STEIM- Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music: Interactive Music + Technology (Video clips and links)

I came across the STEIM website today and was impressed by what I saw on the videos embedded/linked below.

What is STEIM?  According to the website, "STEIM (the studio for electro-instrumental music) is the only independent live electronic music centre in the world that is exclusively dedicated to the performing arts. The foundation's artistic and technical departments support an international community of performers and musicians, and a growing group of visual artists, to develop unique instruments for their work. STEIM invites these people for residencies and provides them with an artistic and technical environment in which concepts can be given concrete form. It catalyzes their ideas by providing critical feedback grounded in professional experience. These new creations are then exposed to a receptive responsive niche public at STEIM before being groomed for a larger audience."


"STEIM promotes the idea that Touch is crucial in communicating with the new electronic performance art technologies. Too much the computer has been used, and designed, as an exclusive extension of the formalistic capabilities of humans. At STEIM the intelligence of the body, for example: the knowledge of the fingers or lips is considered musically as important as the 'brain-knowledge'. STEIM has stimulated the design of extremely physical interfaces and is widely considered as the pioneering place for the new live electronic concepts."

STIEM offers a limited number of internships and residencies. Also available are orientation workshops, and guest house accommodations for visitors participating in the workshops who come from abroad.

If I had the chance to visit STEIM, I would definitely want to play around in the Electronicmusicalinstrumentsexhibition (formerly the Electro Squeek Club), "an exhibition in the form of an arcade where visitors can playfully discover the major directions in the tactile approach within STEIM's instrumental objects."
Mobile Touch:  Finger Web

STEIM Finger Web from STEIM Amsterdam on Vimeo.

SONIC ALADDIN

STEIM Sonic Aladdin from STEIM Amsterdam on Vimeo.

Watch for the interesting iPhone app:

STEIM Hotpot Lab #3 from STEIM Amsterdam on Vimeo.

Presentations by: Alan Macy / BIOPAC;   Jeff Snyder / Snyderphonics
Performances by:  Jan Trützschler von Falkenstein;  Joker Nies and the Benjolin Orchestra
27 March 2010 STEIM, Amsterdam NL

RELATED
The Benjolin:  Build your own electronic fun-box, by Rob Hordijk & Jocker Nies
Making of the Benjolin
STEIM concert curated by John Dikeman: MISSING DOG HEAD & KRK

Why does this interest me?   When I returned to school to take computer classes, my first class was computer music technology.  I have an electronic MIDI workstation/keyboard and I love sound synthesis.  

LM3Labs' Catchyoo Interactive Koi Pond; release of ubiq'window 2.6 Development Kit and Reader

Catchyoo Koi FX, from LM3Labs

Catchyoo Koi FX from Nicolas Loeillot on Vimeo.

The music on the video clip is by the band Remioromen, from Japan.

LM3Labs recently released ubiq'window 2.6 Pack, a development kit and reader that handles gesture interaction for proximity touch-less technology based on computer vision.  It includes a calibration mode, usage statistics, and is compliant with Windows 7.  In the near future, LM3Labs will release new software for their partners and ubiq'window developers.

About LM3Labs:
"Focused on fast transformation of innovation into unique products, LM3Labs is a recognized pioneer in computer vision-based interactivity solutions. LM3Labs is a fast growing company based in Tokyo, Japan and Sophia-Antipolis, France."  -LM3Labs Blog 

The Digital Native Speaks.

One of my Facebook friends posted this video of a digital native letting teachers know that in no uncertain terms that they MUST get on board with the interent & technology thing:




I sense that this kid's dad has a job in educational technology- this video might be his way of motivating teachers to get along with the digital natives they face every day in their classrooms.

Interactive Alice in Wonderland Book for the iPad

I missed this one!

