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.)

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)

Interactive Ear: A Guide to Human Hearing, by Amplifon, link to Pearltrees site.

The Interactive Ear: A Guide to Human Hearing

This interactive ear was created by Amplifon, a hearing aid company based in the UK and in 20 other countries.  Until recently, interactive "learning modules" were designed with Flash, and out quick reach of people with iPads.  After playing around with the Interactive Ear using my iPad, I'm pretty sure that it was designed for use with touch-tablets in mind.

If you are an educator looking for something effective to use for a unit on the senses, the Interactive Ear looks like it would be great on an interactive whiteboard or large touch-screen display.   It provides ways to explore the workings of the outer, middle, and inner ear.

The Interactive Ear is presented by Amplifon

Thanks to e-Learning Examples for sharing this link! 

At the time of this post, I had not discovered who worked on the development of the Interactive Ear.  I'll post the information here in an update.

RELATED
While looking up information about the Interactive Ear, I came across the Pearltrees website.  It is sort of like Pinterest, but in a much more interactive and playful format. Information is represented by small icons called "Pearls", which are navigational tools that designed to support organization and sharing of information. It

I think the Pearltrees interface is also a good way to support memory of the "stuff" we have come across online!  Like any free site, if you sign up, the folks at Pearltrees will have access to some of your information, most likely for future advertising purposes. Pearltrees also can be accessed via apps for the iPad/iOS  and Android.  Pearltrees is recruiting, btw.

Below is a screenshot from the someone's Pearltree page that had the Interactive Ear in as a pearl inside of a pearl:

NOTE TO FOLLOWERS
For a number of reasons, including my work obligations-I have a consuming "day" job as a school psychologist- I have had less time to post blogs and have a huge backlog of content, ideas, and thoughts I have yet to share.  Here are some of the topics that you are likely see in the future.  

I appreciate your support and patience!

Future Topics:

Update on interactive multimedia learning modules
Update on latest interactive display technology, systems, and software, across the spectrum of uses
Interactive mobile technology in the wild and in the home 
eTextiles in art, music, and dance
Interesting conferences 
Update on human-computer interaction research and innovative technologies
Update on games for learning, serious games, and new technologies for gaming
Usability (or lack of) of systems, applications, devices across all spectrums, including education, government, health care, automobiles, mobile, etc.
Update on my own technology experiments --- I still haven't finished that interactive multimedia timeline!

Does Google Know All? Google's ways of encouraging my on-line participation.

For the past couple of months I have had quite a busy off-line work/life situation.  Sad to say, I've had little time to tinker with code, write blog posts, keep up with my tech journals (the short stack is now growing into a little pile), and attend to the people I follow on the web.

I'm not totally off the grid.  

While walking my dog, I check Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, peek at my email. To be social, I quickly retweet, "like",  comment, or post a pic from time-to-time.  

Things just aren't the same.

Google noticed.

I hadn't been checking my Analytics account, and Google let me know.   I hadn't been nurturing my blog as in the past, and I guess this was a cause for concern.  I was amused that Google was prepared to delve deeper with short survey!

Yes, Google, I have been neglecting you.

Although I regularly check Facebook, I ignored the Google Plus world.  So today, I decided to take a few steps to get back on track.

I saw that a number of people had added me to their circles.  I added a few back.  

I noticed that many people shared similar interests in technology, and sighed, longing for the days when I was taking interesting graduate computer courses and happily working on innovative projects.....

I perked up when I noticed that Google Plus had a "recommended communities" feature.

I was curious.  What sort of communities would be in store for me?    Could Google really read my ming?!   :  }

Well, maybe.  Almost.   

And I am thankful.

This was the nudge I needed -  a huge rabbit hole for me to explore:

There were more communities to consider, but scanning through the recommendations, I could see that Google was pretty much on-target regarding the technology interests.    

Google was off a bit regarding my educational and assistive technology interests, which I'd expect to see represented in the array.   

I'm still a school psychologist in my "day" job.   Early retirement is an option for me someday. When I do, I know I will devote more TLC to my NUI/interactive multimedia tech-related passions.  

Google, now you know!



