Repost: UPDATE: NUITEQ's Snowflake: Updated, improved, and retitled-- Snowflake MultiTeach®

I wrote a post published on October 13, 2013 about Snowflake ABC, a software suite of entertaining educational apps developed by NUITEQ®.

Fast forward to 2016, and I now work with NUITEQ® as a K-12 technology specialist, and realized that the post needed some updating.  So here's the update!

Many great improvements have been made by the NUITEQ® team since Snowflake ABC was released. Along with the changes came a new name, Snowflake MultiTeach®. 

Snowflake MultiTeach® was designed for multi-touch, multi-user displays and tables, but can be used on single-touch displays or traditional computers/laptops with a mouse. It works well for "front-of-class" presentations and has many features that support collaborative group work.



So what is new?

The Lessons app was added to the suite of applications, along with Nodes, a concept-mapping and presentation application that supports project and problem based learning, STEM, and STEAM.

The Lessons app is a powerful addition to Snowflake MultiTeach®.  Within this app,  teachers (and students) can build a variety of interactive, engaging lessons, learning games, and quizzes, with little effort. 

Snowflake MultiTeach® can support several lessons and apps running at the same time, using the Zones feature, which makes it ideal for students working in pairs or small groups.

To compliment the Lessons app, the online MultiTeach® Lessons Community  was developed to provide a way for teachers to share lessons they've created.  The lessons posted on the MultiTeach® Lessons Community can be accessed from within the Lessons home screen.  Lessons can be searched by subject and level and imported directly into the Lessons home screen.  

Lessons created with Snowflake MultiTeach® can be exported directly from the Lessons home screen to the MultiTeach® Lessons Community so they can be shared with others. Snowflake MultiTeach® and sign-up to the MultiTeach® Lessons Community is required for access.

To support teachers as they make the transition from single-touch whiteboards to multi-user displays, the MultiTeach® Pinterest site was created.  There you can find curated and regularly updated information about how to use Snowflake MultiTeach®, 21st century teaching and learning, free digital resources for the classroom, and much more.

For information about how teachers can integrate Snowflake MultiTeach® into their classrooms, take some time to read the following blog posts. Share with your peers!

Infuse Arts into STEM Projects Using Collaborative Touch Screen Technology

Collaborative STEM Education and Careers Exploration

How to MultiTeach®: Introduction to Snowflake MultiTeach® Nodes App

Differentiated instruction through Snowflake MultiTeach®

Like what you see?

If you are interested in replacing your current single-touch interactive whiteboard with a multi-touch display, contact a representative fromNUITEQ® by following the email link on the website, and you will be connected to someone in your region who can assist you. 

(Here is the old post for reference, scroll down to see information about ABC.)

Highlights from UIST 2015 - Animatronics + Digital Storytelling and More!

I recently attended the 28th ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium (UIST2015), held in Charlotte, N.C.   Although the focus of the conference was not on educational interfaces, a good number of the presentations and demos were related to education in some way.


I've been looking at ways newer technologies can take a bigger role in education, something that is important, given the spread of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) in K-12 settings.  The STEM/STEAM approach requires students to work collaboratively through project-based learning activities designed to support a variety of skills that they will need as university students-- and beyond.

The focus of this year's UIST Student Innovation Contest  session was storytelling and animatronics!

According to info from the UIST website: "Schools and museums are starting to offer experimental Animatronics classes where kids build furry robotic animals and use them to tell amazing stories. These courses blur traditional lines - between art and engineering, between the virtual and physical worlds - all while demonstrating the universality of creativity across disciplines. Everybody learns how to write stories, build mechanisms, program motions, provide voice performances, etc. In this way, kids see how it all works together, and it has a way of inspiring kids to see new career possibilities."

I was delighted to see so many kid-friendly interfaces.  The first one that caught my eye was "ZOOO".

The ZOOO platform supports digital storytelling through the creation and use of electronic stage, computer-assisted animated puppets, and an a easy-to-use visual software programming environment.  ZOOO would appeal to teachers who are implementing project-based STEAM activities with their students.

I liked the visual design of the programming interface, which can be accessed through a touch-screen.  ZOOO was created by a team of students at the IInterdisciplinary Program of Information Art & Design, Academy of Arts & Design,Tsinghua University, China.

