UPDATE: NUITEQ's Snowflake ABC has been updated, improved, and retitled-- Snowflake MultiTeach®

August 24, 2016 Update

This post was originally published on October 13, 2013, and focused on Snowflake ABC, a software suite of entertaining educational apps developed by NUITEQ®.

Fast forward to 2016, and you'll see many great improvements have been made by the NUITEQ® team.  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 from NUITEQ® 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.  

FYI: Most of the ABC apps shown below can be found within the current version of Snowflake MultiTeach®.

NUITEQ is a multi-touch & gesture tech company based in Sweden focused on collaborative natural user interfaces and interaction. Instead of using a traditional mouse and keyboard, NUITEQ's products support the effective use of fingers and hands to interact and explore digital content. I've been following this company since it was launched by Harry van der Veen in 2007 and have been happy to share NUITEQ's updates on this blog over the years.

NUITEQ's products can be found in public spaces, such as museums, retail centers, and transportation hubs,  at special events, such as trade shows and exhibitions, in collaborative work settings, such as board rooms and design studios, and in educational settings.   

One of the latest innovations from NUITEQ is Snowflake ABC, multi-touch software for children and teens. It runs on a range of multi-touch hardware surfaces, including Lenovo, 3M Touch Systems,  Zytronic, Flatfrog, PQ Labs, Touch International, Lumio, and others.  



Multitouch software Snowflake ABC for kids (K-12) from multitouch software on Vimeo.

In my opinion, Snowflake ABC would be great for use in homes, libraries, and classrooms. Although the video shows children using the software on large displays and tables, it works well on smaller 27-inch touch screens, preferably those that support multi-touch interaction. A free trial version is available.  For parents considering purchasing a home computer, the Lenovo IdeaCenter A520 and other multi-touch "all-in-ones" come loaded with a variety of Snowflake apps.

Below is a screen shot various Snowflake ABC educational apps, from the Snowflake Suite website.

Credit: NUITEQ

RELATED
Multi-touch software Snowflake ABC 1.3 for kids released (K-13) - Now with 18 languages out of the box!  NUITEQ Blog, 9/26/13
Snowflake ABC Brochure (pdf)
NUITEQ Signs OEM Agreement with Lenovo for its Multitouch Software Platform Snowflake Suite PRWEB, 8/31/12
Review:  Lenova IdeaCentre A520
Jason Palaszewski, 8/22/13, Lenovo Blog

Snowflake Interactive Display at Skellefteå Airport (Snowflake Suite)

Monkeying Around with Autism Assessments: Kinect-based game by Vectorform and Kaiser Permanente therapists offers a barrel of possibilities!

"The goal was to build a game that is extremely accessible, non-complex and includes simple mechanics that children with autism can quickly understand to retain their attention, prevent over-stimulation, encourage play, and prevent frustration." -Vectorform "Monkey Business" Team


I recently had the chance to visit the team at Vectorform's Royal Oak (MI) headquarters and experience a demo of one of their newest applications, a Kinect-based game developed to assist in the assessment of children with autism. The game, known as Monkey Business, was designed in collaboration with physical, occupational, and speech therapists from Kaiser Permanente, a large health care service provider in California. The project was supported by Kaiser Permanente's Innovation Fund for Technology group.

I was impressed!

As I watched the demo, it was clear that much time and attention was given to the input of the therapists at Kaiser Permanente. The avatar in the game is a friendly monkey who embodies the mannerisms of a friendly, curious child.  The artwork is visually appealing and not too busy. The sound effects relate to the interaction at hand and provide feedback to the child as they engage in various game-like tasks designed to assess visual-motor, gross motor, and basic receptive language skills.  Another good feature of this application is the simplicity of the screens designed for input of the child's information and viewing data regarding progress.

In my opinion, the Monkey Business assessment game has the potential for use in school settings, and would be enhanced if additional assessment activities are provided in the application.  Expanded activities within the Monkey Business environment could support a range of treatment, education, and related intervention efforts. In addition to supporting assessment and intervention of children with autism, the Monkey Business concept would be especially useful in working with children who have experienced a traumatic brain injury.


Below are screen shots and descriptions of a few activities from the Monkey Business game:

Lily Pad Jumping Test
In the jumping test, the child is asked to jump across a pond, from one lily pad to another.  The child is provided with a set of toy lily pads on the floor.  As the child jumps, the Kinect sensor picks up movement and displays the jumps on the screen in the form of the monkey.

Balance Beam Test
The following screen shot depicts the monkey avatar crossing a stream on a balance beam. The monkey's movements reflect the child's movements across a real balance beam in front of the Kinect sensor and a large screen display.

Block Building Test
In the block building test, the monkey avatar encourages the child to build a tower of blocks to match the one displayed on the large screen.  The child uses real blocks, placed on a table, to build a tower while the monkey provides encouragements.  Objects other than blocks can be used, as the Kinect sensor is capable of identifying a variety of objects that can be use for building and stacking.

Clinician Screens
The screens designed for inputting and reviewing data regarding the child are designed with simplicity and ease-of use in mind, as shown in the pictures below:

In the present version of Monkey Business, a TV remote is used to control the application. It is possible that future versions of Monkey Business could integrated with a Smartwatch to input student information and control the activities in the application.  


Comment: As a school psychologist who works with children, teens, and young adults with autism and other significant disabilities, I know how difficult it can be to conduct assessments using traditional test materials.  If a student has difficulty interacting with unfamiliar adults, has communication challenges, or has motor difficulties, it may not be possible to administer an assessment that generates meaningful or valid results.  Even if the student is capable of completing some of the traditional test tasks, much time and effort is required on the part of the evaluator to sustain their interest, effort, and attention.   

To get a better picture of a student's emerging skills, I use interactive multimedia applications during my assessments of children with autism.  Newer technologies such as interactive whiteboards, larger touch-screen monitors, and tablets have proven to be useful tools in assessment.   A significant drawback to my approach is that it is cobbled together and might be difficult to replicate by other evaluation teams.  I see a growing need for a range of technologically-enhanced tools for assessment, including applications that offer opportunities for playful engagement.  Monkey Business holds potential to fill the bill.

What next?

I'd like to share some stories about the people who make things come to life at Vectorform. During my visit, I learned that they are involved in a number of projects related to health care and are always brainstorming new ways to harness technology for their various clients.  

Over the past several years, I've followed Vectorform's journey as they've jumped off of the desktop and transformed from web-developers to Post-WIMP explorers of natural user interfaces and interaction.  The most recent area of exploration is Google Glass. 

Intrigued by Google Glass?  So am I.  

During my visit to Vectorform, I had a chance to see the world - or rather Vectorform's basement conference room - through Google Glass.  As soon as I put them on I was flooded with ideas, and will expand on my ideas, and those of others, in future posts.

In the meantime, take the time to read an excellent post by Kevin Foreman, Vectorform's Director of Product Vision.  In "The Glass Experience", Kevin provides an in-depth reflection of his experience wearing Google Glass throughout his daily routine.  He also explains the inner workings of the hardware, the strengths and limitations of the Glass system, details about the user interface, the "on-board" accessories, and a few comments about what it is like to be a new Glass-wearing celebrity.


RELATED
Here are just three of the innovators I met during my recent visit to Vectorform, left to right: Jennifer Tonio, Marketing Manager, Kevin Foreman, Director of Product Vision, and Patric Samona, Director of Health Solutions.

Below are a few links related to the use of games for the assessment and intervention of autism, along with links to information about the use of games and emerging technologies for rehabilitation, health care and health promotion:

Vectorform Partners with Kaiser Permanente to Assess Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Innovation  Patrick Samona, Vectorform Blog, 7/10/13


Kaiser talks up monkey game, talks down EMR integration Jonah Comstock, Mobihealth News, 7/9/13

Using Kinect and Happy Action Theater as therapy: how one school is reaching autistic children Ben Kuchera, The Penny Arcade Report, 11/19/12

Microsoft Kinect and Autism (SlideShare) Susan McCarthy, Little Angel's School 2/09/13

Hacking for autism: Apps to help everyone on the spectrum Donna Tam, CNET, 2/22/13

Italian Team Uses the Kinect to Treat Autistic Children Andrea Lorini, Epoch Times, 12/13/12

Microsoft Surface Multi-touch Application for Pediatric Neuropsychology Assessment (Featuring Vectorform) Lynn Marentette, TechPsych Blog, 8/26/09   

Video: http://vimeo.com/4141208

Microsoft Gaming Technology Helps Children with Cerebral Palsy eHealthNews, 8/16/12

Should We Integrate Video Games Into Home-Based Rehabilitation Therapies for Cerebral Palsy? Elaine Biddiss, Future Neurology, Medscape Today, 7/2012

Xbox One, Kinect 2.0 and the future of health technology Marcelo Calbucci, Mobihealth News, 5/26/13

Games for Health Website

Kinect: Interactive Multimedia Technology Posts

Accessible Games for Health and K-12 Education: Lessons from the Classroom (SlideShare) Lynn Marentette, 5/9/08, Games for Health Conference Presentation

Researchers: Microsoft Kinect is a Money-Saving Telemedicine Device Gabriel Perna, Healthcare Informatics, 2/15/13

Lowes, LP., Alfano LN, Yetter BA, Worthen-CHaudhari, L, Hinchman W, Samona P, Flanigan KM, Mendell JR Proof of Concept of the Ability of the Kinect to Quantify Upper Extremity Function in Dystrophinopathy

PLoS Curr. 2013 Mar 14; 5   doi:  10.1371/currents.md.9ab5d872bbb944c6035c9f9bfd314ee2

Interactive Displays and "Billboards" in Public Spaces; Pervasive Displays 2013

The 2013 International Symposium on Pervasive Displays (PerDis 2013), recently convened  in Mountain View, California.  Since I couldn't attend this conference, I was happy to learn from Albrecht Schmidt that the conference proceedings were recently uploaded to the ACM Digital library.  There are many exciting things going on in this interdisciplinary field!

Researchers involved with the Instant Places project, described in the video below, presented their work at PerDis 2013. The Instant Places project was part of PD-Net, a series of research efforts exploring the future of pervasive display networks in Europe. (See the "Related" section for additional references and links.)


Instant Places: Tools and Practices for Situated Publication in Display Networks

Below is information from the Instant Places video and website:
"The video describes a novel screen media system that explores new practices for individual publication and identity projection in public digital displays." 

"Instant Places has been developed by the Ubicomp group of the Information Systems Department, at the University of Minho, and has been funded within the scope of pd-net: Towards Future Pervasive Display Networks, by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 244011."

Saul Greenberg was the keynote speaker at PerDis 2013.  His keynote, "Proxemic Interactions: Displays and Devices that Respond to Social Distance", highlights how far off-the-desktop our digital/physical lives have become, and how this has influenced recent research in human-computer interaction. Saul is a professor at the University of Calgary and leads research in Human Computer Interaction, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, and Ubiquitous Computing.

Although the video of Saul Greenberg's presentation below is not from PerDis 2013, it touches on the same topics and is worth taking an hour to watch.  In this video, Greenberg presents an overview of the history of human-computer interaction. He also offers up a discussion how an understanding social theory, perception of spatial relationships, and embodied interaction can be applied to the design of natural user interfaces and interactive systems.  Useful examples of interaction design explorations, within an ecological context, are provided later in the video.

Proxemic Interactions: the New Ubicomp?

RELATED

My Backstory

Regular readers of this blog know that to subject interactive displays in public spaces holds my interest. When I was taking computer courses during the mid 2000s, I focused some of my energy on projects designed for large interactive displays, inspired by reading articles like "Physically Large Displays Improve Performance on Spatial Tasks" (Desney S. Tan, Darren Gergle, Peter Scupelli, and Randy Pausch) and "Dynamo: public interactive surface supporting the cooperative sharing and exchange of media" (Shahram Izadi, Harry Brignull, Tom Rodden, Yvonne Rogers, Mia Underwood).  

Jeff Han's 2006 TED talk was another inspiration. I remember my excitement as watched his demonstration of an interactive multi-touch touch screen the size of a drafting board, before the iPhone/iPad was born.  Another inspiration was Hans Rosling's TED Talk  about health statistics, with his animated interactive data visualizations presented on a huge screen.

The following year, I stumbled upon the  NUI-Group while searching for information about multi-touch displays, and was inspired by many of the early members of the group.  I also became acquainted with a world-wide network of people who share similar interests, such as Albrecht Schmidt and his team of researchers at the Unversity of Stuttgart. This busy group recently presented at PerDis 2013 and at CHI 2013 and are involved in a wider range of ongoing projects.

INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS

Alt, F. Sahami, A., Kubitza, T., Schmidt, A.  Interaction Techniques for Creating and Exchanging Content with Public Displays. In: Proceedings of the 2013 ACM Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 

Hinrichs, U., Carependale, S., Valkanova, N., Kulkkaniemi, K., