IXDA Interaction Awards Winners, 2012: LoopLoop, an interactive music toy app by Stimulant/Sifteo, was best in show!

The Best in Show winner of IXDA's 2012 Interaction Awards was LoopLoop, an interactive music sequencer application for children, created by designers at Stimulant in collaboration with Sifteo.




Stimulant LoopLoop for Sifteo from Stimulant on Vimeo.


RELATED
What are the best examples of interaction design? - Sam McNerney,  PSFK, 3/9/12The videos featured in Sam McNerney's post were created by Christian Svanes Kolding for the Interaction Design Association (IXDA) as part of the first annual Interaction Awards in Dublin, Ireland.


IXDA:  Interaction Design Asociation
IXDA Interaction Awards
Stimulant Website
LoopLoop For Sifteo Cubes
LoopLoop, an upcoming application produced by Stimulant with the Sifteo SDK
Sifteo Creativity Kit

Preview of the Official Boxee Video Streaming System: Digital Convergence in Action

In the following video, tech entrepreneur Zach Klein shows his company's official version of Boxee, a set-top box system that provides users a "plug-and-play" opportunity to view Web-based video on their televisions.


The first Boxee Box arrived from the D-Link Factory from Zach Klein on Vimeo.
Note:  Zach Klein is the co-founder of Vimeo.



Web video and content, viewed on a large-screen HD display, in the comfort of a cozy recliner or sofa, is in line with the "Slow Media" movement, as well as the concept behind Google's "YouTube Leanback" application (see links and info below).

Relax.  Share.  Interact.  Chill with your Web.

RELATED
Boxee Website
Boxee Readies Its Set-Top Box Nick Bilton, New York Times, 7/16/10
Boxee debuts Boxee Box, ready to take on Roku Jacob Brody, SocialBeat Venture, 12/7/09
Hands-On With the Boxee Set-Top Box and Remote Brian X. Chen, Wired Gadget Lab, 1/8/10
Designing for Interactive TV:  Boxee Case Study (Method)
Boxee and Digital Convergence Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology, 3/22/09


SOMEWHAT RELATED
Slow Media Manifesto
"The concept “Slow”, as in “Slow Food” and not as in “Slow Down”, is a key for this. Like “Slow Food”, Slow Media are not about fast consumption but about choosing the ingredients mindfully and preparing them in a concentrated manner. Slow Media are welcoming and hospitable. They like to share."
Google YouTube Leanback (Google)
YouTube Leanback offers effortless viewing (Google)
"YouTube Leanback a different way of watching videos on YouTube. Just as its name implies, YouTube Leanback is all about letting you sit back, relax and be entertained. Videos are tailored to autoplay as soon as you get started, in full screen and high definition, so watching YouTube becomes as effortless as watching TV. YouTube Leanback is simple to use, easy to navigate with your keyboard's arrow keys, and is personalized to your unique preferences."
YouTube's 'Leanback' Wants to Friend Your Television Remote Eliot Van Burskirk, Wired  7/8//10


Somewhat Related IMT Posts
All IMT posts referring to remote controls and usability (This will continue to be a problem as our digital streams converge)
Video and Links about Google TV: Another Flavor of Android - "Google TV brings everything you love about the Web to your television".
Designing for TV Screen Interaction:  Interesting IxDA Thread
Digital Convergence & Interactive Television
An Example of Convergence: Interactive TV - uxTV 2008

Designing for TV Screen Interaction: Interesting IxDA Thread

The IxDA (Interaction Design Association) forum has an thread about designing for TV interaction.  Several IxDA members have shared some resources on this topic.  I've just uncovered the links and resources and thought I'd share them in this post, with a detailed follow-up in a week or so, as I'm also researching topics related to 3D TV.

Maurice Carty recommends the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) report from teehan+lax:
http://teehanlax.com/work/pvr-report/  (you can download the pdf version of the report from the link)

From bauruag, who is a fan of Boxee:

Boxee : http://method.com/#/productui/index/detail/CaseStudy/43 [1]
Time Warner - http://method.com/#/productui/index/detail/CaseStudy/35 [2]
Microsoft Online Media - http://method.com/#/productui/index/detail/CaseStudy/30 [3]

RELATED
Definition of Interaction Design

Definition of IxD

"Interaction Design (IxD) defines the structure and behavior of interactive systems. Interaction Designers strive to create meaningful relationships between people and the products and services that they use, from computers to mobile devices to appliances and beyond. Our practices are evolving with the world; join the conversation." -IxDA

Thinking Like a Storyteller: Words of Wisdom from Cindy Chastain on the use of storytelling in for interactiondesign (IXDA 10 Video)

Cindy Chastain is a Creative Director, Experience Architecture at Rapp, a global, full-service agency in NYC. Her background is in screen-writing. She also is a film-maker and technology consultant. The video below is of her presentation at IXDA 2010. It is well worth the 47 minute watch!