RELATED
Google+ Communities
Join a Google+ Community
Google launches restricted Google+ communities to let businesses make conversations private or invite-only.  Emil Protalinski, The NextWeb, 11/5/13
Google Plus Communities-Complete User Guide
Martin Shervington, Are you commoogling, 3/6/13

LUMO, by PO-Motion: Projection system for children that transforms kid's designs into interactive creations (Kickstarter)

I'd like to give a shout-out to Meghan Athavale, Curtis Wachs and the other interactive minds at PO-MO for their Kickstarter project.  LUMO is an interactive system that allows any room - not just a kid's room - to be transformed into an environment that encourages play, interaction, and creativity.

From what I know about PO-MO-s other creative projects, LUMO is deserving of financial backing. Although this is the company's first venture into a hardware solution, it looks promising.  If it can be produced on a larger scale, children - as well as kids at heart - will have a new opportunity use technology to create interactive mixed reality play-scapes, right in their homes.

Watch the video, and then head over to LUMO on Kickstarter and make your pledge!

"LUMO turns a kid's room into an interactive playground, encouraging movement and imaginative play in children of any age."


Screen shot of the creation tools for children to use when creating their LUMO interactive effects:

Credit: PO-MO

ABOUT PO-MO

The following information was taken from the Kickstarter website:

PO-MO Inc. creates interactive experiences for museums, retail environments and events.

They also offer SaaS platform Po-motion.com, a website which enables people all over the world to create their own interactive floor and wall installations.

In 2010, Meghan Athavale and her business partner Curtis Wachs decided to quit their day jobs and design interactive experiences for a living. They launched PO-MO Inc. in July 2010. Within a few months, Keith Otto and Matt Gillies joined PO-MO. Meghan and the PO-MO team launched Po-motion interactive floor and wall projection software as a beta in early 2011. In 2012, the full version of Po-motion was launched and Meghan won many awards at investment pitch contests, was one of 12 people chosen to participate in Tech Women Canada in Silicon Valley, and closed the year with an amazing advisory board, another member of the team (Joss Le Leannec) and a profitable, global company.

Meghan Athavale (CEO) and partner Curtis Wachs (CTO), along with Matt Gillies, Keith Otto, Jocelyne Le Leannec and Dave Kelly spend their days making, playing with, and dreaming of interactive surfaces.

RELATED

PO-MO Website
LUMOPlay
PO-MO interactive effects for special events and parties:
PO-MO Inc. interactive visuals for parties from PO-MO Inc. on Vimeo.

ACO VIRTUAL: Interactive virtual chamber orchestra, with 3D musicians

The Australian Chamber Orchestra has unveiled ACO VIRTUAL, an installation that provides music-lovers the opportunity to experience what it is like to be surrounded by thirteen performing musicians, with the opportunity to control what you choose what is heard. The installation was created in collaboration with Mod Productions, an interactive multimedia company.

This promises to become a fantastic music education and performance tool!  To get a better understanding of ACO VIRTUAL, view the following video clips:

ACO VIRTUAL Trailer


"Each instrumentalist was filmed at Fox Studios, ACO artistic director and lead violin Richard Tognetti said, using the same "bullet-time" camera equipment used to shoot The Matrix, in both 2D and 3D. Visitors can enjoy the full stereoscopic experience with provided 3D glasses." -CNET

ACO Virtual Launch of Touring Installation

ACO VIRTUAL launch at MCA from Mod Productions on Vimeo.


CNET Interview: Building an Interactive Virtual Chamber Orchestra



How they did it:

The experience is controlled by a touch-pad app:

Credit: Will Huxley, ACO VIRTUAL

RELATED
Building an Interactive Virtual Chamber OrchestraAustralian Chamber Orchestra
Michelle Starr, CNET Australia, 9/26/13

ACO VIRTUAL

Mod Productions

Mod Productions Blog

Mod Productions ACO VIRTUAL

ACO VIRTUAL:  Play With the Band (pdf)

(Information for exhibitors)

ACO VIRTUAL iPhone App

Librarians as Data Scientists: Data Science for All

Librarians as Data Scientists: Data Science for All

"The ability to take data - to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it - that's going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades. " - Hal Varian, McKinsey Quarterly

I came across the above quote from the Data Scientist Training for Librarians website.  It provides the motivation for librarians - and others- to consider learning more about data science - a field that applies to just about every field of study in some way, as well as most professions.

Credit: Dirk Tiede/DST4L

Librarians are in a good position to become early embracers of data science, as they are interested in information, understand a wide range of scholarly (and not-so scholarly) topics, and serve as the human interface bridging people and ideas. Wearing many hats, they provide resources for people from all walks of life, in community libraries, schools, universities, government, industry, and research centers.  With the power of today's computers and software tools, they have the potential to play an important role in the way we discover, curate, understand, and communicate knowledge. 

