Nerd Nite SF #12: Audio Guide Revolution, Science of Magic, and Truth vs. Memory

Wait-we've been nerding it up in San Francisco for a year now? My, how time flies when you're having fun! Come help us celebrate the first birthday of the best booze-addled, 3rd-Wednesday lecture series around, and get ready to have your mind blown, bent, and otherwise overhauled by a trio of presentationists holding forth on: the history and future of every nerd's favorite museum companion, the audio guide; how sleight of brain makes for sleight of hand; and memory's irksome tendency to obfuscate. Be there and be square!

Wait-we've been nerding it up in San Francisco for a year now? My, how time flies when you're having fun! Come help us celebrate the first birthday of the best booze-addled, 3rd-Wednesday lecture series around, and get ready to have your mind blown, bent, and otherwise overhauled by a trio of presentationists holding forth on: the history and future of every nerd's favorite museum companion, the audio guide; how sleight of brain makes for sleight of hand; and memory's irksome tendency to obfuscate. Be there and be square!

"This Audio Guide Goes to 11: How Audio Guides are Getting Cool-No, Really" by Michael Epstein

The history of audio guides is rife with stories of hearing-impaired headset hijackers, teaching Tut to talk, and experiments in isolation chambers. But the best in audio guide history is happening right now. Smartphones are unleashing increasingly vast, interactive, and narratively sophisticated projects. See, hear, touch, and taste the history and future of audio guides.

Michael got his MA at MIT, studying new literary forms on mobile devices, and he now runs Untravel Media, specializing in mobile narrative apps.

"The Science of Magic" by Luigi Anzivino

Magicians through the ages have been manipulating attention and perception to dazzle and delight. We know that cognitive and sensory illusions are responsible for the "magic" of a trick-so why does it still work? Anzivino will explain how magicians exploit our brains' loopholes and what scientists can learn from magic.

Luigi earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Now he designs hands-on, "playful and inventive explorations" at the Exploratorium.

"Beyond Belief: How Memory Obscures the Truth" by Indre Viskontas

The Truth Is Out There. But how can we find it and what limits our ability to understand it? The brain constrains how we use information to understand the world because it turns out that our personal experience trumps most other data. Viskontas investigates mysterious incidents to highlight traps in evaluating evidence for extraordinary claims.

A bachelor of science, a master of both music and arts, and a doctor of philosophy, Indre is best known for her TV show, Miracle Detectives.

DJ Alpha Bravo will be spinning and tweeting his way through stacks of wax.