A Great Idea

Multicolored pixels swarm around my screen, coalescing into the form of Thom Yorke’s face. He’s singing the chorus, “Denial, Denial.” No cameras were used in the creation of this video. That’s right. No cameras.

Everything — the singer, other actors, and the scenery — was captured with a combination of Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Two technologies, initially developed for high-detail scans of rock formations, buildings and the like, are now being repurposed to create innovative visuals for a music video. The page I’m viewing is part of a larger online-only marketing schema that includes donation-paid digital releases and remix promotions to engage fans, giving winners exposure via music download and social networking sites.

What a great idea.

Practically everywhere I go these days, I find myself surrounded by great ideas. New creations formed from the merging of multiple concepts, processes or technologies.

I’m waiting in the first floor lobby of the Ann Arbor District Library. My appointment is late. It’s quite some time since I visited here. While I wait, I wander around to get the lay of the metaphorical land. To my left, there’s a row of gleaming iMacs, each beckoning me to search for and self-checkout titles … or go online to manage my personal account. To my right, a sign reminds me to register my laptop at the front desk for free wireless access. Upstairs, artwork… framed prints… presumably available for checkout. What a great idea, I think to myself. Utilizing readily available technologies and a broader variety of material, the AADL is not only increasing interaction with current library goers, but also enticing a new generation to take a look.

For a while now, I’ve believed that the next generation of great ideas will emerge by combining existing tools and models into new hybrids. The developing success of ventures like Twitter, the iPhone and Word Press confirm those beliefs.

I’m sitting street-side at an evening meeting over drinks with a friend. The topics of conversation are many and varied. My friend begins telling me about a book she read called The Medici Effect. The basic premise intrigues me.

“The Medicis were a banking family in Florence who funded creators from a wide range of disciplines. Thanks to this family and a few others like it, sculptors, scientists, poets, philosophers, ?nanciers, painters, and architects converged upon the city of Florence. There they found each other, learned from one another, and broke down barriers between disciplines and cultures. Together they forged a new world based on new ideas — what became known as the Renaissance. As a result, the city became the epicenter of a creative explosion, one of the most innovative eras in history. The effects of the Medici family can be felt even to this day.”

She explains that the Medici Effect occurs when extraordinary ideas result from bringing together various disciplines and cultures, and searching for places where they connect. The idea seems as though it’s cut from the cloth of my own imagination. Like when you discover there’s a word for something you’ve felt for a long time. What a great concept. I immediately search for the book.

…The Medici Effect occurs when extraordinary ideas result from bringing together various disciplines and cultures, and searching for places where they connect.

In the introduction, there’s an example of an architect who’s tasked with designing an energy efficient building for an insurance and real estate conglomerate in Zimbabwe, where the temperature ranges from 100 degrees during the day to below 40 at night. The intersection of his knowledge with the building techniques of an indigenous termite and modern green construction results in an amazing structure. One that maintains an internal average temperature of 77- 73 degrees and uses only 10% of the energy as compared to its surrounding neighbors. What a great idea.

The world is full of these. Great ideas. Simple ideas. Purposeful ideas. Ideas that utilize the best of available concepts, models and technology. Whether it’s a web-savvy band and their liberal repurposing of military, retail and social-networking components. Or a generation-savvy district library that insightfully combines technology and content to increase accessibility. Or an architect who uses insects as inspiration for energy-efficient buildings.

What makes an idea great? Originality? Ingenuity? Functionality? Accessibility? One thing’s for sure, there will always be great ideas to discover. And entrepreneurs with a protean sense of ability will be the catalysts for future creativity.