LINK: Mobile's Role in a Consumer's Media Day: Smartphones and Tablets Enable Seamless Digtal Lives -Study by ABIresearch (IAB Mobile)

I've been reflecting on how much I do things differently, now that I'm surrounded by digital devices throughout the day - and also surrounded by other people, who are also linked to more than one device or screen.

More often than not, we are all connected to the web, or at least one person/device away!

I don't think we've figured out the "seamless digital lives" part!

MOBILE'S ROLE IN A CONSUMER'S MEDIA DAY: Smartphones and Tablets Enable Seamless Digital Lives (pdf)
(An IAB Mobile Center of Excellence Research Project)

Web Version

Press Release:
Tablets & Smarphones Generate Strong Ad Engagement, According to IAB Mobile Research
IAB Media Contact:  Laura Goldberg  7/16/12



Credit:  IAB, via Flat World Business

Jeff Han Discusses Windows 8 for Large Displays, Microsoft's New Multi-touch, Ink & Pen Tech; Experience Design for Large Displays (2012 Microsoft Build)

Earlier this year, Microsoft bought Jeff Han's company, founder of Perceptive Pixel.  Jeff Hans now works for the Microsoft Office division of the company, where there is a push to bring new and improved large multi-touch displays to the corporate world. With this off-the-desktop move, developers are challenged to develop applications for Windows 8 that will be geared towards supporting collaboration in corporate settings.

Jeff Han and Nathan Fish were at Microsoft's "Build" conference recently  to give a presentation about the nuts and bolts of the new technology - how it works, and suggestions for design.  Although the video presentation is over an hour long, it is worth setting aside some time to watch! 

New multi-touch, ink, and pen technologies that can revolutionize your apps on any size of screens (10/30/12, Microsoft Build)



Here is the description of the presentation:
"Develop solutions that flow with your customers business - starting with individuals and information workers on their phones, desks or virtual offices, moving into conference rooms, brainstorm areas, boardrooms and common areas.  Learn how Microsoft's new pen and touch capabilities, software and hardware will enable you to develop products that will help businesses be more efficient.  Have a sneak peek on what our large multi-touch displays (82' and 55') can bring to your solutions." -Microsoft Build

Jeff Han emphasized that touch interaction is everywhere and is a fundamental requirement in applications. Windows 8 apps should be designed for all screen sizes, saying "It's all about collaboration of people and a collaboration of devices that gets your work done....this is the real thing, and it is about to happen.  Devices (referring to large displays) are coming... we do have a mechanism for early access hardware."

During the second half of the video (38:00), Nathan Fish discusses guidelines for designing experiences on large displays, including optimization, handling various interactions via pen, touch, and gestures, the use of application bars and context menus, and more.

At the beginning of his presentation, Nathan Fish briefly discusses the uncharted territory of designing for collaborative large displays, and tells the audience that the guidelines are just suggestions, " nothing is written, we are figuring this out as we go."

My fear is that Windows 8 developers might not have the inclination to think past the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets, resulting in touchy-feely variations of PowerPoint and other Office applications that have been around for too long.

RELATED
Microsoft Welcomes Perceptive Pixel to the Office Division
The Official Microsoft Blog, 7/30/12


What happened to the Surface Table?
I was surprised that Jeff Han's company was not folded into PixelSense, formally known as Surface, the division of Microsoft that focuses on large multi-touch tables. In my opinion, the tables had some potential to support collaborative work in the corporate world.  It will be interesting to see how things unfold!  

