Vodafone's "Firsts" Campaign: 2 Grandmas take their first flight; Neil Harbisson's Color Conducted Concert

Vodafone, a telecommunications company, was off of my radar until an endearing video crossed my path on Facebook today.  Vodafone Firsts is part of a global brand program, led by social media, that aims to inspire people to do things for the very first time. Vodafone's strategy seems to be working.

In the following video, An and Ria, two elderly women, take their very first plane trip together to Barcelona.  It is well worth taking 10 minutes to watch it!   The video also does a good job of showing how the women approach using newer technologies, such as a tablet/video phone -- and a VR flight simulator to prepare for the flight.

An & Ria's First Flight  



In the following video, Neil Harbisson uses technology to create a concert that is based on the transformation of color into music. The interesting thing is that Neil is color-blind and has a "cyborg" apparatus that interprets colors for him by converting them into music/sounds. Vodafone provided him with an amazing creative opportunity.  

For more videos and behind-the-scenes information, see the full story on the Vodafone Firsts site, and also the TED Talk video on this post.

Neil Harbisson's First Color Conducted Concert Trailer


Neil Harbisson's TED Talk:  I listen to color

RELATED
Vodafone Firsts
Vodafone Corporate Site

Vodafone Americas Foundation:  "Mobile for Good"
Vodafone's 2013 Wireless Innovation Project's competition winners pushed the envelope to create new ways of using mobile technology and sensors for health and environmental monitoring.
ColdTrace: Wireless Vaccine Monitoring
MoboSens: Mobile Water Sensor
G-Frensel Cellphone Spectrometer (optical spectroscopy)

Eye Tribe Eye Tracker Dev Kit, $99; Open Source ITU Gaze Tracker Grows Up!

The Eye Tribe Eye Tracker developer kit is available for pre-order for $99.00. The kit comes with an SDK with C++, C#, and Java, full source code included.  

I've been waiting for a while to see this happen! 

The Eye Tribe Eye Tracker is an outgrowth of the work of a group of researchers at the IT University of Copenhagen.  At the time, it was known as the open-source ITU Gaze Tracker. 
I came across it a few years ago in a NUI-Group forum, and later wrote a post about it when the 2.0 version was released. 

Although the Eye Tribe Tracker was originally developed to meet the needs of people with disabilities who could not access computers, it was found to have potential for a number of other uses that were not really possible before the spread of mobile technologies such as touch-screen tablets and smart phones. 

To get a better understanding of eye-gaze/tracking technology, take a look at the following videos and follow the related links.



Below is a demonstration of the gaze UI on an Android smartphone:


Here is another look at this technology running on a Windows 8 Tablet:





RELATED
The Eye Tribe (website)
Eye Tribe starts taking pre-orders for $99 Windows eye tracker
Senseye will let you control your mobile phone with your eyes
Martin Bryant, The Next Web, 12/2/11
Open-source Eye-tracking: The ITU Gaze Tracker 2.0 Beta Via Martin Tull, NUI-Group Member
Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology, 11/1/10
ITU GazeGroup
Gaze Tracker Development
GazeGroup Forum
Martin Tall


RELATED VIDEOS
Eye Tribe was formally known as Senseye. Below is an earlier video that shows how it worked with a web-cam on a mobile device:



Open-Source ITU Gaze Tracker

ITU Gaze Tracker from ITUcph on Vimeo.


Earlier Videos of the ITU Gaze Tracker:
Technical Demonstration 




Seeking Sustainable Innovation

Surface Tablet vs. iPad Video, via SAY Media

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Apple iPad
Microsoft Surface Tablet
SAY Media

From a Post-WIMP Perspective: What Happens When Post-Mass Market Goes to Market? Bob Garfield's insightful video, and more (repost)

I came across one of my old posts while putting together More Tablets, More Mobile, More Social. On The Media's The Facebook Show, Adobe's Social 'Metrics, Not Myths" Campaign. 

When I wrote the following post in December of 2009, the first iPad had not been released. Google Plus was just a rumor.  Facebook was much smaller, worldwide.   Even though many things have changed,  the post rings true:

From a Post-Wimp Perspective:  What Happens When Post-Mass Market Goes to Market?  Bob Garfield's insightful video, and more...

