Stanford's "Coding Together: Developing Apps for iPhone and iPad" Course Video Presentations on iTunesU

Now that the school year has ended, I've taken the first step to begin my "Summer of Code".  I have five weeks off each summer, and for me, it is the best time to brush up on my coding skills.   Since my school recently piloted an iPad program, I've developed an urge to learn Objective-C.  

So on the very first day of my summer break, I noticed in an email from Apple that that all of the presentation videos from Coding Together: Developing Apps for iPhone and iPad were made available, for free, though iTunes U. The course was designed for people who have some programming courses/experience, and from what I can see, provides a relatively "quick" and useful path for those who'd like to create an app for the iPhone or iPad.

After viewing the first video,  I am happy to say that I'm impressed with the way the professor, Paul Hegarty, explains it all.  

Course Description
"Updated for iOS 6. Tools and APIs required to build applications for the iPhone and iPad platform using the iOS SDK. User interface designs for mobile devices and unique user interactions using multi-touch technologies. Object-oriented design using model-view-controller paradigm, memory management, Objective-C programming language. Other topics include: object-oriented database API, animation, multi-threading and performance considerations. Prerequisites: C language and programming experience at the level of 106B (Programming Abstractions) or X. Recommended: UNIX, object-oriented programming, graphical toolkits."  -iTunesU Website

RELATED
iTunes U links to all course materials, including videos
Coding Together: Developing Apps for iOS Videos and Lecture Slides (iTunesU)
Website with files for course-related code
StackOverflow CS193P tagged items (Stack Overflow is an online resources for people with coding Q & As)

Mobile Design Best Practices: Joshua Mauldin's UX Charlotte Talk - photos, sketchnote, and slides

Joshua Mauldin, founder of Invisible Interface & Awesome Gifs, and app creator/manager for The Business Journals, gave a talk about best practices in touchable mobile design at a recent Charlotte User Experience meet-up. I especially liked his use of clips from Arrested Development to remind us of the wide range of emotional responses people get when they use technology, good or bad.  (Take a moment and look over the slides for the meat of Joshua's talk.)

(Photo by Brad E.)

Slide-share of Joshua Mauldin's Mobile Design Best Practices talk:

Mobile design best practices from Joshua Mauldin

Below is sketchnote of the talk, drawn by hand by Antoine RJ Wright, using Adobe Ideas on his iPad:







(Photo by Bermon Painter)

The event was hosted by MyJive, located at the NC Music Factory. I was fortunate to grab a comfy spot to sit - there were about 85 in attendance.At the end of the meetup, I won a ticket to Web Afternoon!

Makego: Turn your iPhone into a vehicle, by creative digital artist Chris O'Shea

Chris O'Shea is an artist and designer who uses technology in creative and innovative ways. He's known for his "Hand from Above" outdoor installations.  His latest creation is Makego, is an app for the iPhone that bridges the digital with the real world.  Children can create a small vehicle out of Legos that can serve as a place to set an iPhone, running the app, and move the vehicle about a larger space.  In the examples below, the children have created scenes using crayons, paper, and colored art foam.

"Makego turns your iPhone / iPod Touch into a toy vehicle. It encourages fun, open ended collaborative play between parent and child. Combining creativity and imagination with the virtual world on screen. Select your vehicle within Makego, then interact with the drivers and their world through animations and sound. This release has 3 vehicles to play with: a race car, ice-cream truck, and river boat. More vehicle are coming later". -Chris O'Shea


The application is now available for $1.99 on the App Store. 

Makego from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo.





RELATED
Chris O'Shea's Website

Usability of Touchable-Moveable Multimedia Content. Part I (carousels and more)

I've been revisiting the topic of interaction design/usability for "touchable/moveable" multimedia content for the past couple of weeks.    I recently got an iPad2, so I'm in the "app" exploration phase -  a new world, since I never had an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad "1".  


I plan to share  experiences, thoughts, opinions, and suggestions related to this topic during the upcoming months.   I welcome input from IMT readers!


Getting back to my iPad2....In addition to using the device to run apps, like most people, I also use it to visit websites.  Many sites now appear to be optimized for mobile devices, which is great for my Android-based smartphone, but for my iPad, not so much.   I thought by now we'd have more touchy-feely content to play with.