Another demo that caught my eye was Show-Flow. Show-Flow is a software tool designed to create a non-linear animatronic puppet show.  In the following video, the story is entitled "Zee's Mystery": 


The Show-Flow software was created by Nuirit Kirshenbaum, and is available for download on github.

So where is all of this headed?

In today's K-12 classrooms following the Common Core Standards, STEM/STEAM subjects are often integrated into the English/Language Arts curriculum.  Reading instruction is very important, but new ways of teaching and learning are taking hold, such as project-based learning.   Projects are interdisciplinary in nature and require careful planning on the part of teachers---and also require plenty of space for students to communicate, collaborate, brainstorm, design, and share ideas.   

In some schools, teachers are finding that laptops, productivity software, and multimedia resources on the web are good for supporting project based learning activities, but there are limitations. Teachers can't always see what is going on with the students, and laptop screens don't allow for more than two children, at best, to easily see content and collaborate. 

What is exciting is that many schools are thinking beyond 2015.  Tired of the cost of replacing projector bulbs and "touchy" interactive whiteboards, some schools are embracing solutions that are likely to support authentic collaboration -- for example, the picture below shows young children on a Clear Touch display running NUITEQ's Snowflake MultiTeach software.  

In a classroom setting, NUITEQ's Snowflake MultiTeach software can support students working individually or in collaborative groups.  Teachers can create a variety of game-like lessons using the versatile Lessons App.    With the multi-touch, multi-user  Clear Touch display, teachers can orient the screen to meet the needs of the students - upright in an interactive presentation mode, at an angle for design and brainstorming activities, or horizontally, in a table mode.  

All of this is great for supporting science lab activities-- and also student collaboration and planning for STEAM projects. 

I'll be posting more about UIST 2015 highlights soon!

REFERENCES/RESOURCES

UIST 2015
Conference Website

ZOOO

毛成鹏 Chengpeng Mao

清华大学美术学院 信息艺术设计系
Interdisciplinary Program of Information Art & Design, Academy of Arts & Design,Tsinghua University
Mobile  (+86)155-011-21372
Beijing• China  100084
Email  adrainmao@gmail.com

SHOW-FLOW
Nuirit Kirshenbaum

NUITEQ 

Snowflake MultiTeach

MultiTeach Pinterest
MultiTeach Lessons Community

CLEAR TOUCH
Clear Touch Interactive Experience




Disclosure: I am a K-12 Technology Specialist with NUITEQ.

Back-to-School Reads For Innovative Teaching and Learning

It is that time of year.  

Teachers, students, and parents know that in a few days or weeks, school will begin for the 2015-16 academic year... 

The good news?  

Some teachers have been busy sharing their ideas, strategies, and resources as they plan ahead.  Here are a just a few good links to get started:

8 things every teacher can do to create an innovative classroom
Trevor Shaw, eSchool News, 8/3/15

Elementary Classroom Hacks:  Big Ideas at Little Cost
Samantha McBurney, Edutopia, 8/3/15

The MindShift Guide to Digital Games and Learning
Ki Sung, Mind/Shift, 11/18/14


Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
University of Houston, 2015

15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher
Tsisana Palmer, Edutopia, 6/20/15

Engage NY (Common Core Lessons)
New York State Education Department Website

Fractions are hard
David Wee, The Reflective Educator

Seeing Struggling Math Learners as 'Sense Makers', Not 'Mistake Makers'
Katrina Schwartz, Mind/Shift, 8/4/15

Mistake Makers or Sense Makers, David Wees

More to come!

MindHabits' Happy Games Paired with Pharrell William's "Happy" Music!

We all could use more smiling people and happy music!

If you are looking for a short burst of happiness, try playing the free MindHabits demo games. I recommend the Matrix Trainer for starters. You can uncheck the "email" box if you don't want to sign up for the newsletter.

The games have upbeat music playing in the background, but you can listen to your own music. In the Matrix game, the objective is to tap as many happy faces that you can find, out of a number of frowny or sad faces.   The research shows that this is an effective way of reducing stress.  I have used the on-line version for years with students who have autism, and it is a fun and effective way of "training" them to focus on facial features and expressions.

The desktop version of the suite of games is just under $20.00, and is available for Windows and Macs.   The desktop version tracks data and and allows users to customize the games with their own photos.   

I am about to explore MindHabit's new mobile apps: Psych Me Up PRO! and Happy Cat! 

