This is Part 2 of my report on the November 3rd Nikola Tesla presentations of various artists, writers, and filmmakers at the Chester County Library in Exton, PA. If you haven’t seen it already, go back and read Part 1 here. I finished up Part 1 by mentioning that I talked about my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity.
Other highlights of the event include two videos and “Astronomusic” by Laura Woodswalker Todd, a videographer and electronic musician who lives in Phoenixville, PA. “Light Worker” and “Tesla Tower” are music video tributes to Nikola Tesla that employ synthesizers and computer software to express artistic visions. Laura also joined Howard Lipman as they demonstrated the Steampunk Wand along with a Tesla-inspired electronic instrument called the theremin.
Howard, who superbly emceed the event, narrated a compendium video showing how Tesla had influenced science fiction going back to the 1920s. In fact, Hugo Gernsback, a close friend of Nikola Tesla, often used Tesla and his inventions as models for his Amazing Stories science fiction magazine beginning in 1926. Howard then regaled us with readings from one of his Tesla-inspired fiction books. Writing as PanOrpheus, Howard read from Tesla’s Light Bulb, due out in December 2013.
Next up were demonstrations of various Tesla devices by Adolphe Alexander and Harry Oung. Some of us took turns demonstrating the spark gap and lighting a fluorescent bulb without wires. Ready for a cool video? Ru Sun demonstrates how to do it.
But that’s not all. We were joined by Brian Yetzer of Yetzer Studios who is developing the next generation of “augmented reality.” What appeared to be simple poster artwork for most of the event became much much more as Brian turned his iPad to the image. It turns out the poster is embedded with code that can be read by special software in Brian’s tablet…and viola! Emerging from the screen were working models of Tesla inventions and descriptions of how they all work, which makes for an exhilarating communication experience. Brian will be crowdfunding the next step of his enterprise – creating an App – so come back here for more information. Meanwhile, check out this video.
After more than three hours of Tesla talk and discussions the library staff came to shoo us out of the room for the next users, but it’s safe to say that the participants thoroughly enjoyed the gathering. I know I had a great time. And on top of that I sold a few books, some of which Tesla Science Foundation founder Nikola Lonchar will use for TSF give-aways in the future. I was happy to be a part of this experience. See you all in New York in January.
David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.
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