I've noticed that  basic features that work OK with touch interaction, such as the carousel, 
seem to miss the target, as discussed in the following article:



5 Big Usability Designers Make on Carousels
Anthony, UX Movement, 8/2/11


Although the above article was written from a "click" rather than "touch" perspective, many of the comments Anthony brings up ring true for websites and apps that are accessed through tablets and other touch enable screens.



I'm disappointed.  Here are a few of my grumbles:

• Many designers/developers have been slow to look at the increasing number of people who are accessing websites and applications via touch-enabled screens - of any size.   
• Many designers/developers have been slow to catch on that a website or app might be viewed/used by more than one person at a time.  Websites for house-hunting, home furnishings, vacation/travel, and education are a few examples that come to mind.
• Too many "multimedia" apps/websites are flat. Many still have a power-pointy feel.
• Websites optimized for mobile devices often leave important features out.
• Designers/developers sometimes don't seem to think about the various scenarios in which their applications/websites might be used - while balancing a baby on one hip, preparing a meal,  working out,  walking the dog, trotting around the mall with a friends/kids/spouse,  eating, waiting at a stop light, etc.

Too many iPad apps are flat and power-pointy. Too many apps don't take full advantage multi-touch features.  Very few apps allow for efficient interaction between two people on the screen.  




SOMEWHAT RELATED
Carousel Design Patterns   I will add more related links in the future - not limited to carousels : )
Carousel Interaction #21 (Mike Highfield's Rapid eLearning Blog
Carousel (Interaction Patterns Wiki)
Carousel (Welie)
Mobile Implementation of a Web 3D Carousel with Touch Input
Bjorkskog, C., Jacucci, G., Lorentin, B., Gamberinit, L.



Photo Credit:  Ohad

NodeBeat HD 1.5 Upgrade, an iOS Music Sequencer: Fun to Play on my iPad!

NodeBeat HD 1.5 - iOS Music Sequencer from AffinityBlue on Vimeo.

Below is information about NodeBeat 1.5 from the Vimeo website:


"This is a brief video showcasing some of the new features in NodeBeat HD 1.5. The same features will be coming to the iPhone/iPod Touch version of NodeBeat in the coming weeks."


"New Features Include:


- Entirely new user interface design
- Drag and drop new nodes
- Drum Generator Node
- Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, and Square waveform selection
- Tempo and BPM controls
- Compress recording for faster e-mailing of recordings
- Create ringtones from recordings
- Sleep Timer. Now you can fall asleep to NodeBeat
- Shake to Clear Screen
- 5 Finger multitouch reset all"
----------------------------------------------
"NodeBeat is an experimental node-based audio sequencer and generative music application for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad."


(Just 99 cents!)


RELATED
NodeBeat website


NodeBeat iTunes Preview

Play and Experiment with Music on your iPad/Pod/Phone with NodeBeat iOS Music Sequencer by Affinity Blue by Seth Sandler and Justin Windle  (previous post)

NodeBeat: Create and View Musical Soundscapes
iPad Creative, 5/31/11

Seth Sandler     Justin Windle

Baby playing NodeBeat 1.0 -using fingers and toes:

Apple's iOS 5 facial recognition feature opens up interactive possibilities

I've been thinking about creating my first iPad app, and as I was searching for information, I came across a few articles related to Apple's new iOS 5 that I found interesting.  


Because my target user group includes young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD),  I was intrigued by the possibility that the facial recognition APIs might provide a means of assessing mood or emotional states.   Most of us understand that our faces function as mirrors to feelings, and we use our facial expressions to communicate our feelings to others.  Unfortunately, this is a concept that is difficult for young people with ASD to understand.  My hunch is that there is an "app for that".   


I'd love to great to create a little iPad app for young people with ASD for education, intervention, and/or communication activities that incorporates the facial recognition feature!


Apple's iOS facial recognition could lead to Kinect-like interaction
Darrell Etherington, GigaOm/Reuters, 7/27/11
Here is a quote from the above article:
"You could create apps that track a user’s eye movement and dynamically change content accordingly, for instance. App developers might even be able to use data gathered from facial recognition APIs to identify so-called “hotspots,” providing insight about where a user is looking most within an app and arranging content accordingly. In time, an iPhone app might even be able to assess the emotional state of the user, based on whether they’re frowning or smiling, and address the user in a manner appropriate to their mood. It might also be able to tell how engaged users are with mobile ads and content, which might be useful for iAd customers, among others."