Alice in Wonderland Interactive Book for the iPad

WeSpace and the i-Land Roomware: Second Generation of Interactivity

Here's something I came across while looking up information about technology-rich environments:


Roomware
"We describe the i-LAND environment which constitutes an example of our vision of the workspaces of the future, in this case supporting cooperative work of dynamic teams with changing needs. i-LAND requires and provides new forms of human-computer interaction and new forms of computer-supported cooperative work. Its design is based on an integration of information and architectural spaces, implications of new work practices and an empirical requirements study informing our design. i-LAND consists of several roomware components, i.e. computer-augmented objects integrating room elements with information technology. We present the current realization of i-LAND in terms of an interactive electronic wall, an interactive table, two computer-enhanced chairs, and two bridges for the Passage-mechanism. This is complemented by the description of the creativity support application and the technological infrastructure. The paper is accompanied by a video figure in the CHI99 video program."


Are we there yet?

From Inclusive Technologies: Multi-touch "Tilt and Touch" provides flexible use for learners!

I recently learned that Inclusive Technologies, of the UK, has a North American office  in Waxhaw, N.C., a town in Union County, not too far from where I live and work. This is what I found when I was looking up some information:





The Tilt and Touch provides a high-definition surface that can accommodate multi-touch applications. It comes in two sizes, 42" and 50".  At the time of this post, it was only available in the UK.

RENCI Visualization Center Update & Link to Innovative Interactivity post

I've been meaning to visit a few of North Carolina's RENCI visualization centers, but I just haven't had a moment to squeeze the field trip in my schedule.  Tracy Boyer, who authors the Innovative Interactivity blog, had a chance to visit the center in Chapel Hill


For those of you who can't visit a RENCI center, visit Tracy's blog and read about her first-hand experience as a visitor: RENCI pioneering the visualization industry with innovative interfaces
I found a link to the following project, "The Docuverse",  deep within one of the RENCI websites:


The Docuverse: 1.5 million documents on the screen at once.

"The Docuverse is a method of displaying an entire digital library on a screen at once. The Docuverse takes a digital library of HTML documents and a set of queries and creates a “universe” around these queries. Each “galaxy” corresponds to a library query. Each “star” corresponds to a document. The most relevant documents found through a query are the stars located close to the center of a galaxy. Documents perceived by a search engine as less relevant are out among the arms of the galaxies. The visualization is interactive, allowing the user to zoom in and out of galaxies, change queries, and overlay different kinds of data mining results onto the visualization to show how documents with certain characteristics are distributed throughout the collection."

-RENCI


Below are a couple of videos from RENCI's YouTube channel:





Unity 3D Game Engine running on a multi-projector dome system using JavaScript:

FYI:  C#/WPF App to open Unity plug-in window at custom dimension

RENCI Focus Areas (from the RENCI website):
Biosciences & Health
Computing & Technology
Data & Information Management
Disaster & Environmental Research
Economic Development
Education and Outreach
Humanities, Arts and Social Science
Visualization & Collaborative Environments
Project Archive


RELATED
Multi-Touch at RENCI
Research by Touch:  RENCI Multitouch Table Gives Computer Science Research an Intuitive Interface
RENCI Anchor at Europa Center
RENCI at Duke University
RENCI at ECU
RENCI at North Carolina State University
RENCI at UNC Asheville
RENCI at UNC Chapel Hill 
RENCI at UNC Charlotte
RENCI at UNC Coastal Studies Institute
RENCI at UNC HSL

How to visit RENCI at UNC Chapel Hill

Gigantic Social Interactive Direction Sign in London: Nokia's promotion of the free Ovi Maps application.

I meant to post this a while ago and forgot about it. A huge digital arrow sign was installed over London to promote Nokia's free Ovi map navigation system. It was up and active for two weeks. People could interact with the sign by sending it a message from their phones. See the videos below for more details!

-My Nokia Blog


The World's Biggest Signpost from adghost on Vimeo.

Notice how the people who see the signpost use their mobile phones to take pictures and share with their friends.

