An assemblage of some of the world's preeminent thinkers on the impact of technology descended upon the Center for the Arts last weekend, discoursing on the limits of technology and humanity in the age of the omnipresent computer.
But that's only what the symposia would have you believe. For much of the two-day "Digital Frontier" summit, some of the digital world's most innately quirky humans were found playing with, demonstrating, lecturing on and warning against today's most intriguing technological advances.
Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist, author, composer, musician, inventor of the term "virtual reality" and one of the summit's featured speakers, served largely as a deflator to the evening's "gee-whiz" optimism, as he put it. He spoke on how computers help creative minds accomplish tasks never before imagined, and also on the proliferation of "stupid software" that confines people into conforming to its standards (such as Microsoft Word's "helpful" typo correction).
Lanier discussed the impact of technology on education, something he and many others at the summit were skeptical of.
"It ought to be just great, to be able to virtually take a class somewhere in the world and immerse yourself completely in their language," said Lanier. He fears, however, that "instead of being driven by applications, schools will use it to save money. I always found that one of the great joys is to embarrass the kid who's falling asleep in the back of the classroom."
Just as summit organizer Jaylan Turkkan had feared, the CFA's atrium was as full of wide-eyed conference guests during speeches as it was between them.
" People are leaving the sessions to play with all the toys. . The demonstrations are so interactive, they've drawn away everybody's attention," said Turkkan, UB's vice president for research.
Along the atrium's walls, shirt-and-slacks types put on sensored gloves to dance "avatars," or virtual representations of themselves, around a room designed by UB media studies professor Josephine Anstein. Others sat for a tour of a computer-constructed simulation of an ancient Assyrian castle, or to venture on a "Digital Towpath" down the Erie Canal.
Featured speaker Steve Mann, inventor of the "wearable computer," spoke to a Main Stage crowd from Toronto using a pair of computer sunglasses electronically linked to the display system at UB.
According to a technician at the conference, Mann's software, which he designed himself, was transmitting live video perfectly to UB a week ago; when the technician called the University of Toronto Friday morning to test out the link, however, there was no attendant in the lab where the link was established, and so Mann read from his book, "Cyborg," over a loudspeaker.
"These are the kinds of things you deal with when you're dealing with technology that's designed to be different," said UB's Vice Provost for Educational Technology E. Bruce Pitman, who organized the summit along with Turkkan.
"It goes to point out one of the themes at this conference: it's not plug and play in 2001 yet," said Turkkan.
If humans and technology had merrily stumbled over each other's feet throughout Friday and Saturday morning, they collided for a full-on body check with the last speech of the conference.
Clifford Stoll, a Buffalo native and astronomer who happily dubs himself one of the digital age's most profuse skeptics, bounded from his podium as soon as possible. Stoll exuded energy as he climbed over and around aisles and chairs, illustrating one of his points on computers eliminating memorable experiences in classrooms. "A lack of communication is not the problem we should be looking to solve in our schools," said Stoll, a Buffalo Public School 61 and UB alumnus. "We need to focus on the question: 'Is this student developing into a good person who has curiosity.'"
At the end of Stoll's presentation, Turkkan took the podium to close the conference.
"Somewhere between despair and blind optimism lies an interesting conversation, one we've been having for the past few days," said Turkkan. Speaking with members of the press and a handful of faculty after his speech, Stoll said he was ecstatic to be back home, but less than pleased with the circumstance.
"Instead of a digital summit like this, we should be working towards critical views of how computing is affecting society," said Stoll. He would add later on, "If you like what television has done for our society, you'll love what the Internet will do."