Face Recognition Coming to iOS5

Stan Schroeder, Mashable, 7/26/11

Below is a video from from the above post which demonstrates an app developed by Polar Rose, a company that was purchased by Apple.

RELATED
Apple plans native panorama functionality in iOS5
Seth Weintraub, 9TO5Mac, 7/8/11

iOS 5's final release may include "Assistant" speech-to-text feature
Chris Rawson, TUAW, 7/23/11

Eric Sailer's Lists of iPad, iPod, and iPhone Apps for (special) education

Update: Here is a link to Eric Sailer's resources on Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24470331/iPhone-iPad-and-iPod-touch-Apps-for-Special-Education



Update:  I think Eric Sailer's blog has moved.  For now, here is a link to his website:
http://ericsailers.com/iresources.html

Eric Sailers is a speech/language pathologist who has an extensive amount of experience using "apps" in educational settings.  He's compiled a great list of apps and related resources on his blog:  http://slpsharing.com/app-resources/

Eric spends some of his time giving presentations about the use of Apple's mobile devices in education. He's co-created a few apps, too!

April 25th Release Date: Play and Experiment with Music on your iPad/Phone/Pod with NodeBeat iOS Music Sequencer by Affinity Blue, by Seth Sandler and Justin Windle

If you love music and have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, you'll have fun exploring and experimenting with NodeBeat. As soon as I get my iPad, I plan to get this app! 


"NodeBeat is an experimental node-based audio sequencer and generative music application for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. NodeBeat is designed to let you create a variety of rhythmic sequences and ambient melodies in an intuitive fashion. It is scheduled for release on April 25th." -Affinity Blue


NodeBeat - iOS Music Sequencer from AffinityBlue on Vimeo.

NodeBeat is a collaboration between Seth Sandler and Justin Windle. It was developed using openFrameworks, with PureData for audio synthesis.  According to the NodeBeat website, "Octaves and Notes make up the two types of nodes. Octaves pulse and send messages to Notes within proximity. Each Octave is assigned a random octave and each Note, a random note; therefore, a Note will play in several octaves depending on the Octave it's connected to. Pause nodes to create your own beats or let them roam free to have them generate their own." Features include adjustable node physics, node add/remove, pitch shift, adjustable pulse rate and beat sync, adjustable echo, attack, decay, and release for creative sound sculpting, and for the iPad, audio waveform display and landscape/portrait views.

RELATED
NodeBeat website
Seth Sandler's posts about music
Seth's posts and videos about AudioTouch, and interactive multi-touch interfaces for computer music exploration and collaboration.
Soulwire (Justin Windle's blog)


Cross-posted on The World Is My Interactive Interface and TechPsych blogs.

Supertouch Group: Use an iPhone or iPad to Send Balls into Kinect Dodgeball

See how they inter-"kinect"!



"The SuperTouch group mission is to generate wonder through simple, fun, entertaining and educational uses of interactive technology and HCI."


RELATED


iPAD + Kinect + Processing

IPAD + Kinect + Processing = stellar foundation for interactions from SuperTouch Group on Vimeo.

Verizon's iPhone 4 event, live from Joshua Topolsky (engadget)

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/live-from-verizons-iphone-event/
-engadget

Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It", Revisited

I've been planning on updating one of my popular posts, "Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and Getting It" for a while. 


Here is a compromise - since much still rings true two years since I wrote it, the bulk of this post remains the same.   I've updated a few sections with additional video examples of interactive touch-screen applications, good and bad, along with a few links and resources, located at the bottom of the post. 


(The missing piece of information?  An update about apps for the iPad and similar touch-screen tablets.)

Sit back and enjoy!

-Images: HP; Wired

There's been some discussion over the reasons why so many people don't understand touch screen, or "surface" computing, even though research in this area has been going on for years.

As the new owner of the HP TouchSmart, I know that I get it.