I found a similar video on the Infosthetics blog:


"This gigantic, interactive signpost sponsored by Nokia Ovi Maps in the form of a dynamically rotating electronic LED screen allows passers-by to send in their favorite location and coordinates via text or email. The giant pointer, hung on a 60 ton construction on height of 50m, then automatically rotates to the given direction and displays the submitted description to the world."

Know HTML & JavaScript? Open source PhoneGap lets you easily create apps for the iPhone and other platforms. (Update: Including the iPad.)

I found what I plan to use to develop my first iPhone app, and since I know HTML and JavaScript, it won't be a chore to get up and running. I'm not sure if it plays well with Apple's iPad.

Update:  PhoneGap CAN be used to develop for the iPad, if the information in the following article from O'Reilly Radar is true!  
Web developers can rule the iPad

PhoneGap. Overview:


 Information from the PhoneGap website:

"PhoneGap is an open source development tool for building fast, easy mobile apps with JavaScript. If you’re a web developer who wants to build mobile applications in HTML and JavaScript while still taking advantage of the core features in the iPhone, Android, Palm, Symbian and Blackberry SDKs, PhoneGap is for you."

"As simple as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Software development is hard work. Device integration should be simple so you can focus on the application you are building instead of authoring complex compatibility layers. PhoneGap aims to solve device integration by web enabling devices native functionality with open standards."

Comment: Why does the video give me the impression that development is still a boy's club?  It looks like no women were involved in the PhoneGap code camp.  This is 2010, not 1985, and I'd expect to see more young women involved in this sort of development.

SMART Technologies Multitouch Application Contest Announced!

The SMART Multitouch Application Contest was recently announced. The SMART Table is a multitouch, multiuser interactive learning center designed for early education which supports hands-on collaborative play and learning activities.  I think that this would be a great project for an after-school technology club at a high school.

If you haven't seen a SMART Table, the following videos will give you an idea of what they are all about:

The SMART Table in a multi-age Montessori classroom at an elementary school:


Video from 2008 about the SMART Table:


Below is information about the contest prizes from the SMART Technologies website:

• Grand prize – One SMART Table, valued at US$6,499. Plus, the winning application will be promoted on the SMART website for one year, providing you with the opportunity to establish a revenue stream if users purchase your application.
• First runner-up – The second-place application will be promoted on the SMART website for one year.
• Second runner-up – The third-place application will be promoted on the SMART website for six months

RELATED

SMART Multitouch Application Contest Website

Here you can review the contest guidelines, terms and conditions, review the FAQ's and find out how to enter the contest.  There are two categories.  The Commercial category is for professional and amateur developers, and the Academic is for students and educators affiliated with an educational institution.

MediaTeam's Interactive Wall and Table

Interactive Touchscreens

Interactive Table

Mediateam Interactive Multitouch Table from mediateam on Vimeo.

Wall Screen

Mediateam Interactive Multitouch Screen from mediateam on Vimeo.
Video is from Mediateam

-via NUITEQ

I don't have much information about Mediateam. I think it might be MediaTeam Oulu, but I'm not sure. MediaTeam Oulu has quite a bit of research that focuses on ubiquitous computing.

Big Data: What are the possibilities for collaborative interactive information visualization? (Video interviews of Roger Magoulas, director of research at O'Reilly)

When I return to graduate school (hopefully I'll have the means to attend full-time), I want to flesh out my ideas for a "interactive multi-dimensional multi-media multi-user timeline" for use on interactive multi-touch/gesture tables and displays.   Although I've limited my work to a prototype of a template, I know that this concept won't work unless the application can incorporate an efficient means of handling large volumes of data, as well as data in various formats.

I want this template to be useful to people in a variety of contexts, such as students studying world history and humanities, education administrators looking at educational data over time, producers and viewers of interactive documentary programs (think interactive TV), the health industry, urban planners, the military, serious games, etc.

One of my stumbling blocks is how all of the data would be stored and analysed.  What I learned a few years ago in my computer classes simply won't work.