PixelSense
Take a look at the video clip below for more information:
 

Discover the Samsung SUR40 (with PixelSense)
Samsung SUR40 with Microsoft PixelSense
PixelSense Development Partners
Insights on Interactive Tabletops: A Survey of Researchers and Developers (pdf)
Hrvoje Benko, Meredith Ringel Morris, A.J. Bernheim Brush, and Andrew D. Wilson 2009, Microsoft Research

SOMEWHAT RELATED
I've been interested in large screen displays and how they interact with smaller devices for a very long time.  In 2007, I was taking graduate courses at UNC-Charlotte and planned to pursue further research and work related to this area.   At the time, I prepared a paper to present at a conference, but was unable to present due a serious health emergency in my family.  The abstract is below:


"Large screen displays support the collaboration of two or more people, especially 
when the nature of the content is visual.  These displays, in the form of walls, windows, 
boards, and touch-tables, will become ubiquitous in the future, and can be found in workplaces, educational institutions, museums, and other public spaces. New display systems have been developed that allow for co-located communication between groups of people, and also allow for collaboration with individuals in remote locations, using mobile computing or communication devices.  This paper will provide an overview of the technologies that support  this new way of communication, discuss the challenges involved in 
establishing "interoperability" within these new systems, and examine the possibilities for 
the future."

If this topic interests you, take a look at one of my Flickr collections:

Ubiquitous Sightings of Urban Screens: Interactive Displays in Public Spaces, Digital Signage, and Screens of All Sizes

Description:

"All kinds of displays are cropping up in shopping centers, malls, banks, stores, airports, schools, businesses, and meeting places. What is the purpose of all of these displays?

Displays and mobile devices, everywhere we go.

It doesn't look like we've really figured out how to harness the potential of the technology that surrounds us."

Revisiting Razorfish: Emerging Experiences, RockstAR application, and more...

I've written a few posts about Razorfish in the past. What is Razorfish?

"The Razorfish Emerging Experiences team is a dedicated group of highly experienced professionals focused solely on emerging experiences and technologies. "Effective innovation" is our multifaceted approach to concepting and delivering pioneering solutions for our clients."

Razorfish has forged ahead into very interesting-and fun- territory. Here is a video of the RockstAR application. It combines multi-touch technology and augmented reality, utilizing the Razorfish Vision Framework (RVT), integrated with the Razorfish Touch Framework.

RockstAR (Augmented Reality) Experience Demo from Razorfish - Emerging Experiences on Vimeo.


A recent post on the Razorfish Emerging Experiences blog provides a detailed account of the technology that was pulled together to make it happen in the post, The Technology Behind RockstAR. The application is integrated into Twitter and Flickr.

-Razorfish Emerging Experiences Blog
"For the RockstAR experience, we are analyzing each frame coming from an infrared camera to determine if faces are found in the crowd. Once a face is detected, it is assigned a unique ID and tracked. Once receive a lock on the face, we can pass position and size information to the experience where we can augment animations and graphics on top of the color camera feed."


RELATED
One of my previous posts includes a video of the Razorfashion application, which highlights the Razorfish Touch Framework:


Razorfish's Touch Framework "Razorfashion" - A lot like my idea for an in-home FashionMirrorAdvisor...


I'm still hoping to work on my FashionMirrorAdvisor - but with a twist. Now that I have a smartphone, I want to incorporate a mobile app into the concept. Guys probably just wouldn't understand.  (However, something like this would make a nice gift for a guy who is a bit lacking in the fashion department.)


Below is a remix of my previous post


RAZORFISH'S TOUCH FRAMEWORK:  RAZORFASHION - A LOT LIKE MY IDEA FOR AN IN-HOME FASHIONMIRRORADVISOR (5/23/09)


Razorfish recently unveiled the Razorfashion application designed to provide shoppers with an engaging retail experience within the "multi-channel shopping ecosystem". I'm not the "shop to you drop" type of gal, but I can see that this concept could be useful in other situations, after a few tweaks.

Razorfashion Retail Experience from Razorfish - Emerging Experiences on Vimeo.

As soon as I saw this Razorfish Touch "Fashion" demo video, it touched a nerve. I've been playing around with a similar idea, but for my personal use, in the form of an RFID-enabled system. I'd call it something like "FashionMirrorAdvisor".


Instead of showing skinny fashion models like the Razorfashion application, I'd harness the power of built-in web-cam and mirror my own image on the screen. My mirror would dress me up in the morning when I'm way too foggy to think about matching colors and accessories.
     
My FashionMirrorAdvisor would be my friend. My "smart" friend, since all of my clothes would be RFID-tagged, along with my shoes, jewelry, and other accessories. My make-up, too. It would be a no-brainer. I really could use this application - just ask my husband!