The research I've conducted in this area suggests that people will "get-it" only if there is a strong commitment to develop touch-screen "surface" applications through a user-centered, participatory design process. In my view, this should incorporate principles of ethnography, and ensure that usability studies are conducted outside of the lab.

This approach was taken with Intel's Classmate PC. Intel has about 40 ethnographic researchers, and sent many of them to work with students and teachers in classrooms around the world. (A video regarding ethnographic research and the Intel Classmate project can be found near the end of this post.)


-Images: ClassematePC


Where to start?
K-12 classrooms and media centers. Public libraries. Malls. Hospital lobbies and doctor's offices. Any waiting room. Staff lounges in medical centers, schools, and universities. Community festivities and events. Movie theater lobbies. Museums and other points of interests.

I believe we need to take a "touching is believing" approach.

Here are some thoughts:
When I try to explain my fascination with developing touch-screen interactive multimedia applications, (interactive whiteboards, multi-touch displays and tables, and the like), many of my friends and family members eyes glaze over. This is particularly true for people I know who are forty-ish or over.

Even if you are younger, if you never saw the cool technology demonstrated in the movie Minority Report, or if you have limited experience with video games, or if you haven't came within touching distance of an interactive whiteboard, the concept might be difficult to understand.

The reality?
Even people who have the opportunity to use surface computing technology on large screens do not take full advantage of it. Multi-touch screens are often used as single-touch screens, and interactive whiteboards in classrooms are often serve as expensive projector screens for teacher-controlled PowerPoint presentations.

Most importantly, there are few software developers who understand the surface computing approach, even with the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Most focus on traditional business-oriented or marketing applications, and have difficulty envisioning scenarios for surface computing.  There is a need for a breath of fresh air!

Another factor is that not all people entrusted to market surface or touch screen computing fully understand it.

Despite a cool website showing off the goods, Microsoft's Surface multi-touch table has been slow to take off, limiting hope of bringing down the price tag to a price most families or schools could afford. (The picture above depicts an application for the Surface designed for health care professionals, not K-12 science education.)

Although you can't buy a Surface table for your family room, it is possible to buy a TouchSmart.  HP's TouchSmart website is engaging and highlights some examples of touch-screen interaction, but most people don't seem to know about it. (Since this post was last written, there are many more touch and multi-touch options available to the public, such as the  Dell, the iPad, etc.)

Unfortunately, you wouldn't have a clue that the HP TouchSmart exists browsing the aisles at Circuit City or Best Buy!

When I was shopping for my new TouchSmart, I noticed that from a distance, the TouchSmart looked just like the other larger flat-screen monitors filling up the aisles. The salespeople at both stores were not well-informed about the system. The only reason I knew bout the new TouchSmart was related to my obsession with interactive multimedia touch-screen applications- designing them, developing them, studying them, reading about them, blogging about them.... ; }

More thoughts:

After studying HCI (Human-Computer Interaction), and relating this knowledge to what I know as a psychologist, my hunch is that the "Window Icon Mouse Pointing-device" (WIMP) and keyboard input mind-set is embedded in our brains, to a certain extent. Like driving a car, it is something automatic and expected. This is true for users AND developers. (Update - See The Post WIMP Explorers' Club: Update of the Updates for a review of a discussion among passionate post WIMP folks)

Think about it.

Suppose one day, you were told that you no longer were allowed to control your car by turning on the ignition, steering the wheel, or using your feet to accelerate, slow down, or stop the car! Instead, you needed to learn a new navigation, integration, and control system that involved waving your hands about and perhaps speaking a few commands.

For new drivers who'd never seen a car before, this new system would be user-friendly and intuitive. Perhaps it would be quite easy for 16-year-old kids to wrap their heads around this concept. For most of us, no. Imagine the disasters we would see on our streets and highways!

When we think about how newer technologies are introduced to people, we should keep this in mind.

In my mind, spreading the word about surface computing is not a "if you build it, they will come" phenomenon, like the iPhone. We can't ignore the broader picture.

From my middle-age woman's vantage point, I believe that it is important that the those involved with studying, developing, or marketing surface computing applications realize that many of us simply have no point of reference other than our experiences with ATMs, airline kiosks, supermarket self-serve lanes, and the like. (The video clip at the very end of this post provides a good example of touch-screen technology gone wrong.) -UPDATE: additional videos were added to this post.