So now what?!  I think that Roger Magoulas, the director of research at O'Reilly, has some good things to say about the critical problem of handling what he calls "Big Data".   Here are a few videos that I think are worth watching.

The Future of Work
Part One



Next Device (SmartPhones, netbooks, creation & consumption factors - supporting usability in multiple contexts)



You Tube Series: O'Reilly Media
Big Data: Technologies & Techniques for Large-Scale Data (Emphasis on experimental approach) Part I


Part II (Discusses new forms of databases and the user of parallel processors to handle Big Data)


Part III Key Technology Dimensions


Part IV, Focus on hardware- Solid state disks, new data structure called "triadic continuum" which handles real-time data and ongoing probability estimates of data.


I would be happy to hear from anyone who is working on a project similar to the one I'm working on as a "hobby".

RELATED

Triadic Continuum
"Phaneron, KStore, Knowledge store, or simply K, is a dynamic data model that is based on the cognitive theory of C. S. Peirce. Phaneron efficiently organizes data into a unique, compact, interconnected, and fully-related data model. Phaneron is constructed using the Triadic Continuum."  


For those of you who like visual representations of geeky-techy concepts, here a few visuals and related descriptions of  KStore fundamentals from the Triadic Continuum website:


"The KStore data model is constructed using the basic triad. For example, the event sequence 'cat' would be recorded as shown in 'a sequence' below. A new level of nodes is created above a lower level of nodes as a result of the triadic process. In this case the lower level of nodes contains a node for each character of the alpha-numeric character set and the new nodes reference the lower level nodes to record the sequence 'cat'. Each sequence is initialize with a reference to a BOT (beginning of thought) and terminated with an EOT (end of thought) reference."





"The data set above was used to create the K structure below with the lowest level that contains the alpha-numeric character set, the second level is created to record sequences that represent the field variables. Then a third level is created using the field variables of the second level to record the record sequences. Records recorded in this K structure reuse the field variable nodes so that these field variable sequences never have to be recorded more than once. This is just one of the attributes of a K structure that makes it very efficient." -Triadic-conintuum.com



Mazzagatti, J.C. (2006) The Potential for Recognizing Errors in a Dataset Using Computer Memory Resident data Structure Based on the Phaneron of C.S. Peirce (doc)


Personal Note:
Due to the economic downturn and its impact on my family (two kids in college), I returned to work full time in mid 2008. I have a very busy day job as a school psychologist, working at two high schools as well as a program for students with multiple, severe disabilities, including autism. This has limited my ability to work on my project.

Touch, Multi-Touch & Gesture Responsive Web & Related Applications (helpful if you have a touch screen or IWB!)

I regularly share information about applications that work well on touch, multi-touch, and/or gesture-based screens.  Over the past few months, there have been updates and new developments that I'm still exploring. (Some of this information might be "old" news, but for many, it will be "new".)

Here's what I have to share today!

Be sure to explore the activities from the Kids section of the National Gallery of Art website, located at the end of this post.

MULTI-TOUCH FIREFOX

Sneak Peek on Multi-touch Events   Felipe Gomes, Felipe's Blog

Multi-touch on Firefox from Felipe on Vimeo.

Code Snippets from Felipe's Demo (Includes tracking divs, drawing canvas, image resizing, image crop, & pong) Mozilla Wiki
Bringing Multi-touch to Firefox and the Web
Christopher Blizzard, Mozilla Hacks

COOL IRIS
I have a hunch that someone out there is working on a multi-touch version of Cool Iris. Until I can find out the details, take a look at the videos below:


Cool Iris Overview on Google Chrome


 Here is a short video of what Cool Iris looks like on an iPhone:



Cool Iris Links
Cool Iris and iPhone
Cool Iris and Developers
Cool Iris Blog
Cool Iris Media/Press


About Cool Iris:   "Cooliris, Inc. was founded in January 2006 with a simple mantra: "Think beyond the browser". We focus on creating products that make discovering and enjoying the Web more exciting, efficient, and personal.Our core products include Cooliris (formerly PicLens), which transforms your browser into an interactive, full-screen "cinematic" experience for web media, and CoolPreviews, which lets you preview links instantly. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, our team consists of seasoned developers, entrepreneurs, and Stanford computer engineers. Each of us is passionate about serving our users without compromise and seeing that our products deliver the best experience."


