World Fairs, Technology, and the Canon Wonder Camera Concept

The World Expo currently being held in Shanghai was previously known as the World Fair. The precursor to that was The Great Exhibition. All of these exhibitions / expositions have in some way been testaments to visions of modernity. For many domestic visitors to the world fair, it was their only chance to taste the exotic, both literally in terms of foodstuffs from around the globe, and also to encounter the people and cultures of different nations.

But beyond experiencing the exotic, the other important event at World Fairs was the unveiling of new technology – the kind of thing that had never been seen before. At the Chicago World Fair in 1893 – Nicolas Tesla and Thomas Edison went head to head competing for supplying electricity for the fair – a microcosm of, and test-bed for their competing Alternating and Direct Currents.

Showcasing the new technologies of modernity also symbolised that a city or country had become elevated to the world stage. For a long time, the show was held in Europe – arguably the tradition and event began in London with the 1851 Great Exhibition – and then for a period swung between Europe and America, the seats of global power at the time.

Now, Shanghai may be perfectly suited as a location for the World Expo – because of its architecture, historical/contemporary zeitgeists, and features such as the Maglev. The city itself is, and always has been, deeply bound in a sense of the ‘modern.’

For Chinese, Shanghai has always embodied a sense of modernity, both international and national. The most obvious expression of this – viewing the vista from the Bund over to Pudong – it’s possible to see two very distinct and iconic visions of modernity from different epochs, the Bund as a virtual trip of the West from the early 20th Century and the Pudong skyline as a totem of China’s advancement in the late 2oth Century.

No matter how apposite Shanghai is as a location – it’s acknowledged that the Expo as an event has become less and less important. To put it in perspective, early on in its rejuvenation, the modern Olympic games were a side-event at the World Fair. Although the Expo has always been a primarily domestic and  internally based event, it’s fair to say that many people in Europe and the USA are not aware of the Expo; what it stands for, it’s history, or even that it’s happening – which may be difficult to believe for those living in China. It’s certainly not as global as the World Cup or the Olympics – partly because it can’t be mediated in the way these events can through television and spectacle.

Following that line of thought, one of the main reasons critics cite for its demise is the inability to showcase new technology as it used to – things move too quickly, and corporate events such as CES in Las Vegas, SXSWi and Macworld now announce the latest technology to an audience who are present, engaging and sharing the event as it unfolds.

However, this prelude is a long digression – one amazing piece of technology unveiled at the Shanghai is the Canon Wonder Camera Concept. Over the past few years I’ve worked on projects for electronics brands developing micro 4/3 prototypes, mass appeal features such as panoramic sweeps and the introduction of micro-camcorders which have fundamentally have changed the camcorder landscape – but this concept is incredible.

Some of the highlights distinguishable from no exact specifications: a single lens capable of focusing on any object / multiple objects from macro to zoom perfectly to 5000 mm, constant focus through any image, unbelievable video functionality, massive resolution beyond imagination, swipe screen controls, a futuristic unibody design, and so on…

The Panasonic multi-touch screens it’s previewed on are pretty cool too.

Here is a video of the demonstration – there’s a narrative over the top by Gizmag – watch yourself, it’s mindblowing – especially for photography geeks out there. Enjoy.

The history of technology at the World Fair and Expo was inspired and informed by a talk given by Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Nick Lund recently, thanks to both.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 12:41 am. It is filed under China, Image, Photography, Technology, The Review and tagged with Expo, featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.