Be aware that there are substantial numbers of people who might benefit from surface computing who prefer to avoid the ATMs, airline kiosks, and self-serve grocery shopping.

Realize that the collective experience with technology, in many cases, has not been too pretty. Many people have had such user-unfriendly experiences with productivity applications, forced upon them by their employers, that any interest or desire to explore emerging technologies has been zapped.

My own exposure to interactive "surface" related technology was somewhat accidental.
A few years ago, a huge box was deposited into the room I worked in a couple of days a week as a school psychologist at a middle school. After a week or so, I became curious, and found out that it was a SmartBoard. Until then (2002!), I did not know that interactive whiteboards existed.

The boxed remained unopened in the room for the entire school year, but no worry. I played with the only other SmartBoard in the school, and found a couple at the high school where I also worked. I hunted for all of the applications and interactive websites that I could find, and tried them out. That is when I was hooked. I could see all kinds of possibilities for interactive, engaging subject area learning activities. I could see the SmartBoards potential for music and art classes. With my own eyes, I saw how the SmartBoard engaged students with special needs in counseling activities. (By the way, if you are working with middle school students, PBS Kid's ItsMyLife website activities work great on an interactive whiteboard.)

A few years have passed, and reflecting on all of my fun experiences with interactive whiteboards, with and without students, I now understand that many teachers still have had limited exposure to this technology.

This school year, many teachers are finding themselves teaching in classrooms recently outfitted with interactive whiteboards, scrambling along with educational technology staff development specialists, to figure out how it works best with various groups of students, and what sort of changes need to be made regarding instructional practice.

For the very first time, interactive whiteboards were installed in two classrooms at one of the schools I work at. One of the teachers I know thanked me for telling her about interactive whiteboards and sharing my resources and links.

If I hadn't let her know about this technology, she wouldn't have volunteered to have one installed in her classroom. It has transformed the way she teaches special needs students.

In the few months that she's used the whiteboard, I can see how much it has transformed the way the students learn. They are attentive, more communicative, and engaged. The students don't spend the whole day with the whiteboard - the interactive learning activities are woven into lessons at various times of the day, representing true technology integration.

Now let's see what happens when all-in-one touch-screen PC's are unleashed in our schools!

UPDATE:  Take a look at a post I wrote for Innovative Interactivity just after SMART Technologies acquired NextWindow - the post describe in detail how interactive whiteboards are transforming learning and teaching in a program for students with special needs.
SMARTTechnologies Acquires NextWindow: A "smart window" to the world


There are some interesting changes going on at the intersection of HCI and educational technology research.  I participated in a workshop at CHI 2010 last April and was impressed by what is going on in this area, around the globe:   Next Generation of HCI and Education

Value of ethnographic research:
Ethnographic Research Informed Intel's Classmate PC
"Intel looked closely at how students collaborate and move around in classroom environments. The new tablet feature was implemented so that the device would be more conducive to what Intel calls “micromobility”. Intel wants students to be able to carry around Classmate PCs in much the same way that they currently carry around paper and pencil." -via Putting People First and Ars Technica

The video below is from Intel's YouTube Channel. Information about Intel's approach to ethnographic research in classrooms during the development of the Classroom PC is highlighted. This approach uses participatory design and allows the set of applications developed for the Classmate PC to reflect the needs of local students and teachers. Schools from many different countries were included in this study.




FYI: TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAYS:  NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT!

Touch Screen Coke Machine at the Mall: 90 Seconds to get a Coke


User-Unfriendly Interactive Display in the Rain (Ballantyne Village Shopping Center)

User-Unfriendly Information Kiosk Interactive Map

I encountered this puzzling and frustrating interactive directory/map at the Cleveland Clinic.  When I went to visit a relative at the hospital a year or so later, the map was no longer there.