If you work with young people - special needs or otherwise, try playing the on-line demo with Pharrell William's "Happy" song in the background (see music video embedded below). 

 This is something that wouldn't hurt to try at home!  

You are playing the MindHabits Trainer online demo. Your progress will not be logged beyond this session. Copyright © 2008 MindHabits inc. inc l rights Reserved.

Note: 
I am sharing information about MindHabits because I have been following this company since 2005, when Dr. Mark Baldwin, the lead creator of the suite of games, gave a presentation.   Dr. Baldwin is a psychology professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has devoted his career to the study of social intelligence, and more recently, how technology can help people reduce stress, build self-confidence, and development, and maintain positive states of mind.



According to the MindHabits website, the Psych Me Up Pro!   ($.99) and PsychMeUp! (free) mobile apps were developed to help people focus attention on positive social feedback. A quiz is included with the application, as well as information about the research that supports the use of the games.  The "pro" version has more options.

The children's version of PsychMeUp! is Happy Cat.  The objective is to find the happy cats and ignore the grumpy cats.  The smiling cat will meow.

HOW MINDHABITS WORKS

RELATED

MindHabits Game Tips

MindHabits FAQ

MindHabits Update
Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology, 2/24/08

McEwan, K., Gilbert, P., Dandeneau, S., Lipka, S., Maratos, F., Paterson, K.B., Baldwin, M. (2014) Facial Expressions Depicting Compassionate and Critical Emotions: The Development and Validation of a New Emotional Face Stimulus Set. PLOS One DOI: 10.1317/journal.pone.0088783

Dandeneau, S. D., Baldwin, M. W. (2009) The buffering effects of rejection-inhibiting training against social and performance threats in adult students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34, 42-50

Stephane D. Dandeneau, Mark W. Baldwin, Jodene R. Baccus, and Maya Sakellaropoulo, Jens C. Pruessner (2007), Cutting Stress Off at the Pass: Reducing Vigilance and Responsiveness to Social Threat by Manipulation of Attention (pdf) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007, Vol. 93, No. 4, 651–666 American Psychological Association 0022-3514/07/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.651

MIT's Opera of the Future Lab and "Death and the Powers": Opera Meets Matrix

MIT's Opera of the Future Lab, part of MIT's Media Lab, has been preparing a new version of a performance of "Death and the Powers", an interactive, collaborative opera that is set to be performed on Sunday, February 16th at 2:00 PM (Central Time) at the Dallas Opera, and simulcast world-wide.  

Innovative interactive technology plays a huge role in this performance, connected to the opera's theme, singing, moving robots, sensors, and displays.

Although "Death and the Powers" opera was first performed several years ago, it has evolved and integrated new technologies over the years. What is really exciting about this upcoming performance will be simulcast in a way that will let the audience/viewers interact with the main performance through the use of cell phones or tablets, in real time.  The audience will have the opportunity to experience the opera through the points of view of different characters, including the perspective of the robots.

Video: Humanizing technology with opera-singing robots




RELATED
Opera of the Future Blog
(Lots of pictures, videos, cast interviews, and information about the technologies involved in the opera's performance.)
Death and the Powers
Death and the Powers Image Gallery
Singing robots show humanity of technology in opera of the future
PBS Newshour, 2/10/14
Sci-fi opera 'Death and the Powers' is doing things differently...with robots
Ann Davenport, PBS Newshour Art Beat, 2/10/14
FYI:  The above link has several video clips about the opera as well as the innovative interactive technology t
The Dallas Opera Global Simulcast of "Death and the Powers"
Susan Calvin, The Dallas Opera News and Features, 10/1/14

Excerpts from the above press release:

DEATH AND THE POWERS, scheduled to take place in Dallas on Sunday, February 16th at 2:00 p.m. Central Time, originating in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center and being simulcast to as many as ten locations in Europe and the U.S.

The Dallas Opera is currently in negotiations with a wide-range of venues and organizations located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University, New York City and its boroughs, Philadelphia, Paris, Los Angeles, London and Stockholm—as well as the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in the Dallas Arts District, which has already shown a keen interest in the questions raised by Machover’s “robot pageant” opera and has partnered with both the Dallas Opera and the MIT Media Lab’s “Opera of the Future” program to support this innovative approach to the art form and attract new generations to opera.