BUMPTOP
Bumptop Gets Multi-touch Support on Windows 7


Bumptop Website
You can download Bumptop from the Bumptop website.  Here's the description:
"BumpTop is a fun, intuitive 3D desktop that keeps you organized and makes you more productive.  Like a real desk, but better.  Now with awesome mouse and multi-touch gestures!"
Anand Agarawala's Ted Talk

"Anand Agarawala presents BumpTop, a user interface that takes the usual desktop metaphor to a glorious, 3-D extreme, transforming file navigation into a freewheeling playground of crumpled documents and clipping-covered "walls.""

Discussion about Bumptop on the TED website

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART KIDS
I've been compiling a list of websites that offer good touch-interaction.  One site that is good for children- and children at heart- is the National Gallery of Art's Kids pages.  There are a few entries that I had fun playing with students on the new SMARTboards at one of my schools:

FACES AND PLACES - LANDSCAPE




"FACES & PLACES encourages children of all ages to create portraits and landscape paintings in the style of American naive artists. By combining visual elements borrowed from more than 100 works in the National Gallery's permanent collection, this two-part interactive activity offers an overview of American folk art of the 18th and 19th centuries.(Shockwave, 6 MB)."


This one is so fun!  You can select different characters and make them dance, run, jump, or even fall.  You can design the landscape and add buildings, trees, and animals, and even change the sky pattern.  Press "go", and your character will travel around the panorama you've created.


DUTCH DOLL HOUSE


Dutch Dollhouse  (Shockwave, 4.6 MB)
"Mix and match colorful characters, create decorative objects, and explore the kitchen, living quarters, artist's studio, and courtyard of this interactive 17th-century Dutch House."


NGA KIDS JUNGLE



"Create a tropical jungle filled with tigers, monkeys, and other exotic creatures. Inspired by the art of Henri Rousseau, NGAkids Jungle is an interactive art activity for kids of all ages. (Shockwave, 930k)"


What I liked about the Jungle application is that each item can be easily customized.  On the SMARTBoard, as well as on my HP TouchSmart PC, it is very easy for a student who has limited fine-motor control to create beautiful pictures.


FLOW

"Flow is a motion painting machine for children of all ages. Enjoy watching the changing patterns and colors as you mix pictures on two overlapping layers. Choose  designs from four sets of menu icons, or add to the flow by clicking the pencil tool to create your own designs."


This application is a favorite of some of the students I work with who enjoy watching things spin. (You don't have to have an autism spectrum disorder to enjoy playing with Flow!)

National Gallery of Art Student and Teacher Online Resources

Choose and Move Your Own POV (point-of-view): Interactive 360-degree video of on-line performances from the MTV-U Woodie Awards

A while ago I blogged about a 360-degree video camera that supports web-based interactivity:  Yellowbird 6 lens 360 degree video camera creates interactive 3D videos, thanks to Harry Brignull, a user experience consultant. This technology is spreading.

A recent post by Tracy Swedlow, an owner/author at Interactive TV Today, highlights how it has been used to shoot video of hockey as well as music experiences in her article:  Immersive Media Powers 360 Degree Interactive Video for CBC/Radio Canada and MTV Networks (12/8/09) Tracy also mentions that the recent MTV-U Woodie Awards performances were filmed in 360 degree video by Immersive Media, and can be viewed on-line.

It is worth taking a look at the videos, even if you aren't interested in the performers!

At any point in the 360 video, you can pan around to see that moment as it happened, from every direction.  You can look at the excited audience,  the video art backdrop, the lights bouncing off the drum-set, parts of the ceiling or the floor of the stage.  Each time you view the video, you can have a different experience.

Below are a couple of screen shots of the performances, with links to the MTV-U Woodie Awards website, where you can watch the videos.  The first screen shot shows is a picture of the lay-out.  Viewers can choose their point-of-view by clicking and dragging on the video as it is in motion, or by moving the point-of-view selection box in the panel below the video.

Death Cab for Cutie Meet Me On the Equinox (Live)

Below is a screen shot of the bottom half of the video only
The Dead Winter: Treat Me Like Your Mother (Live)

Note:  I stopped the video to look around the 360 panorama as a still picture, but when clicked to view the rest of the performance,  the music kept playing, but the video did not continue. This is probably a kink that needs to be worked out.  Panning around the video during the action was not a problem.

Clipse- "Popular Demand"/I'm Good (Live)" Medley

2009 Woodie Awards Performances (non 360, higher quality)
2009 Woodie Awards Performances in 360
Immersive Media

Varied Collection of Interface Interactions: Art and Sculpture Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure

Cross posted on The World Is My Interface

I've been exploring the contributions of artists to the world of interactive digital media. Here are videos of some of the interesting works I've come across recently.  Some of the videos are of older works, but were new to me.


INTERACTIVE KINETIC SCULPTURE
Kinetic Pond

(I'm still searching for more information regarding the Kinetic Pond.)

Rose Finn-Kelcey:  It Pays to Pray.  Interactive Sculpture at the Cass Sculpture Foundation.  Filmed by Robin Fitton.

"Insert 20p and select one of a range of prayers. An interactive sculpture which gives you back the money after providing an interesting message. Warning not to be used by the holy or holey. The prayers were about relationships with various chocolate bar brands."    It Pays to Pray Description


Fiber Cloud, MIT Mobile Experience Lab

The Cloud - from MIT Mobile Experience Lab on Vimeo.
For more information, see the Fiber Cloud web page.


Marque Cornblatt: Interactive Kinetic Steampunk Sculptures (1993-1996)

Marque Cornblatt blogs at The MediaSapien:  The Art and Culture of Hypermediated Identity
Marque Cornblatt's MFA Thesis:  The Emergence of the MediaSapien

Daniel Rozin's Wooden Mirrors (Uses video system)

More Information: Daniel Rozin Interactive Art


GIANT- Interactive Sculpture at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (2008) David Butts
Imagine what this could do if it was controlled by gestures and a system of sensors!


Nothing (without you)(Adam Chapman)Warning: What is inside the box is sort of yucky!


Hall of Faces that Follow
(Installation at Puzzling World in New Zealand-I don't think this installation is computerized.)




Interactive Sculpture:  MirrorMap, by Ryan Schenk


Self Organizing Still Life- David Fried's Kinetic Sculpture at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (responds to sounds)


Another video of Self Organizing Still Life

Act/React: Interactive Art Installation Video Milwaulkee Art Museum
Brian Knep discusses computer technology and his art:


Scott Snibbe's Deep Walls   Milwaukee Art Museum

Scott Snibbe's Artist's Statement (Focuses on interaction)

Cultural Analytics of Mark Rothko Paintings on the 287-Megapixel HIPerSpace Wall at Calit2

This is what I'd might like to use for my multi-dimensional interactive timeline project!

The interactive Cultural Analytics software system was developed by UC San Diego's Software Studies Initiative (featured in a previous post), and the Graphics, Visualization and Virtual Reality Laboratory.

Jeremy Douglass Presents Cultural Analytics on the Interactive HIperSpace Wall at Calit2


Description of Cultural Analytics, from the Software Studies Initiative Website


"The explosive growth of cultural content on the web including social media since 2004 and the digitization efforts by museums, libraries, and companies since the 1990s make possible fundamentally new paradigm for the study of both contemporary and historical cultures. We can use computer-based techniques for quantitative analysis and interactive visualization already commonly employed in sciences to begin analyzing patterns in massive cultural data sets. To make an analogy with "visual analytics," "business analytics," and "web analytics," we call this new paradigm cultural analytics."