BETTER EXAMPLES OF INTERACTIVE SCREENS:

Here are some interesting pictures from lm3labs, which are in my interactive usability hall of fame:

Samsung's new Omnia SDG i900 was re-created in a much larger size, using lm3lab's Ubiq'window touchless technology.For more about lm3labs, including several videoclips, take a look at one of my previous posts: Lm3Labs, Nicolas Leoillot, and Multimedia Interaction

Midwife Toad App on a Microsoft Surface, Discovery Place Science Center


TellTable:  Digital Storytelling on the Surface:  Microsoft Research, UK


DECEMBER 31, 2009 -Interactive Soda Machine for Fun

The interactive screen on the Coke machine attracted the attention of this young child. He loved spinning the image of the bottle. So did the dad! He said, "I'd like something like this for my home!". I told him about the HP TouchSmart - both the dad and the mom did not know that there were affordable all-in-one touch screens available, but they knew about SMARTboards, because their children's classrooms had them.  Note:  No one from this family actually purchased a soft drink.  I was hoping to time how long it would take them to do so!

Some resources:

Multimedia, Multitouch, Gesture, and Interaction Resources (Mega-list, work in progress)

lm3labs (catchyoo, ubiq'window)

NUITeqNUI Group (See member's links)

Sparkon (See members links and multi-touch projects)

3M TouchNextWindow

Fingertapps

thirteen23

SmartTechnologies

SMARTTable

Perceptive Pixel - Jeff Hans

Microsoft Surface

InfoStrat

Reactable

RENCI Multi-touch

iPhone

iPad

Stantum

DELL MultiTouch

Vectorform

HP TouchSmart PC website, with demo

HP's TouchSmart YouTube videos

(More information and resources can be found by doing a "multitouch" or related search on this blog or The World Is My Interactive Interface.)

If you have plenty of time, take a look at my Post WIMP Explorers' Club YouTube playlist.
"Natural user interfaces, gesture interaction, multi-touch, natural interaction, post WIMP examples and more..."

FYI: I visited the Ballantyne Village shopping center a couple of months ago to follow up on the interactive displays, including the one I tried to use while it was raining.   The shopping center changed ownership, and the displays were replaced by the old-fashioned kind, pictured below:

Online Physics Games for Interactive Whiteboards and Touch Screens (including mobile devices)

I have collected lots of resources for interactive whiteboards and other touch-screens, such  all-in-one Touch PC's such as the Dell and HP TouchSmart.  Some are optimized for use on mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Droids.  

I'd like to highlight a few online educational games on this blog from time-to-time.

The PhysicsGames site is full of games that can be embedded into a blog or web page, making it easy for teachers and parents to organize and arrange the games as they see fit.  This feature also lets students do the same.

On the main page of the website, the games are arranged in alphabetical order, with picture icons for each game.  The titles of the games and the pictures on the icons give you a quick idea of what each game is about.  The games were created by a variety of developers, professionals, teachers, and if I'm not mistaken, tech-savvy students.

Below are links to the various categories of physics games found on the site. The games I explored all had music and sound effects, so make sure that the sound is turned on!  (Note: The site is supported by sponsors, but the advertising is not annoying-in many cases, you can skip the ads.)

Featured | All | Block Removal | Construction | Demolition | Platform | Projectile | Stacking | Othe

Here are a few examples:

MOONLIGHTS (please be patient, there is an ad!)

Online Physics Games

Video of Moonlights Gameplay

Physics Fidget

Online Physics Games

ROCKET SCIENCE, by NoFunZone.com

Online Physics Games

Cross posted on the TechPsych blog.

iRiS: iPhone Remote Interaction System, Newly Updated

"We used Touch Projector to paint on a multimedia facade (here: Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria). Users simply aim their device at the facade causing the viewfinder to show the facade locally. In this local image, users can now draw with the selected color. The building then changes its color accordingly as if users directly painted on it."


iRiS Team:

Sebastian Boring (lead) (LINK:http://www.medien.ifi.lmu.de/team/sebastian.boring/) 
Sven Gehring

Alexander Wiethoff  http://www.medien.ifi.lmu.de/team/alexander.wiethoff/
Magdalena Blöckner
Johannes Schöning http://www.johannesschoening.de




Info about the iRiS team members - (will be updated)
Johannes Schöning works at the Innovative Retail Laboratory of the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Saarbruecken.  His research interests include new methods and interfaces to intuitively navigate through spatial information, and ways new intelligent interfaces can help people to solve daily tasks more effectively.  Johannes recently completed his Ph.D. at the Saarland University.  He runs the multi-touch Google group. (LINK: http://groups.google.de/group/multi-touch) Johannes is involved in a range of interesting professional activities.  He's currently looking for new opportunities.


