra/](http://www.wired.com/2008/11/eye-contact-tra/) _

I would expect this to be a hit in Japan where shyness is apparently a taller
hurdle to overcome than most of western social norms.

[http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/shop/miteru-dake-videos-stare-
ab...](http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/shop/miteru-dake-videos-stare-abyss-060690)

~~~
_random_
Needs a Dance Dance Revolution mode and a karaoke then :).

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nnnnni
"We're really shy unless we're singingly horribly or stomping on a pad in
front of people!"

It's funny how that works.

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clebio
People connected in space... can dance together...

... by being on opposite sides of an opaque obelisk. Or, you know, you could
_actually_ dance together, in actual physical contact, actually looking at
each other, rather than some laggy, pointless, abstract acid-trip-inspired
video game (which uses more computing power and electrical power than the
median US household practically owns).

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viraptor
If it was introduced as a game/device that people can buy - sure, I agree. But
as an art project? What's wrong with that?

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jimbobimbo
I don't get the negativity. I've seen the Cube - currently installed at EMP
museum - it's a pretty cool art project.

Is it pointless? Yes, but it doesn't have to have a point. It's simply cool
way to "transform" you from the meatspace into the "cube space" using modern
technology.

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MiguelHudnandez
I think the hate is the result of how hard they are trying to sell it. My
subjective analysis: It is clearly awesome tech, but the obviously high
production value of the video detracts from viewers' inclination to appreciate
the project.

The polar opposite would be Johnny Chung Lee's videos. Here's an example:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ)

I suspect the ratio of marketing budget to project budget might be a good
informal indicator of this effect. Or maybe it's just an aversion to anything
big-budget?

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Bud
Leave it Microsoft to "innovate" by creating a non-product which purports to
connect people who are dancing by...putting a giant Microsoft product between
them so they can't see each other. They say it is "virtually connecting people
who are separated in physical space". Is it only me who finds this
uproariously funny? It's not "virtually connecting" anything! It's putting a
big cube in between them. Which separates them. And people are not "separated"
in the way they are saying by physical space...since people can see.

I know, I know, it's just a toy to play with, but the way they describe it is
so tone-deaf.

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tedd4u
The marketing speak from Microsoft is pretty obviously influenced by Steve
Jobs keynote references to Apple products living at the "intersection of
technology and liberal arts" \-
[http://i.imgur.com/XvT8a.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/XvT8a.jpg)

~~~
tedd4u
I found a three-minute excerpt of his talk:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlI1MR-
qNt8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlI1MR-qNt8)

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crazychrome
Not sure for whom this Cube is made. If it's for regular people to dancing
together, why there is no regular forks in the video to say something, if it's
for artists, why there is no single piece of artwork presented, if it's for
tech junkies, well, just show me the codes!

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outside1234
Its an art project, not a product. Probably someone's //oneweek project.

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alttab
They probably spent 3-6 months on this. To me it comes across like an
"innovation center" put together by building a project team out of different
skill sets and giving them some leash.

I'm not sure how this fits into the mobile first or cloud first strategy
however. The cube, while I suppose with a team of engineers could be moved and
re-displayed, isn't "mobile" at all.

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jimbobimbo
Seriously... I bumped into one of the guys on the opening night. He never said
anything about "strategy", only "art". Decibel fest was exactly right place
for the cube.

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alttab
I'm not saying the team doesn't have its own mission, I was pondering how
things like the Cube, which is being promoted within the Microsoft brand, fits
into their corporate strategy. Its a valid question to ask when its clear they
won't consider this project a source of revenue generation in any future
timeline.

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sleepybrett
Cooler if you put a few around in different venues and network them. Dance
with people at other clubs.

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ParvusPonte
The BS/m delivered in this presentation is amazing.

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egfx
As soon as they have wind of it. Microsoft takes credit for other peoples hard
work and creativity. Word of warning if your inventive..

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watmough
Gah, it's like re-inventing the skateboard, but without wheels.

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icantthinkofone
And nobody came.

