Story URL: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=100469
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Green technology leads the way at NextFest
by Alexander Reed
Oct 09, 2008
Alexander Reed/MEDILL
The Toyota Prius Plug-In, a car for the near future, attracted many visitors at NextFest.
Alexander Reed/MEDILL
Xerox showcased solid ink cartridges at NextFest, which the company claims produce less waste than standard liquid ink cartridges.
Alexander Reed/MEDILL
Alex Seropian, executive producer of the video game "Halo," answers audience questions at NextFest.
Interview with Alex Seropian, executive producer of “Halo” and co-founder of Bungie Software.
Video game celebrity Alex Seropian greeted visitors and answered questions Wednesday at NextFest. Seropian produces Microsoft's immensely successful Xbox game series called Halo.
Should a young entrepreneur attempt to sell an idea for a new video game directly to developers or do the programming independently to make the game and market it? Here is Seropian's answer.
"If you’re young, and you want to get into the [video game] business, do something on your own, because you’re very rarely going to gain traction from game studios. Ideas are cheap in this industry. Everybody’s got an idea. It’s really about how you’re going to execute it. It’s hard to sell a company an idea from the outside, and if you want to get in it’s really great to have something that you’ve done on your own. So if you’ve got a great idea, figure out a way to find some friends, or if you’re in a class with people who have like-interests, it’s awesome if you can do something on your own even if it’s simple, that gets your idea across."
A large white tent in Chicago’s Millennium Park might seem an unlikely place to showcase the technology of the future.
But that is exactly where WIRED Magazine is hosting the fifth annual NextFest, a free exposition running through Sunday and featuring advanced consumer electronics, industrial devices and, this year, green technology.
One of the busiest exhibits is Toyota’s plug-in hybrid vehicle—essentially a re-engineered Prius that the company says will emit less pollution than the existing model. This latest iteration in hybrid technology will rely more heavily on electric power to reduce gasoline consumption and can recharge using a standard household electric outlet.
For people strained by high fuel prices and the economy in general, the new hybrid will enable them to spend less on energy, especially if they charge the vehicle’s battery during off-peak periods when electric costs are lower. News reports estimate that the new Prius should be ready for production by 2010.
Many visitors to NextFest said they were impressed with the many examples of sustainable technology and especially with Toyota’s offerings. "It’s just the whole move toward green and being economically sound, so I thought that was very interesting stuff," said Francisco Altares, a visitor from Toronto.
The spirit of economizing and protecting the environment was also evident in Xerox Corporation’s concept of self-erasing paper. The new paper, still in development, has a photosensitive chemical treatment, and "recycles itself" by erasing any ink on its surface within 24 hours, Xerox claims. Since many offices discard paper documents the day they are printed, the new paper could allow businesses to reduce their paper costs and also the energy involved in recycling.
Some other exhibits at NextFest feature robotic concepts, prosthetic devices and water filtration technology.
NextFest offers lots of interactive, family-friendly activities. In the game "BrainBall, players use nothing but brain waves transmitted through special headbands to move a ball around a table.