Sebastian Boring started his Ph.D. thesis in April 200 6 at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and expectes to graduate July 2010.  He's a member of the Fluidum. His research interests include user interfaces for ubiquitous computing and instrumented environments, especially in interaction techniques for multiple devices and displays. He is also interested in 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling and animation, and computer vision.  (Sebastian has worked on projects to benefit assisting young people with autism).



Alexander Wiethoff is a passionate interaction designer committed to developing and implementing visionary strategies that support architectural, industrial and interaction design objectives. He works as a researcher in the field of Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Munich. Currently his key research focus is the analysis of design processes in the area of pervasive computing, the creation of work process tools that support communication of multidisciplinary teams and the design of usability testing methods in this domain.

FYI: RELATED PUBLICATIONS


SOMEWHAT RELATED
Urban Screens Conference and  Exhibition:  Calls for Interactive Media and Video Art (2010) 
More Urban Screens and 3D Media Facades
Book:  Media Facades:  History, Technology, and Content (M. Hank Haeusler)
3D Projections on Buildings: A distinctive way of communicating
Communicating Through Architecture:  Media Facades and the Digital Infrastructure  The Rathous (Contains an assortment of videos and pictures)
Art and Commerce Meet on Building's Interactive Media Facades
Kelsey Keith, Fast Company, 10/2/2009

Virtual Glee App for your iPad, from Smule: Sing with yourself, or other Gleeks around the world, in perfect harmony!

Sing with yourself and Gleeks around the world in perfect harmony: 

Demo of the Glee iPhone + iPad App by Smule - "I'll Stand By You"
"Glee, for iPhone + iPad, by Smule. This impromptu, one-take performance by Smule engineer Nick late one night at HQ demonstrates how the app transforms his voice into a group of singers harmonizing with him."

This is exactly why I NEED an iPad!

Tutorial Part 1
"How To"



Tutorial Part II:
The Glee GlobeShows how you can share your Glee songs and sing with others around the globe!





RELATED 
Cool iPad Digital Piano App

New iPhone, 3G, NOT 4G, June 21st: Front-facing camera with HD video and editing capability. Available through AT &T. Post includes video.

Fast Facts:
3G, NOT 4G :[
The square rim is the antennae.
960 by 640 resolution.
3.5-inch screen.
Multiple applications at the same time.
Stronger battery life.
Video recording in high definition: Shoot and edit capabilities!
Front-facing video camera for video calls and conferences.
5 mega pixel camera.
AT&T. No Verizon : [


-Wall Street Journal

Apple iPhone 4 Website


-Wall Street Journal Online

UPDATED iRiS: iPhone Remote Interaction System: Paint a multi-media facade on your favorite building! via Johannes Schoning (updated with links)

"We used Touch Projector to paint on a multimedia facade (here: Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria). Users simply aim their device at the facade causing the viewfinder to show the facade locally. In this local image, users can now draw with the selected color. The building then changes its color accordingly as if users directly painted on it."


NOTE:
Currenty Johannes Schöning works at the Innovative Retail Laboratory of the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Saarbruecken.  His research interests include new methods and interfaces to intuitively navigate through spatial information, and ways new intelligent interfaces can help people to solve daily tasks more effectively.  Johannes recently completed his Ph.D. at the Saarland University.  He runs the multi-touch Google group. (LINK: http://groups.google.de/group/multi-touch) Johannes is involved in a range of interesting professional activities.  He's currently looking for new opportunities.


SOMEWHAT RELATED
Urban Screens Conference & Exhibition:  Calls for Interactive Media and Video Art (2010) 
More Urban Screens and 3D Media Facades
Book:  Media Facades:  History, Technology, and Content (M. Hank Haeusler)
3D Projections on Buildings: A distinctive way of communicating
Communicating Through Architecture:  Media Facades and the Digital Infrastructure  The Rathous (Contains an assortment of videos and pictures)
Art and Commerce Meet on Building's Interactive Media Facades
Kelsey Keith, Fast Company, 10/2/2009