I tend to receive a LOT of email. Quite often, they contain requests to check something out, click a particular link or download the “hottest” new program. I always take a look at what you’re sending me. How else would I know when something seriously cool is out there just waiting to be discovered? Isaiah’s email this morning was simple: “You have to check this out!” with a link beside those cryptic words. Being the daredevil geek that I am, I clicked the little blue words – and discovered something that had me playing along instantly.

The Wilderness Downtown is an innovative new way to create a music video. Arcade Fire wanted something completely different when they released new song “We Used To Wait.” They shelved the traditional video ideology and created an interactive, data-driven Chrome Experiment using HTML5 video, audio and canvas. The project is completely interactive. Head over to the official site and enter your street address (or the address of the home you grew up in). Then, just sit back and watch the magic unfold before you.

This is an interactive art project which requires the use of Google Maps and satellite imagery. You can use any address you wish to participate and play along, but it’s a lot more fun if you see your house popping up in the video.

This is a very processor intensive application. I recommend closing down other programs while you run the Wilderness Downtown. I don’t feel it’s perfect just yet, but that could be due to the fact that Google Maps doesn’t have enough information and photos about every house in the world – yet.