Chris Erdmann, the head librarian of the John G. Wolbach Library at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in collaboration with like-minded others, organized the first Data Scientist Training for Librarians (DST4L) course. The first round of the course included a number of noted speakers from a variety of disciplines, and covered a number of topics, as summarized  by Jennifer Prentice (Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science Tech Lab) on the course website.

The second DST4L course was opened to all librarians, with a solid list of topics outlined on the syllabus.   The course started with a 2-hour introduction to the course last July, captured in the video below: 



I'd like to share that Chris Erdmann is a member of the Seamless Astronomy Group, a multi-disciplinary collaboration of astronomers, computer scientists, librarians, visualization specialists, and information scientists.  The aim of this group is to research and develop systems that "seamlessly integrate scientific data and literature, the semantic interlinking and annotation of scientific resources, the study of the impact of social media and networking sites on scientific dissemination, and the analysis and visualization of astronomical data and research communities".  

As I looked at the info-graphic posted on the Seamless Astronomy website (below), it occurred to me that this conceptualization could apply to a number of disciplines.  I look forward to learning more about the tools, methods, and processes that this group generates!

Credit: Seamless Astronomy Group

One of the projects that interests me is the WorldWide Telescope, a collaboration between Microsoft Research and the Seamless Astronomy group. The WorldWide Telescope is a visualization software that enables people to explore data and high resolution images stored in the "cloud" through a web browser or computer application. According to Chris Endermann, a student project exploring the use of the new Oculus Rift virtual reality headset with the WorldWide Telescope is in the works.   

RELATED AND SOMEWHAT RELATED

Data Scientist Training for Librarians 
Data Scientist Training For Librarians Course Details

Data Science: What's in it for the New Librarian?
jmstanto, Information Space, 7/16/12

Cracking the Code: Librarians Acquiring Essential Coding Skills Matt Enis, The Digital Shift, 3/6/13 (Links to tutorials)

OpenRefine: Data Scientist Trainings for Librarians Presentation (SlideShare) 
Tom Morris, 3/28/13

Librarians Are Becoming Big Data Experts
John Edwards, BigData Republic, 8/9/13

Code {4}lib Issue 21

Prototyping as a Process for Improved User Experience with Library and Archives Websites
Shaun Ellis, Maureen Callahan, code{4}lib Journal, Issue 18, 10/3/12

Crafting Linked Open Data for Cultural Heritage:  Mapping and Curating Tools for the Linked Jazz Project M. Cristina Pattuelli, Matt Miller, Leanora Lange, Sean Fitzell, Carolyn Li-Madeo, code{4}lib Journal, 7/15/13

Collaborative Librarianship News

Confederation of Open Access Repositories

Public Libraries Add Multimedia Learning to Digital Mission
Nora Fleming, Education Week, 9/15/13

Life of an emerging technologies librarian in the health sciences (must-read)
Patricia F. Anderson, UMSI Monthly, 1/2013


Data and Coding for Journalists

Although journalists aren't librarians, the profession has expanded to include data journalism, a growing field fueled by the visual nature of the web and the increase in popularity of mobile devices in the form of smart phones and tablets. Books and newspapers are still with us, but technology has changed the way journalists do their jobs

I'm not sure if the journalists and librarians are collaborating with each other as they venture into coding and data analysis.   If not, they should!  The links below would be of interest to librarians, journalists, and other knowledge junkies.


Video: Journalism in the Age of Data

Journalism in the Age of Data from Geoff McGhee on Vimeo.

Coding for the Future: The Rise of Hacker Journalism
Maryanne Reed, Media Shift, 5/2/13
The above post includes a number of video and audio clips on the topic, plus a number of links, such as the following:

• The Census Bureau
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• Sunlight Foundation
• National Institute on Money in State Politics

Data scraping tool for non-coding journalists launches     (Import.io)
Sarah Marshall, Journalism.Co.Uk, 9/9/13

Data Journalism Handbook: A Five Minute Field Guide
Data Journalism Handbook Chapter:  Getting Data

ODDS AND ENDS
A little history about the idea of seamlessness in computing:
The Computer for the 21st Century
Mark Weiser, Scientific American, September 1991 (online draft)


My thoughts on the need for data/information visualization not long after the world-wide financial crisis:
Reflections: Need for Interactive Infoviz for the Financial Biz, Business Leaders, Government Officials, Educators and the Rest of US... 
Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology, 2/1/09



Since I'm a school psychologist (in my day job), I thought I'd slip this in: 
Why every (psychology) student should learn to code 
Matt Wall, Computing for Psychologists, 1/13/13
Many of Matt Wall's links would be of interest to anyone thinking about learning more about technology, data analysis, and related coding.

The Uncanny Valley is Here! Activision's real-time character demo is chillingly real. (Not an April 1st joke.)

Up with Activision in the Uncanny Valley

I first heard the term 'uncanny valley' about eight or nine years ago when I was taking a 3D-modeling class.  At that time, the technology available was not close to reaching this valley - where robots or computer-generated characters are so real that they are almost repulsive.

A lot has changed over the years.

The following video, recently featured by Activision Blizzard during the 2013 Game Developer Conference, has attracted much attention in just a few days, partly because it is so real.



Although I noticed that a little more work needs to be done with the teeth, I was impressed. I liked the quality of the eye shaders that were used in the creation of this demo.  Examples of faces created with this feature turned on and off can be found on Jorge Jimenez' blog.  Jorge's slides from a 2012 course offered during SIGGRAPH provide additional information.

Computer processers have become powerful enough to handle quite a lot of processing, and the tech world has been spreading the word. Below is a presentation by Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of Nvidia, about the company's work simulate the human face, touching on the 'uncanny valley':


Although the use of this technology to create characters, realistic on many levels, seems to be a bit creepy, it might be OK after some refinement.  There are a few questions that remain unanswered.   What would be the impact on children or teens who might spend many hours each week playing games with such realistic characters?  I'd hate to have a nightmare featuring one of these guys!

I think that this technology might have some potential for use in serious games and simulations, such as preparing emergency workers to handle a variety of realistic scenarios. Games with realistic digital characters, capable of generating a range of facial expressions, might be useful to support the learning of social interaction skills among young people with autism spectrum disorders.


RELATED/SOMEWHAT RELATED
Is It Real?  With New Technology Has Activision Crossed the 'Uncanny Valley'?
Eyder Peralta, the two-way, NPR, 3/28/13
Activision Reveals Animated Human That Looks So Real, It's Uncanny
Charlie White, Mashable, 3/28/13
Karl F. MacDorman's Writings (some focus on the uncanny valley)
Advances in Real-Time Rendering in Games Course (SIGGRAPH2012)
Separable Subsurface Scattering and Photorealistic Eyes Rendering (pptx)
Jorge Jimenez, Presenter, SIGGRAPH 2012)
Next Generation of Character Rendering Teaser (pptx)
Jimenez and Team
Crossing the 'uncanny valley': Nvidia's Faceworks renders realistic human faces
Dean Takahashi, VB/Gamesbeat, 3/18/13
Real-Time Realistic Skin Translucency
Jimenez, J., Whealan, D., Sundstedt, V., Gutierrez, D IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 2010
Exploring the Uncanny Valley Research Website (Indiana University School of Informatics)
Gaze-based Interaction for Virtual Environments pdf
Jimenez, J., Gutierrez, D., Latorre, P.  Journal of Universal Computer Science
Mori, Masahiro (1970). Bukimi no tani [the uncanny valley] (K. F. MacDorman & T. Minato, Trans.). Energy, 7(4), 33-35. 
2013 GPU Technology Conference Keynote Presentations

What happens when a 2-year old wakes up to the sound of the Google Map Lady? "I CAN'T turn left right now!"

Google Map Lady says, "Turn Left", toddler yells from the back seat, "I CAN'T..."

If you are new to this blog, you might not know that I'm the grandmother of a 2-year-old little boy.  Watching him grow in an increasingly technology-enriched world has been an eye-opener at times, from his first interaction with my iPad, fingers-and-toes at 7 months of age, to his attempts at rafting down a digital river, playing the Kinect Adventure! River Rush game. 

Technology is rapidly changing how we learn, interact, and navigate our world.  Designers, developers, and others who are involved in the process of creating for the near future must be mindful of the ways newer technologies might play out in the real world, where the "user" is not always the person intended for the "user experience".  Off-the-desktop technologies are rapidly advancing, and impact people of all ages, wherever they happen to be.

Today's story is just one example.

I'm fortunate to live about a 35 minute drive from my grandson, and for this reason, I sometimes take him out and about, especially when his parents have a lot of errands to run.

After a nice lunch at Amelie's French Bakery  near the NoDa neighborhood (Charlotte, NC),  and exploring the floor murals in the little mall behind the bakery, I told my grandson that we were going to the "Big Park" (Freedom Park). 

He was so excited, but within a few minutes, he was fast asleep.

I drove up towards the airport to kill time, thinking that he'd wake up and we'd watch the planes. He was still sleeping.  Now what?

I opened up Google Maps on my cell phone to get directions from the airport to the Carolina Raptor Center at Latta Plantation Park, since I wasn't sure how to get there from the airport.

About 15 minutes later, as the Google Map Lady gave directions, Levi woke up, saying "What's that sound? A lady's voice?". The Google Map Lady spoke again, and said something like, "In 1000 feet, take a left turn." 

Levi replied empathically, "I CAN'T turn left right now!". Google Map Lady responded with the next direction, and Levi replied, "I CAN'T do that!". 

The little guy was visibly upset, because he thought the lady was telling him what to do. It was obvious to him that he could not comply with her request.

What to do?   How do I explain the "Google Map Lady" this to a 2-year old? 

This is how I handled the situation:

I told him that the lady's voice was to help me know where turn so I could drive to the raptor center.  I kindly told him that the directions were just for me, not little boys who can't turn the car because they are in car seats and can't drive. He nodded and said, with relief, "Lady's voice for Mi-Mi, NOT for little boys", and was fine after that.

Note:
Although I did not know it at the time, my grandson had somehow wriggled out of the left harness of his car seat. I discovered the problem as I went to unfasten him from the car seat, and wondered how long he'd not been secured safely.  It hadn't occurred to me that this would happen - everything was in place at the beginning of our ride, as you can see from the first picture.  

As I lifted my grandson out of the car seat, it crossed my mind that it would be a good idea if car seats came with sensors to let the driver know if the car seat straps, snaps, or buckles became unsecured. (Systems like Forget Me Not provide a warning system to parents if the child is forgotten in the car.)

After conducting a quick search, I found that Sherine Elizabeth Thomas has applied for a patent that includes the use of a sensor to alert the adult that a child has unbuckled their seat belt.  I think that a system could be developed to provide an alert if the child was not safely secured, as in the case of my wiggly grandson.  

RELATED AND SOMEWHAT RELATED

Technology for Today's Family (CHI Workshop)

Forget Me Not Wireless Child Tether 

(Self-activating, self-aware digital wireless safety system)

Forget-Me-Not Car Safety Website

How Getting Married and Having Kids Made Me a Better Programmer

John Polaceck, 3/24/13

Grandma Got STEM blog (More info to come on this topic!)

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

Google Glass and Kids- BYOGG? Quick Links to MIT Tech Review Post and more

Now that I'm set to experiment with Leap Motion, I started thinking about Google Glass - I know if I visit my grandson wearing them, he'd figure he should, too.  Why not?  He expects to play with my iPad for at least a short while during our visits.

I can see the potential for active educational game applications with this device.

I wonder if Google Glass will follow the path of cell phones into classroom settings. Once banned, many schools are embracing their use in BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programs. BYOGG?  TIme will tell.


Here is a video from Google provides a view of what the Google Glass experience might be like for a variety of people:
 



Here is an example of a mother of a 2-month-old infant, wearing Google Glass as she shares special moments:

I'm guilty of BTV (baby TV)- in the form of BetaMax and VHS tape recordings.  If Google Glass was around when my kids were babies, I'd probably do the same.


Here is another example of "Project Glass": 



I work with a number of students who are non-verbal and have severe autism. I think there is potential for use with children and adults disabilities.   

Some ideas that come to mind:

Facial expression translator/decoder (for people with autism spectrum disorders)
Two-way sign language translator
Augmented device for the visually-impaired, elderly, etc.
Accessible games, active games
Travel guide, museum guide, health care/hospital stay guide
Exercise companion
InfoVis advisor
Shopping trip/fashion advisor for people like me who hate shopping


RELATED
Growing Up with Google Glass: When Google Glass launches it will be used by kids as well as adults.
Tom Simonite, MIT Technology Review, 3/5/13

Can You See How Google Glass Will Disrupt Higher Education?
Jimmy Daly, EDTECH, 2/26/13

The rise of smartglasses in education: or, A shameless plea to Jaime Casap
Thomas B. Segal, Education Week, 3/5/13