Here is a quote from Nasir Barday's post on the IXDA blog about Cindy Chastain's presentation:


"Designing with a narrative in mind can make a difference between a product that merely functions well and a product that engages the minds, emotions and imaginations of users." Nasir Barday, IXDA 2/26/10


Here are a few quotes from the presentation:
"How can we, as designers, provide cues that will deepen that narrative connection?"


"What can we learn from the discipline of storytelling that will help us design for more meaningful and engaging product experiences?"

"If we can move away from thinking of products in terms of interfaces and start thinking of them as representations or environments, in which agents perform actions,  we will get us to a place where we can design more fluid and engaging dialogues/experiences."



Cindy Chastain-Thinking Like a Storyteller from Interaction Design Association on Vimeo.

Near the beginning of this video, Cindy discusses the concept of the user's narrative, described as a stream of self-talk occurs when someone interacts with a design product. Two types of narratives are likely to occur.  According to Cindy, this phenomenon was noted by cognitive scientists.  One is narrative of use,  and involves the person's self-talk about  the products features and affordances. The other is a personal narrative, which focuses on what the product means, how it might fit into one's life, and how it might be used.

Design and Design Failures: Nicolas Nova's Interact 10 Presentation Slides (great pics!)

Today I thought I'd share slides from Nicolas Nova's presentation at Interact 10, a conference held recently in Savannah, G.A. I really wanted to attend this conference.

Design and Designed Failures: From Observing Failures To Provoking Them

Nicolas Nova is the author of the Pasta & Vinegar blog, and works at Lift Lab.

Here are a few of my favorite Pasta & Vinegar posts- I'll add a few more links later.

Tablet PC's strike back
Digital keypads in Paris
ATM interface complexity
(I've taken similar pictures while traveling!)

A review of Interact 10 can be found on Experientia's Putting People First blog.

Here's what I wanted to see at IXDA's Interaction10 in Savannah - ( & some other links)

I really wanted to attend IXDA's Interaction '10 conference in Savannah, Georgia. Unfortunately, it is sold out. If you are interested in learning more about the hot topics in interaction design, take a look at the Interaction '10 Speakers  page that includes links to each speaker's presentation or workshop description, and in some cases, some interesting links.

Some of the presentations I wanted to see:


Designing Social Interfaces: The Game
Erin Malone, tangible ux and Christian Crumlish, Yahoo!


The Use of Virtual Worlds Among People with Disabilities
Kel Smith, Anikto LLC


Augmented Reality: Is it Real?  Should We Care?
Kevin Cheng, Twitter (also author of OK/Cancel)


Interaction Design for the Fourth Dimension
Maria Cordell, Macquarium


Thinking Like a Storyteller
Cindy Chastain


Citizen Volunteerism and Urban Interaction Design
Solomon Bisker, Carnegie Mellon/School of Architecture


Designing for the Web in the World
Timo Arnall/Oslo School of Architecture & Design



NOT TOO RELATED


So why didn't I go to Interaction 10?   


For those of you new to this blog, after spending a few years working part-time at one and taking graduate courses, I returned to work full time in 2008, due to the economic downturn, daughters in college, etc. 


I am a school psychologist, and my "day job" sometimes spills into several evenings, as I serve two small high schools, a small "early college" program in addition to my home site, a program for students with severe disabilities. I have quite a bit of paperwork to complete, and this time of the year is especially busy.  I often must work on psychological evaluation reports, counseling& consultation notes, and mandatory special education paperwork/data entry, outside of work hours.


I try to devote about one hour a day, on average, devoted to researching and writing for this blog, and about 5 hours a week working on computer projects to keep up my design/development and programming skills.  When I'm out and about, I pay close attention to people and how they interact with a range of technologies in public spaces.  


Comment:
If you are interested in education and the range of topics of concern to school psychologists, the following link is to web page of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).  This page that includes and extensive list of links to articles written by school psychologists that were published in the Principal Leadership magazine, a publication of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.  


There is a need for solutions in education that incorporate the use of useful and usable technology. If you are interested in designing, developing, and researching applications for use in educational settings, I encourage you to spend some time reviewing some of the topics included on the NASP website! 

Principal Leadership Magazine Articles
(Most of the articles contain useful references.)

Sample of articles-in PDF format:
Understanding and Fostering Achievement Motivation
Transformative Leadership for Social-Emotional Learning
Promoting School Completion
Self-Concept and Self-Esteem in Adolescents
Angry and Aggressive Students
Preparing Students with Disabilities for School-to-Work Transition and Postschool Life

Interaction Design 2009: Video of Dan Saffer's Presentation

Dan Saffer - Attention Awareness for Interaction Designers 2009 from Interaction Design Association on Vimeo.

Dan Saffer is an interaction designer who recently spoke at the 2009 IXDA conference. His company is Kicker Studio.

FYI: Gestural Entertainment Center


RELATED:
What is Interaction Design?