DEATH AND THE POWERS, with music by composer/inventor Tod Machover and text by librettist Robert Pinsky (one of America’s foremost living poets) received rave reviews at its sold-out 2010 Monte Carlo world premiere and subsequent engagements in Boston and Chicago.

However, this unprecedented Dallas Opera Global Simulcast offers far more than a mere stage production; patrons will experience Simon Powers’ perspective from within “The System,” as well as a “robot’s eye view” of the opera, while tapping into a variety of interactive features. Those attending the simulcast anywhere in the world will have an opportunity to interact with the main performance onstage—through cellphones, tablets and other handheld devices—in order to influence the visual elements in the Winspear Opera House in real time, as they unfold.

With the cooperation of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and The Moody Foundation, this production will incorporate the state-of-the-art Moody Chandelier as an important element of the visual and auditory experience.

“The Dallas Opera is thrilled to be collaborating with the brilliant composer and technologist, Tod Machover, on bringing this important work to Dallas,” says Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny, “and presenting an unprecedented interactive global simulcast of the work. In this ‘Brave New World’ of high-tech opera, nothing is off-limits, and we are working closely and intensely with the composer, MIT and leading opera companies in the U.S., U.K. and continental Europe to add these new interactive and creative elements to an already outstanding twenty-first century masterpiece.

“All of us at the Dallas Opera are tremendously grateful to Bob Ellis and Jane Bernstein—whose generosity has brought this dream to life.”

Leading a team from the MIT Media Lab, Tod Machover produced “a challenging opera that questioned how far the human race can push technological development toward immortality.” The action centers on a terminally ill billionaire who downloads his consciousness into an artificial construct and then attempts to persuade his loved ones to join him there.
Andrew Porter of Opera magazine described Death and the Powers as “A grand, rich, deeply serious new opera.”

At the same time, critic Stephen J. Mudge of Opera News noted: “Any worry that the opera might be taking itself too seriously is answered by Pinsky’s witty and at times lighthearted libretto, which treats the situation with respect but levity.”

“It is so exciting to be bringing Death and the Powers to The Dallas Opera, and equally exciting to be collaborating with TDO – under the guidance of Keith Cerny and with the generous support of Bob Ellis and Jane Bernstein – to create an interactive streaming experience so that audiences around the world can be connected to the live Dallas performance,” says composer Tod Machover.
“Our challenge is to create extra layers and interactions for this remote viewing so that being ‘there’ will be just as compelling and powerful as being physically in the Winspear, while revealing new aspects of the opera – such as what it feels like to be ‘in The System’ with Simon Powers – for the very first time.”

Drawing with Sounds, an Interactive Musical Drawing App Created with Processing

This is my first creation using the Drawing with Sounds application. This cause and effect application was created with Processing 1.5.1 and produces musical sounds and patterns, along with random abstract shapes that are triggered through movements of a mouse. The application has been adapted for switch users, making it accessible to those who have motor impairments.

Processing is an open-source programming and integrated development environment that was build on the Java programming that has been easy to learn by people who have limited technical backgrounds. It is used by people from from a range of fields, such as art, music, journalism, and data visualization.

The fact that Processing is easy to use makes it great for people with just a little bit of coding knowledge to adopt a variety of open-source applications and tweak a few of the variables to according to the need.   Using the Drawing with Sounds app as an example, I wanted to change the size of the interactive canvas.  By typing in a few keystrokes,  I changed the original size of the screen from 800 x 800 to something larger, as shown below:

I then typed in another variable for the background color, and was pleased with the results:

The application was developed from Andrew R. Brown's tutorial on "SoundCipher", based on the SoundCipher library for Processing.  According to the description of the application, "The sketch is intended for use....as a sensory stimulus using sound, shape and color to create engagement". 

Below is a videoclip created by Keith Manville, demonstrating what happens when you interact with Drawing with Sounds: 

I look forward to sharing more on this topic in future blog posts.  I'll be sure to include basic "how-to" information for my "low-tech" readers and colleagues who desire to learn a bit more about using and creating basic interactive applications that appeal to young people with special needs.  

RELATED

Note:  SEN is the UK acronym for "Special Educational Needs"

Drawing with Sounds Processing sketch

James Winchester, SEN Classroom Blog, 10/31/13

Drawing with Sound

Keith Manville, opensen blog, 10/27/12

"Open-source, Sensory and Interactive Technology in SEN"

ProcessingSEN Wiki

ProcessingSEN Drawing with Sounds Download Page

(An accessible switch-enabled version of Drawing with Sounds can be downloaded from the above link.)