"We believe that a systematic use of large-scale computational analysis and interactive visualization of cultural data sets and data streams will become a major trend in cultural criticism and culture industries in the coming decades. What will happen when humanists start using interactive visualizations as a standard tool in their work, the way many scientists do already? If slides made possible art history, and if a movie projector and video recorder enabled film studies, what new cultural disciplines may emerge out of the use of interactive visualization and data analysis of large cultural data sets?"

"The idea of Cultural Analytics was first presented by Lev Manovich in 2005. Software Studies Initiative founded at Calit2 in 2007 made possible to turn this vision into a research program. By drawing on the cutting-edge cyberinfrastructure and visualization research at Calit2 as well as world reputation of UCSD in digital arts and theory, we are able to develop a unique research agenda which complements other projects in digital humanities and "cyberscholarship":

• while most projects in digital humanities deal with text, we focus on automatic analysis of visual and media cultures and artifacts: video games, visual art, media design, cinema, animation, AMV, machinema, photography, etc.;
• in developing techniques particularly suited for cultural visualization, we draw both from visualization fields (information visualization, scientific visualization, visual analytics) and from media and digital art;
• we are also developing techniques for analysis and visualization of born digital content such as video games, web sites and social media."

Links to white papers, scholarly papers, presentations, and photos related to this cultural visualization and related techniques/projects can be found on the UCSD Cultural Analytics web page.

Multi-touch & Gesture Interaction News: NUITEQ's Snowflake Suite 1.7 compatible with Windows 7 and 3M Touch Systems, N-trig and Lumio

"This video demonstrates the N-trig DuoSense true multi-touch solution utilizing up to four fingers. The video features various multi-touch enabled applications, including how to pan and rotate using up to four fingers on Google Earth, a demonstration of how to play various onscreen musical instruments using the Snowflake Suite Music application, and a new hands-on way to play Sudoku. The Corel Paint it!™ application shows how existing images can be transformed using multi-touch, and a 3D desktop organizer application from BumpTop demonstrates new and innovative ways in which to organize your desktop using up to four fingers"   -avitaintrig's YouTube description

Snowflake Suite and NextWindow Plugin Information
NUITEQ in the media

3M Touch Systems

nTrig

Lumio

Bumptop

NextWindow
(SnowFlake Suite 1.7 works on NextWindow screens.)

I'll post more news and information about the natural interface/interaction biz very soon!

Stantum's Multi-touch Slate PC, Windows 7 Certified

The Stantum Slate PC is based on the Dell Inspiron Mini netbook platform. The 10.1 Slate accepts handwriting, gestures, and text-based input. Is in the "proof-of-concept stage.

Slate PC Proof of Concept (pdf) Includes specifications. Stantum also offers Multi-Touch Development Kits (MDK's) that include a controller board featuring PMatrix, a controller chip. and a touch panel.

How PMatrix Works (from the Stantum website):


RELATED

Stantum's unlimited multitouch meets Mini 10 in a fight to the death
(Josephe L. Flatley, Engadget, 11/17/09)

JAZZ MUTANT
Jazz Mutant is the Music & Media product division of Stantum.  I offers multi-touch control surfaces for audio and media - Dexter and Lemur.

More information about Stantum and other multi-touch focused companies to come!

Eric Sailers' "Bling Your Blog" Presentation: How to spice up a blog with Web 2.0 widgets and interactive things

Eric Sailers is a speech-language pathologist and assistive technology specialist in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District in San Diago, CA. He's ahead of the pack when it comes to embracing emerging collaborative and interactive technologies in education. Eric recently shared his presentation, "Bling Your Blog" on SlideShare. The presentation is an overview of how to incorporate Web 2.0 technology into blogging.

