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Virtual Creativity (synthesis)

In Sweden we have a proverb that states that ‘you can make magic with your knees’. It means that you can create something out of nothing. With the rise of phenomena like 2nd Life and various virtual worlds on the internet, making a real-world impact in a parallel universe has become a reality, however warped it seems. Whether you like virtual realities or not is not really relevant - they exist and will continue to grow in popularity.

My interest in them is how you can use them as a communication medium and how you can take a virtual idea and create real-life results. One of the front-runners in this space is the virtual music band Gorillaz, consisting of 4 fictional characters, who represent musicians around the world that collaborate on various music projects. The fictional characters have their own storylines and life-histories and apparently struck a cord in the world in 2001 when their debut-album sold 7 million copies. The music is produced by real people who collaborate in geographically distinct places via the internet. During their public appearances affiliated with the debut album, the physical band played behind a specially designed screen which covered the entire stage area. Videos, animatics and image collages were projected onto the audience side of the screen, while choreographed lights behind the screen lit up silhouettes of the physical band, creating a meld of the physical and animated.

This blending of the virtual and the real is the world we are now living in. So what are you doing with your knees? Companies from Siemens to IBM are using Social Networks like Facebook to create company specific applications to boost innovation, collaboration and communication. What we are essentially seeing is that technology is coming to life and this is best embodied by Apple’s quest to bridge the gap between humans and technology - think of the name some of their recent products - iPhone, iTouch, iMac, iPod. This androgynous thinking creates a fusion of two worlds and blurs the line between reality and the future, between the tangible and intangible, between the nothing and the something.

What are you doing to boost creativity and innovation in your life and business?