Free sensory applications built in Processing 1.5.1"Download links for sensory applications built in Processing 1.5.1, designed to assist SEN students in engaging in learning through the the use of ICT, interactive “Smart” boards, touchscreen or tablet technologies.  Our experience is that using applications on these devices or with natural user interfaces such as the Microsoft Kinect can increase the opportunities for engagement and social communication with many students."

I will be posting more information about emerging interactive technologies for special needs in the future. In the meantime, take a look at the following resources:

The SHAPE Project, technologies to enhance learning for young people on the Autism Spectrum

Keith Manville, opensen blog, 11/10/12SEN Classroom "Ideas and Tech used in a SEN class"

iPadSEN

GestureSEN Wiki

LeapSEN

KinectSEN Wiki
"Using Kinect in Special Schools for Pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties"
iGazeSEN
OPENSEN Videos

Pixel Press: Draw, create, play, and share games, without code, now on Kickstarter

Drawing and Playing with Pixel Press

Pixel Press is an early stage video design platform that supports the creation of DIY video games, without requiring coding skills.  The project was recently approved by Kickstarter, with an initial funding goal of $100,000.00.  The first version targets the iPad. 

Robin Rath, the creator of Pixel Press, was inspired by his memories of creating his own drawings for games when he was a kid in the 1980's, and it shows.  Pixel Press might appeal to gamers across generations, and looks suitable for use in school settings.

According to the Pixel Press website, there are just a few things to learn in order to create a basic video game within the Pixel Press environment, making it an ideal activity for kids and others aspiring game designers:

"You are designing five floors of a video game level.  Your hero will start at the bottom and attempt to overcome the obstacles you create to reach the elevator at the end of each floor to advance up to the next floor.  Your objective is to create a five floor level that is progressively more challenging from top to bottom." 

Pixel Press: Draw your own video game 

Pixel Press: Draw Your Own Video Game from Robin Rath on Vimeo.


The video below provides an overview/tutorial of how it works:

Pixel Press Walkthrough (For Website) from Robin Rath on Vimeo.

RELATED
Playing with paper:  with Pixel Press, design your own game by drawing it
Andrew Webster, The Verge, 5/3/13
This code-free design tool lets you freehand your games
Kris Ligman, Gamasutra, 5/3/13

Pixel Press Back Story
Pixel Press FAQ

Robin Rath's website
Robin Rath works at Coolfire

Interactive MaKey MaKey: "An Invention Kit for Everyone" - Video Preview!

Interactive Invention:  MaKey Makey for All

MaKey MaKey is a hands-on "maker" kit created by Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum of MIT, based on research from the MIT Media Lab's Lifelong Kindergarten. 

After watching the lively video today,  I ordered my very own kit!


MaKey MaKey - An Invention Kit for Everyone from jay silver on Vimeo.

How does MaKey MaKey work?  It is powered by a board that can support 6 keyboard keys, and mouse control.  It runs on top of Arduino, an open-source electronics prototyping platform that supports multi-modal interactive input and output.  

I see endless possibilities and fun maker-crafting with my little grandson!


In the following video, musician/visual artist j.viewz uses his MaKey MaKey kit to hook up fruits and veggies to his music system.  

Watch j.viewz play a bunch of grapes!  The strawberries sound nice. 

j.viewz playing Teardrop with vegetables from j.viewz on Vimeo.


RELATED
MaKey MaKey Lifelong Kindergarten
Arduino
Phidgets
How to Start Making Your Own Electronics with Arduino and Other People's Code
Thorin Klosowski, Lifehacker, 1/12/12

Telemedicine in Schools: Promoting Health (and Mental Health)

Telemedicine might be coming to a school near you in the future!

The use of a Telemedicine cart, made by Rubbermaid, will be piloted in one of the Union County Public Schools soon. In the article below,  the school district's superintendent was quoted as saying that she hopes the technology can also be used to tackle the problem of mental health:

Presbyterian, UCPS partner to put Telemedicine in schools
Carolyn Steeves, The Enquirer Journal, 1/9/13 


According to information from the Rubbermaid Healthcare Telemedicine website, the cart supports high definition video teleconferencing, a plug and play I/O panel, platform computing, and is white board capable. The touchscreen has annotation capabilities.  

