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Drones Light Up Shanghai’s Sky with a QR Code
- PaulHoule 5y agoI have been doing an art project about life on a space colony where the sky is a screen (sorry we can't afford enough nitrogen to fill up huge airspaces.) I was looking at the possibility of turning the sky into a kaleidoscope with multiple laser projectors under conditions where there is a cloud layer within (say) 1000ft of the ground. I'm pretty sure I could get a permit from the FDA/FAA to do a scale test but I don't know if you could make a real show or art installation of it because whether or not it works depends on the weather, air traffic, etc. That drone array is another attack on the same problem.
- arethuza 5y agoI love the drone videos produced to replace Edinburgh's traditional new year celebrations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV4jNWZlmEU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV4jNWZlmEU
- ddevault 5y agoThis article does not answer the only question I had: where does it go? My phone cannot scan any of these pictures.
- mapadael 5y agoLooking at the pictures, seems like they did that on purpose but I am also curious.
- ASalazarMX 5y ago"How can we report about this publicity stunt without giving them free publicity?"
- giovani 5y agoIt goes to the website of the company named in the article: bilibili.com
- alanwong 5y agoThe article answers the question twice. > 1,500 illuminated drones formed into the game’s logo and characters before transforming into a floating QR code that links to its homepage. > (Caption) THE FLOATING QR CODE LINKS TO A VIDEO GAME'S WEBSITE. PHOTO: BILIBILI
- ddevault 5y agoHm, weird. I had grepped for "link" et al just to make sure I didn't miss it. My bad.
- thrwn_frthr_awy 5y agoIt won't be long until they run actual video ads with drones.
- IIAOPSW 5y agoUgh this is so Shanghai and not in a good way. I lived in Shanghai for about 2 years. Certain 'design decisions' that they make are like Times Square with Chinese Characteristics. It feels like a pop-up ad in real life that you physically can't close. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not some architectural taste curmudgeon. I actually like the garish lighting and weirdly shaped vanity projects like the Bottle Opener. I just hate the buildings that literally become building-sized billboards when you look at the skyline at night.
- xwolfi 5y agoYou would hate my view from Hong Kong, where I finally got a sea view from a high rise floor, and I can see the entire city lighting up at night with huge ads and stuff. It feels so Ghost in the Shell, I reached my goal :D
- wnscooke 5y agoI would love that.
- gumby 5y agoPerfect application for AR with ad blocking.
- schmorptron 5y agoI've been screaming about this to friends for years hahaha, finally someone who thinks similarly! The best use for AR glasses will be IRL ad blocking.
- bserge 5y agoHaha, the manufacturers will likely do their best to lock them down tight in order to show you their ads.
- lozaning 5y agoThe tram ride up to the top of Victoria Peak at night should be on every single persons bucket list.
- shmageggy 5y ago> Is it brilliant or dystopian? Please help me understand how this could be considered anything but dystopian? The night sky is a commons and a natural wonder that humans have communed with for millennia, and this pollutes it with an obnoxious and un-ignorable visual display that nobody asked for or wanted and that benefits virtually nobody besides its creators. What upside could there possibly be?
- mc32 5y agoIt depends on the culture of the person experiencing it. We don't all share the same cultural values. So, there is no reason this is not dystopian for many many people.
- bordercases 5y ago"We have different cultural values" is not carte blanche to say anything you want. That's like not calling Nazi and Soviet governments oppressive just because they valued social order in a different way than Allied powers did. Cultures can be dumb in ways that even they don't understand. In this case the night sky has been a part of the heritage of almost every culture in the world, except modern ones. Through selfish commercialism we've polluted it for the marginal gains of advertisers.
- EastToWest 5y agoI think it is rather dumb and annoying. Dystopian? Far from it. Do you consider a plane flying by with a banner behind it dystopian? Isn't this more or less the same kind of thing?
- 8fGTBjZxBcHq 5y agoI do consider that similarly bad yes.
- EastToWest 5y agoBad, sure, we both agree. Dystopian has a very specific meaning though. From Cambridge dictionary: relating to a very bad or unfair society in which there is a lot of suffering, especially an imaginary society in the future, or to the description of such a society. I fail to see how one can derive "a very bad or unfair society" and "a lot of suffering" from a QR code in night sky.
- smiley1437 5y agoAm I old fashioned? I treat opening some random QR code with the same hesitation as clicking a random link in an email. And with a QR code I can't even 'hover' to inspect the link
- floydnoel 5y agoYou can do that with iOS, when you scan a QR it pops a notification showing the domain and asks if you’d like to open it.
- ktkoffroth 5y agoThe same is true for android, at least on a Pixel 2 XL
- kroltan 5y agoDepends on the scanner/camera app, but yes, similar situation for Xiaomi's MIUI builtin camera.
- tinus_hn 5y agoAs a link can be changed just before it activates, hovering over a link to check if it’s malicious is not very useful.
- jpindar 5y agoA QR code contains text. If your QR code reader automatically opens any link it finds in that text, it is defective. You should replace it.
- drcursor 5y agoAll the people here complaining about light pollution, but no one worried about starlink and the likes...
- lolinder 5y agoThere are lots of people here worried about starlink, if you looked at any of the articles on starlink. No one brought it up here because that's not what this article is about.
- HajiraSifre 5y agoThis is the link contained in the QR code: https://game.bilibili.com/pcr/1anniversarytocode/ https://game.bilibili.com/pcr/1anniversarytocode/
- londons_explore 5y agoI wonder why they didn't use a URL shortener to make the code easier to scan?
- zoomablemind 5y ago> "....During the COVID-19 pandemic, local governments assigned citizens colored QR code images that indicate their risk of exposure to the coronavirus in order to manage the public health crisis. Residents need to show the code on their smartphones before entering public venues. ..." This bit is utterly disturbing.
- qiqing 5y agoMy mom lives in Shanghai, and yes, that's how automated contact tracing works. You have to show that you're not in the "potentially exposed" category before potentially being a super spreader in a crowded place. It makes me not worry about her safety from over here in Texas where, sadly, half the people walking out and about don't know how to wear a mask correctly.
- Daho0n 5y agoI just saw a police show from some part of Philadelphia where young people are banned from being outside after 22:00 (younger than 16). It's bad everywhere just in different forms.
- hungryhobo 5y agoI'd argue 600k dead is more disturbing, but let's agree to disagree
- ChrisArchitect 5y agoright, tweet 3 days ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26850839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26850839