I like conferences. You get to meet so many people from the area you\’re passionate about. And you also get to meet the crazier ones. Yesterday, I met a guy who wore this head-worn display during the three days at CHI. He looked so dorky and so nerdy, but he fit just right in!

The closing speaker was Michel Waisvisz from the Netherlands. He did this awesome \”music\” performance, using a variety of recorded sounds and noises at different pitches and volumes. Personally, to me, it sounded like a movie soundtrack. But then that\’s what music really is…to evoke some sort of emotion, to remember a time. Like the true definition of art? But my first thought was whether the older people in the audience hated the screeching and loud bass. What was interesting though was how he wanted to keep musical instruments…\”hard to play\”, a philosophy truly against HCI. In HCI, we are always trying to make everything easy to use. And Michel believed that this took away from the music–that you would never know how to play an instrument if it is only constantly improved. Playing music is a skill. Yet, what if musical instruments underwent all the methods and several iterations of redesign. Would it end up still as an instrument? Ultimately, it seems that we want to make everything automatic, but that takes away from the emotional connection. So that is why the piano has so many keys that we cannot reach. And how people take years to master an instrument. It\’s not just elitism, but also the progression of art.

Also Michel liked touching electricity. Someone asked how many times he has gotten shocked. \”Cannot remember,\” he replied.

So CHI 2005 ended. Over 1900 people attended! 1/3 of which were students! CHI 2006 is in Montreal next year. And I\’ll be there.