More often than not, most mornings I find myself staring at the clothes in my closet, frozen in time, unable to formulate a fashion thought. I might set my eyes on a favorite blouse, but blank out when I try to think about the rest of the steps I need to pull my look together.
     
I know I can't wear my reddish-pink camisole with my dusty-orange/brown slacks, but at 5:15 A.M., who has the time to think about this little detail? My friend, the TouchFashionMirror would prevent me from making this fashion faux-pas.
     
No problem.
     
My FashionMirrorAdvisor would show me a few outfits, and dress my real-time moving image on the screen. Since she knows all things, she'd show me ONLY the articles of clothing that were clean, since my RFID system would keep up with all of that. It would be much more functional than a "virtual wardrobe" application. I could try out different earrings without having to get them out.
     
If I couldn't find something, the RFID system would take care of this detail. My FashioMirrorAdvisor would know where I misplaced my clothes, accessories, and even my keys, since they would all be tagged. The mirror application would provide me with a nice little map of my house and car, and highlight the location of the item.
     
My FashionMirrorAdvisor would keep track of my laundry, too. This would be a great feature. So if my dirty laundry was piling up, and I wanted to wear outfit X, Y, or Z over the next few days, I'd receive a gentle reminder that I'd need to do some laundry first!


Another practical feature:
     
My FashionMirrorAdvisor would also serve as my health consultant, keeping track of my weight and BMI. This data, along with information gained from the webcam, would be combined so that my advisor would NEVER suggest an outfit that would be too...snug.


I could program the system to provide me with gentle reminders if my weight was an issue. My FashionMirrorAdvisor would show me images of myself "before" and "after", outfits included.

Information about the "after" outfits could be fed to the system from the web-catalogs of my favorite fashion retailers, and once I lost those 10 darned pounds, I'd find a nice parcel delivered to my door. Thanks to my FashionMirrorAdvisor, I know that the outfit would be just right.


UPDATE 5/8/10:  The FashionMirrorAdvisor would be integrated with a mobile app - since I now have a smartphone, this would be quite useful in planning shopping trips centered around the purchase of new clothes, shoes, accessories, and coordinating cosmetics!  I created a little game  that I think would be ideal for this sort of thing, too.   I still want to work on this....someday. Too many ideas, too little time!


ALSO RELATED
From the Razorfish site:
"The Razorfish Emerging Experiences team is a dedicated group of highly experienced professionals focused solely on emerging experiences and technologies. "Effective innovation" is our multifaceted approach to concepting and delivering pioneering solutions for our clients"

"Founded in 2008, Razorfish Emerging Experiences is a cross-functional team composed of strategists, artists, experience designers, and technologists. We’re part of the Razorfish Strategy & Innovation practice led by Shannon Denton. Jonathan Hull is the managing director of the team, Steve Dawson is the technology lead and Luke Hamilton is the creative lead."
Razorfish
Razorfish Emerging Experiences Portfolio
Razorfish Emerging Experiences Blog
Razorfish Emerging Experiences on Vimeo


RELATED 5/8/10
Razorfish Health (Fun music on the home page!)
Razorfish Establishes Cloud Computing Practice
Douglas Quenqua, ClickZ 4/15/10
The Razorfish 5: Five Technologies that Will Change Your Business
Razorfish Whitepapers


If you are looking for a job, you might be interested in the openings at Razorfish. Before applying, take a look at what is expected:
"You dream in digital. You're fluent in the technologies that define our world and passionate about the way they're shaping our future.  You're a communicator. A creator. You understand how the Web connects us, and you want to shape the conversation. You're a restless innovator.  you're not only waiting for the next big idea to happen, you're making it happen.  You're a unique talent, a visionary, an experimenter, and you're looking for an environment that lets you shine. In other words, you're just our type...."