Bling Your Blog

View more presentations from Eric Sailers.

Below are links to a few things discussed in the presentation:
Animoto


Glogster: "Poster Yourself"
Interactive Calendar Poster by a Glogster


Voicethread (Collaborative digital storytelling.  The Ed. VoiceThread is a secure K-12 network.)


Web 2.0 Guru (Web 2.0 Resources for 21st Century Instruction)


100 Awesome, Free Web Tools for Elementary Teachers

Eric Sailers' Blog


(Cross posted on the TechPsych blog.)

Interactive Multimedia Journalism: NY Time's 5-part series, "Held by the Taliban"

I came across a link to this information below  via the Innovative Interactivity blog:



-NY Times

David Rohde, a NY Times reporter, was travelling in Afghanistan to interview a Taliban commander when he was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on November 10, 2008.  He reported his story in traditional format, Held by the Taliban:  7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity  in print and on-line in a series that spanned over five days, along with an epilogue

I found that in just about 10 minutes,  the on-line multimedia version of the Rohde's story provided me with a deeper understanding of the complex nature of the conflicts in the region, as well as a sense of what what he might have felt during his long ordeal. 

Rohde tells the story through narrative, photographs, animated maps, video scenes of his experiences, propaganda-like content from the videos watched by young men of the Taliban, and a 3D representation of how his escape from captivity unfolded.The on-line interactive feature included five video clips, each corresponding to one of the articles of the series.  What I appreciated about the video clips was the opportunity to  view each of the video clips sequentially, or in an any order.   The animated maps provided a meaningful geographic context to the story, and the fact that the story was narrated by the author gave it a sense that the conflict in and around the Afghan region is immediate, real, and urgent.

Rohde's story continued with a Q & A on a NY Times blog, further enhancing the meaningfulness and life of the story.   Before the digital era, a story like this would have been thrown out with the paper, or watched by a few on a television news documentary, remembered by a handful of historians, and forgotten by most people. 

Interactive multimedia journalism provides a chance for readers/viewers/users a glimpse of history and culture related to the news story,  and also provides a means of documenting history-in-the-making for current and future generations.  

As I read Rohde's story, watched the video clips, and viewed related multimedia content, I thought about the  increase in the number of people who now access the internet, including the NY Times, from their mobile devices.  I wondered how story might be interpreted through the small screen, and also wondered how Rhode's multimedia story and others like it could be played out on  screens installed in public spaces.  

With some tweaking, this form of multi-media journalism could be accessed on large screens, or even touch-walls, in variety of locations.  Airports, trains, visitor centers, museums, libraries, and shopping malls come to mind as places where this might be useful.   Similar interactive screens are out there, such  the GoBoard digital concierge at the Courtyard Marriott, created by Four Winds Interactive using Microsoft's interactive technologies.

-Mariott GoBoard, Microsoft



-Hard Rock Cafe's Memorabilia Wall, Engaget

RELATED

Charlie Rose interview with David Rohde

SOMEWHAT RELATED
Sensory-Mind's Ring Wall, an interactive multi-touch wall you don't even have to touch!
The Ring Wall is an interactive information display that looks like it could support an interactive multimedia news story.

How to recreate past events with multimedia

The link above is to a post by Tracy Boyer, the author of the Innovative Interactivity blog, and discuss techniques that multimedia content producers can use to recreate past events, along with some examples.

Tracy Boyer's Blogroll

I'm sure that many of my readers will appreciate this list!

• 10,000 words
• Adam Westbrook
• Design Reviver
• Duckrabbit
• FlowingData
• Interactive Narratives
• Journerdism
• Kennedy Media
• KobreGuide
• Mashable
• Mastering Multimedia
• MediaShift
• MediaStorm
• Multimedia Standards
• MultimediaShooter
• News Videographer
• ReadWriteWeb
• Smashing Magazine
• Teaching Online Journalism
• Visual Editors
• Visual Journalist