A Growing Digital Media Forest In The Mojave Desert
«TEHCNOMANCERS, BLESS PLZ» I wrote on the tape covering the monitor from the wind. The sandstorm at Neotropolis this year rocked the wall of my booth with enough ferocity that it knocked the monitor out from the kiosk frame. Fortunately, it landed in the sand unbroken and I plugged it back into the cables it had escaped from.
Having participated in its sister festival, Wasteland Weekend, for over a decade, I had seen my fair share of bad desert weather. This time was easily the worst sandstorm I had encountered. By evening, those with now thrashed tents and those desiring a more insipid vacation packed up and headed down the long dirt boulevard back toward civilization.
As an event veteran, I knew with some patience the sandstorm would pass. This was a temporary delay like a sporting event postponed by foul weather. As evening approached the gusts became a chill breeze and the neon lights of Neotropolis began to electrify the air once more.
In its third year, Neotropolis continues to grow as an immersive entertainment entity. A stronger emphasis was present on storytelling both physically with new set pieces and volunteer storytellers, and digitally with several monitors displaying the Neotropolis New Network. N3 not only added an immersive backdrop to the event but served as a tool to elaborate on some of the fiction narrated during your stay on Kepler 609c.
Several other clubs and camps, known as factions, bright competing media to assault your eyes and ears in true cyberpunk fashion. Wayward Communication Corporation's radio station, Neotropolis Public Radio, returned this year with its 24-hour music and a live morning show. A rival to N3, news channel Network 42 was on display at least one seedy cyberpunk dive bar. A one-man pirate radio station, Radio Nox, was on the scene covering the event firsthand with his portable pirate radio.
Intranets were among the technology growing at the event this year. Seashell Cove displayed chat kiosks using the open-source software BeeBEEP in the Megablock. With NeoNav's tanChat in the WCC intranet Wayward Access, multiple chat networks functioned this year's event!
What is being developed is less of a curated zoo of tech, but a diverse technological forest where projects are blooming and thriving in their niche alongside their cousins. Multiple activities are supported by a web of intranets, gophers, artisans, technicians, and a decentralized power grid. If one tree falls, the ecosystem goes on.
«SANDSTORMS CAN'T STOP THE SIGNAL!» I wrote on tape as I screwed the monitor in place this time. Having blown away the sand from its ports like an old Nintendo for the 80's the kiosk came back to life and began to rotate through the carousel of graphs displaying NeoBand read data.
Users arriving after the sandstorm passed to interact with the kiosk.
My one regret with this year is my lack of taking photos of all the interesting immersive interactions people created to share at the event. Currently, I am working on a small project to facilitate immersion for folks who aren't tech-savvy. It will be a welcome supplement for this wild neon jungle that has taken root in desert sands. I'm curious and excited to see what will continue to grow from the seeds planted these first few years of Neotropolis.