FYI
When I visited the Razorfish website, I noticed that the background appeared to be a live feed of the offices. Since today is Saturday, it makes sense that the only person busy at the office was a custodian. Below is the screenshot:

WIRED's Overview of Touchscreen PC's and Interface Innovations (and some links for the tech-curious)

According to Priya Ganapati's recent article in WIRED,  only 3% of all PC's and notebooks have interactive touchscreens.  More are coming to market, such as Sony's Vaio L Touch HD PC,  Dell's all-in-one, and Lenovo's tablet PC and ThinkPad laptop.  HP came out with the TouchSmart PC and touch-enabled laptops, and will be adding updated versions soon.

This is a great opportunity for developers interested in touch, multi-touch, and gesture interaction applications.   I think there will be even more opportunity for web developers to create websites that are touch-enabled, or at least optimized for touch screen interaction.

Will the  multi-touch web might be right around the corner?    

At the moment, there is some confusion about what designers should consider when developing applications.  There is not standard system of touch or gesture interaction,  and researchers are still very busy figuring things out.   Some companies have rushed out and patented gestures,  which in my opinion, is like patenting how we breath. But that is another story.

If you are a designer or developer, you might be interested in the Touch First Microsoft Surface Developer Challenge.  It is a chance to win your very own Microsoft Surface!  Hurry, the deadline is October 12th.

If you want to learn more, read WIRED's Gadget Lab:  "Touchscreen PC's Prompt Interface Innovations" for a good overview of what's happening in the Touch PC world.

If you are curious and would like to dig deeper into this topic, take some time to look at some of my blog-posts about multi-touch, touch screen news, innovations, and related musings:

The World Is My Interface:  An Introduction (and some links)
Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It".
Multimedia and Interaction Resources (a mega-list, work-in-progress)
Bump Top 3D Desktop on a Touch Screen:  Toss Your Photos to your Facebook Icon!
Ron George's Interaction Design Toolbox
So how are people using their multi-touch all-in-ones?  Medion X9613 will be released soon..
Multi-touch, multimedia, multi-modal:  Fujitsu LIFEBOOK 54310 has a multitude of possibilties
Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines: "All Windows programs should be touchable!"

More Multi-touch! Rumor of the Mobile Apple iTablet; Adobe XD & Multitouch; 10-Finger Mobile Multitouch

I heard that Apple is coming out with a larger iPhone, an "iTablet".



This is a rumor I've heard for a while. Here are a few articles:

Tech Rumor of the Day: Apple, Verizon Team Up on Tablet
Scott Moritz, TheStreet.com, 7/21/09

Apple to Release Subsidized Tablet Through Verizon Later This Year?
Eric Slivka, MacRumors, 7/22/09


I also heard that lots of things are happening at Adobe.

Wouldn't it be fun to paint like this?

The interface on the left is multi-touch and allows you to effortlessly fine-tune color selection as you paint. This interaction is described in the Adobe XD video below.



Senior Experience Designer Julie Meridian and Senior Computer Scientist Tim Kukulski discuss the future of multitouch, and showcase XD's cutting-edge multitouch R+D effort.


XD is the acronym for Adobe Experience Design, a multi-disciplinary group that numbers over 100. This group is focusing on multi-touch applications for a wide range of uses.

FYI: The Adobe Experience Design Team offers an on-line publication, "Inspire". I think that the website could use a re-design...




Ten-finger multitouch headed to mobile gadgets this year
Jacqueline Emigh, BetaNews, 7/22/09
"Synaptics, the creator of touchscreens already embellishing the iPhone and G1 Android phone, today rolled out new multitouch technology for mobile gizmos which rivals that of Microsoft-'s table-sized Surface."

-photo from BetaNews

"For people interested in building their own multitouch-driven mobile applications, Synaptics plans a Microsoft Windows .NET-based development kit for the end of 2009, to coincide with the first 3000-driven handheld gaming machines, personal navigation devices (PNDs), and other gadgetry from Synaptics' OEM partners."

For more information, see the video.

RELATED

TechOnline's On-Demand Webinars:

Designing Compelling User Interfaces with Multi-touch All-Point Touchscreen Technology
Touch Screens: The Magic Behind Multi-Touch

Note: I haven't had a chance to see the above webinars. If you've viewed them, please leave a comment!