For more information, view the following video and also see the Rubbermaid Telemedicine Resources site.



Here's the promotional information from the Rubbermaid website:

HD Video, Touch-Screen Apps, & Shared Content 

"The Rubbermaid Telemedicine Cart combines full computing capabilities with HD video conferencing into one, easy-to-use, mobile point-of-care clinical platform. Its clean, slim line design and small footprint provide access into the smallest and busiest clinical settings. Its multi-touch interface, simple integration, and superior maneuverability streamlines work flow and creates high adoption rates by staff members."

 "Each Telemedicine Cart comes equipped with a 720p HD video camera, upgradable to 1080p HD video. It also provides computing access to any software or web-based application, including electronic medical records and PACS imaging systems. It can be outfitted with any number of optional medical devices (both analog and digital) that can be shared through the computer or video conferencing equipment or both. The Telemedicine Cart supports digital input through DVI and HDMI as well as legacy inputs such as VGA, S-Video, and composite video. In addition, it is a fully portable platform that runs for two hours via built-in battery power and can be quickly and easily wheeled from room to room, requiring only a standard, high speed internet connection (wired or wireless) to initiate an HD video conference."

Below is a screen shot of telemedicine images from a Google search:

RELATED
Rubbermaid Healthcare Telemedicine Resources (Videos, Whitepapers, News)
Rubbermaid Healthcare Telemedicine
FCC Gives Telehealth $400M Boost
Mary Mosquera, Healthcare IT News, 1/10/13

InteractiveTV Today (ITVT): Links to information and updates about CES 2013, via Tracy Swedlow.:

If you want a quick look at the latest news related to interactive TV, including cool stuff featured at CES 2013, a good resource is the InteractiveTV Today website.   

Below are a few quick links to posts written by Tracy Swedlow, the founder of ITVT.  You'll see that there has been a flood of news and information generated from the companies featured at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2013) held in Las Vegas:

Interactive TV headlines Round-Up (I): Aereo, Amazon, A +E Networks, Turner, Warner Bros., Samsung, Roku, Nintendo Wii U, CBS, Microsoft Xbox

Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (II):  ConnectTV, DDD, LG, Delivery Agent, Samsung, Magic Ruby, "Sons of Anarchy", Digitalsmiths, Time Warner Cable, i.TV

Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (III): DirectTV, Dish Network, Ensequence, Sony, ES3, Azuki Systems, Microsoft Mediaroom

Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (IV): Asus, Google TV, Marvell, Sony, Ubitus, Amazon, YouTube

It might take a while to catch up!

BTW, the ITVT website has a number of bloggers who share insights and news related to interactive TV and multimedia.  The ITVT Community Blogstream is a good place to start.

Connecting: Exploration of the Future of Interaction Design and User Experience - Good for promoting CSEd!

I've been looking for a relatively short video about human-computer interaction and related fields to include in a presentation I'm planning for high school students. The presentation is my small part to promote Computer Science in Education Week (CSEd). 

One of the goals of CSEd Week is to spread the word that computer science education is much more than learning how to program one. Technical and computational thinking skills are important to develop, but young people also need to know what sort of things they can do with these skills as they become adults in our technological society. As stated on the CSEd website, "Computing professionals work on creative teams to develop cutting-edge products and solutions that save lives, solve health problems, improve the environment, and keep us connected."  

Coincidentally, I was pleasantly surprised by a tweet I received today that linked to Connecting, a well-produced 18-minute video about interaction and user experience design. This video would be great to share with high school students.


Connecting (Full Film) from Bassett & Partners on Vimeo.

The video features a number of well-spoken, creative professionals who are passionate about their work, people, and the future.  Although the video is a bit techno-centric, it depicts people who live and breathe technology in a favorable light.  It also inspires some degree of thought and reflection on the part of the viewer.

Although much of what is discussed in Connecting is futuristic, the seeds were planted years ago.  If you are new to the HCI/UX/ID/UCD world, it might help to read
Mark Weiser's 1991 article, The Computer for the 21st Century, published in Scientific American in 1991, before viewing the video.  

After viewing the video, I encourage you to take the time to read some of the comments on the Vimeo website.  Also read  Marc Rettig's comments, posted on the IxDA website:  "A film about interaction design: what it says about us".  

