Year: 2010
Developed by: Aaron Koblin, Chris Milk, Eduard Prats Molner, Ben Tricklebank
Agency: Google Creative Labs/ B-Reel
When indie rock band Arcade Fire collaborated with film director Chris Milk and digital production company B-Reel and Google to create a video for their song, "We Used to Wait," they invented a new user experience for music videos.
Before showing the video, the site asked users to type in their childhood address. Using images from Google Street View and Google Earth, the software then personalized the video based on that address. It unfolds across multiple windows, featuring a person running through the streets of the user's hometown ending at his or her childhood home.
Relying on HTML5 -- an emerging technology that will radically advance what a Web browser can do -- the art project shows how technology can pack an emotional wallop. It also illustrates that the Web's history is still being written: New technological and creative breakthroughs happen constantly.
