Oscar G. Torres, a recent graduate of NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, recently contacted M.E. with news of the projects he's been working on since starting his own studio - Blubee Media LLC.  Some of the work he's creating is; in his own words 'hard to describe so it easily fits into the experimental category' but we're impressed with what he's come up with.

One such project is Helios - a tree that converts solar power into electric power for public use.

"Energy Consumption Has reached a level that is having a drastic effect in our society, environment and economy due to greenhouse gasses produced from burning fossil fuels. Surprisingly only 7% of the total energy used in the world is renewable. An area of energy production that is being overlooked is Photovoltaic technology, whose use was only at 0.42% worldwide in 2005. Rather than using our resources to produce systems to tap into fossil fuels, why not produce systems which will harvest sunlight instead. Sunlight is plentiful and has more energy to offer than all of the fossil fuel in the world with lots to spare.

Helios: The Power Tree is an energy production concept for public use, and also a source of ambient lighting and sound for urban areas. The Helios Tree is an attempt to bridge an inevitable symbiotic relationship between humans, technology and the environment.

The tree has solar cells as leaves that it uses to convert light into electricity which is then collected in batteries in its trunk. The tree has efficient LED lights in its branches which light up in the dark to produce beutiful ambient lighting for its surroundings. The tree also has the capability to emit sounds, for instance, of crickets, ambient flowing water, or soothing music. Ideally the tree would be made from recycled metals or plastics for its trunk and branches. At the bottom of the trunk there are outlets to plug-in and charge the batteries of gadgets and electronics".