Near the end of the video, there is a discussion about where we might be headed, as interconnected, technically enhanced, augmented humans.  Hopefully we will not create, and then be assimilated into a Borg-like collective, or live out our days in a Matrix-like disembodied state.

In the wrong hands, what might happen?

Is resistance futile?!

FYI: Connecting was produced by Microsoft, Windows Phone Design Studio: Mike Kruzeniski (now at Twitter), Kat Holmes, and Albert Shum, and featured interviews with the following people:

Matt Jones, BERG London
Raphael Grignani, Method
Liz Danzico, School of Visual Arts, New York
Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Architect of Bing Mobile and Bing Maps
Helen Walters,  Writer, Editor, Researcher at Doblin/Monitor
Younghee Jung, Research Leader, Nokia
Massimo Banzi, Co-Founder, Arduino
Jennifer Bove, Co-Founder, Managing Director, Kicker Studio
Robert Murdock, Principal, Method (Artefact)
Jonas Lowgren, Professor of IxD, Malmo University, Sweden
Eric Rodenbeck, CEO, Founder, Creative Director, Stamen Design
Robert Fabricant, VP of Creative, Frog Design
Andrei Herasimchuck, Twitter 

The video was first screened in Seattle, Washington, last April, with a panel discussion that included Rob Girling and Gavin Kelly, of Artefact, Bill Buxton, of Microsoft, and Scott Nazarian, of Frog Design.

Description of the "Connecting" video, from Bassett & Partners' Vimeo site:

"The 18 minute "Connecting" documentary is an exploration of the future of Interaction Design and User Experience from some of the industry's thought leaders. As the role of software is catapulting forward, Interaction Design is seen to be not only increasing in importance dramatically, but also expected to play a leading role in shaping the coming "Internet of things." Ultimately, when the digital and physical worlds become one, humans along with technology are potentially on the path to becoming a "super organism" capable of influencing and enabling a broad spectrum of new behaviors in the world." -Bassett & Partners

Selected Quotes:

Liz Danzico:
"It's understanding that ecosystem, where the human in the center, and understanding that network of things, and how they all work together, rather than of your device or thing being in the center."

Younghee Jung:
"... you can not necessarily foresee the consequences when people adopt what you designed..to see something completely different from what you created. .it is like throwing a stone in the water, and you don't know what it will cause."

Blaise Aguera y Arcas:
"....these are all augmentations of abilities as humans. And when the augmentation really works, then that extension of yourself feels natural, and beautiful and does what you want, and doesn't get in the way....The use of voice, and the use of natural gestures... you are removing the extraneous, you are removing the artificial."

Massimo Banzi:
"...Something that can do it's own thing, disappearing in the background, is correct"  (nod to Weiser)

Jennifer Bove:
"...it is really important to look at what the consequences are of putting these products into the world when we think about things like the phone...the way it has changed our behavior, it can be enabling, and also disrupting...for these things to change our lives for the better, or enable for them to let us do things we couldn't do before.. they have to feel natural, and feels like a conversation." 

Robert Murdock:
"How you actually design and enact a living system in UX is something that is quite challenging...you have to think about patterns of desired outcomes and behaviors you want to achieve, instead of moving a user through one flow in an experience."

Jonas Lowgren: 
"...back in the day.. it was one user, one task, one computer,  its all gone now, its is much more like you are setting the stage, really,  for other people to perform, but you can never tell them what to do."

Eric Rodenbeck:
"....the map is like a living thing, that is being made up of everything we got. The idea that it is different in the morning than what it was in the evening, is a really good idea to stay connected to the idea that the world is changing."

Helen Walters:
"What we need is for designers to be embedded in the topics that are really, really important right now, so there can be a better synergy between design, and business design, and social change design, and entrepreneurship."

Andrei Herasimchuck
"That is where the future lies with us. There will be software in everything..You can take all of those (digital) pieces, and you can design all kind of things around it. People are now actually entering their lives and what is going around them, into a digital format, and so we will start do things with that in the future, and I think it will be exciting."

Robert Fabricant:
"The network is sampling the world, and knowing what is cropping up where, being able to match and find patterns...and anticipate outbreaks of diseases. ..  We are trying  now to collect from the periphery a much richer set of what is going on the world so we can learn as a society and optimize and evolve the right systems and services".

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