I realize that working for the public good has prevented me from developing a thirst for marketing competitiveness. I don't have a greedy bone in my body. The only reason that I've developed a slight interest in advertising and marketing over the past few years is my interest in technology and how our society has been transformed by recent changes. Everyone has a cell phone, everyone wants an iPhone, everyone expects that technology will help us to meet our social, political, financial, health, education, environmental, and humanitarian needs, right? 

What is happening to our "mainstream" cornerstones? 

By mainstream, I mean traditional newspapers, magazines, network television, cable, and brochure-like websites. All of a sudden, reporters are running to take graduate classes in multi-media journalism, a domain previously "owned" by network TV 10-15 years ago. Newspapers and magazines are now web-based, your favorite radio and television program have their own websites, and just about every one is on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. 

The Web is easily accessed, ubiquitous, running on SmartPhones and iPhones, netbooks, and now, e-readers, right from your pocket, purse, or bag.

Ten years ago, if you had a job coding for a tech company, there wasn't an expectation that you'd have to hone your writing skills to maintain a blog, and learn how to produce short video clips to promote your work and the work of your company. If you preferred NOT to be open and social, it was fine! Now, you are probably just holding on. Maybe.


What inspired this post is a video of a presentation by Bob Garfield, an ad critic and essayist for Advertising Age. a magazine I interact with online. He is the co-host of NPR's On The Media program, and has a lot of insight regarding advertising trends and so forth. He is also hilarious. If you are viewing this in a family setting, know that Mr. Garfield uses a few "bad" words and quite a number of data and financial statistics to make his point. No traditional media institution is untouched.

An eye opener.  Worth every 34+ minute!


The Chaos Scenario from Greg Stielstra on Vimeo.

"Bob Garfield...forcasts the disintegration of mass advertising structures that have worked in perfect symbiosis for 400 years and prescribes "listenomics" as the way for brands to thrive in the digital, post-advertising age.  He warns that all formerly top-down institutions cannot dictate to consumers with advertising through mass media as before, but must use digital tools to forge relationships with them--no longer seeing people as piggy banks, or eyeballs, or votes, but as genuine stakeholders in their enterprise.  Amid the ruins of mass media,the choice for business is stark:  listen or perish.  Learn more at thechaosscenario.net."

(For those of you following the postWIMP discussion, you might be interested in looking at the post on the chaos scenario.net blog: The Problem with Acronyms.  What a coincidence!)

Bob Garfield's insights were foreshadowed by the "Prosumer" video from a couple of years ago:

Google and Yahoo are getting it, and demonstrate foresight by providing free Wi-Fi service in urban environments.  

Below is a short video clip of Dana Spiegel, the NYCwireless Executive Director, about Yahoo's sponsorship of free Wi-Fi in Times Square in New York City:

And here is a spin from Microsoft:

Windows Mobile 7 User Interface

New DOOH: TouchTunes Touch Jukebox and TouchTuneMobile App -- 27 locations in my area!

Frog Design was behind TouchTunes Interactive's latest creation, a touch-screen jukebox that can interact with a mobile app.  The app lets you know where the jukeboxes are located in your area.  You can also find this information on the myTouchTunes website.   In my area, there is a TouchTune jukebox at 27 or so locations.  Some are myTouchTunes enabled.  
There's a TouchTune jukebox at an eatery within walking distance from my mom- maybe I can surprise her for a musical lunch tomorrow and check it out!

Virtuo SmartJuke by TouchTunes from Touch Tunes on Vimeo.

Thanks to Co Design for sharing the link on Twitter!
RELATED
Press Release: TouchTunes Interactive Networks Ushers In A New Era Of Entertainment with the Launch of Virtuo, A Revolutionary Smart Jukebox:  TouchTunes Unveils Signature Device with Performances by Jimmy Eat World and American Idol's Crystal Bowersox
Frog Design, 3/1/11
Frog (Design)Creates a Jukebox for People Who've Never Touched a Jukebox
Fast Code Design, 3/3/11
TouchTunes Virtuo: The SMARTJuke
Jaleen Francois, Design Mind 3/1/11
TouchTunes Interactive Network  "plug":

"Welcome to the future of in-venue interactive entertainment. The Virtuo SmartJuke commands attention,
becoming a focal point of social interaction and a conversation piece among users. With superior design
and a modern, intuitive user interface, Virtuo opens new opportunities for both today and tomorrow"

Virtuo Specs

myTouchTunes Mobile

Video: DROID & Interactive Display in Times Square; Droid Voice-activated Search

The video below shows people in NYC's Times Square using their Verizon Droid phones to interact with the Verizon Wireless digital signage billboard:


The Droid offers a voice-activated search feature. Users can ask a question, and the search engine, powered by Google, will provide the search results from the web or from items stored on the phone. One feature I like is that it provides turn-by-turn directions from Google Maps, as well as other helpful geographic information. This would be a great tool for city dwellers and visitors alike.

The video below is a demonstration of how the Google Maps Navigation feature works on Android-based phones:


RELATED
Verizon, Motorola Unveil the Droid
Marguerite Reardon 10/29/09 CNN Tech

Verizon Droid Gets New Google Innovation: Real-Time Internet-Linked Navigation
Michael Hickins, BNET

Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0
Google Mobile Blog

DRIOD by Motorola Fact Sheet

Cross posted-The World Is My Interface

Interactive Content & Communication Across Platforms, Screens, and Situations: Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0

Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0 conference was held November 10-11, 2009, and I was fortunate to come across the concept video shared during the opening presentation.



-Via Putting People First and Nokia Conversations

RELATED
Nokia The Way We Live Next 3.0  Putting People First post

The Way We Live Next:  Social apps and open-source R&D (Jesse Sutton 11/11/09,  Wired UK)
(Discusses Life Tools, Health Radar, Mobile Job Hunt applications.)

Nokia- life in 2015 (JBC, Nokia Conversations, 11/11/09 - a review Heikki Norta's presentation. Norta is head of corporate strategy.)

Multiplying our Efforts (pdf)  Presentation: Henry Tirri, SVP, Head of Nokia Research Center

Communities creating Computers – Computers connecting Communities (pdf)  Presentation:  Peter Schneider, Head of Technology Marketing, Maemo Devices, Nokia

Communities of the Future (pdf)  Presentation:  Purnima Kochikar, VP, Head of Forum Nokia & Developer Community

Go Mobile with Cash (pdf)   Presentation:  Teppo Paavola, VP, General Manager of Mobile Financial Services, Nokia

SOMEWHAT RELATED

The Nokia Braille Reader (Experimental)


The Nokia Braille Reader is a joint project between Nokia, Tampere University, and the Finnish Federation of Visually Impaired.

Cross Posted on The World Is My Interface

Yelp has an Augmented Reality iPhone App for the iPhone 3Gs, "The Monocle"!

(Cross posted from tshwi)

Thanks to Dan Saffer for the link from the Read Write Web!

Here is my partial "reblog":

"Social review service Yelp has snuck the first Augmented Reality (AR) iPhone app specifically for the US into the iTunes App Store. The undisclosed new feature allows iPhone 3Gs owners to shake their phones three times to turn on a view called "the Monocle." This view uses the phone's GPS and compass to display markers for restaurants, bars and other nearby businesses on top of the camera's view...Blogger Robert Scoble discovered the hidden feature and posted about it on FriendFeed today. "

Video (in French, but easy to understand by the demonstration)


"Both GPS and a compass are used to determine location and direction being pointed at."

Screen Shots:




I want an iPhone. Verizon, can you hear me now?!

Links to Accessibility Posts: 1, Hello Haptic Flash Cards; 2. Samsung Braille TouchPhone Prototype is Cool, uses Electric Active Plastic

Here are the links to the posts:

Samsung Braille TouchPhone Prototype is Cool: Uses Electric Active Plastic

Hello Haptic Flash Cards



More about the camera for the visually impaired/blind later!

Zune HD Preview via Gizmodo

Zune HD Video Hands On from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

I need to give this some thought....like the iPhone, the Zune has an accelerometer.