Most of us have used at least one instant messaging (IM) program in our lives, and I would say that the majority of us primarily rely on Facebook, Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger to get the message across. Not only that, there are status updates for our IM programs, ranging from Away to Busy or Do Not Disturb so that folks know better as to whether or not you should be disturbed. What happens when you couple your online status updates to some balloons at Yale University? This new project known as Project Roger will see different balloons glow intermittently according to the status information of the students via their iChat or AIM interactions. The very presence of the balloons in the atrium offers a physical representation of the interactions that is happening online in real time, although I wonder what happens when the balloons run out of air and start to deflate. It would be nice if a color guide were to be released, so that we know just which color signifies what, and will there be individual names on the balloon?
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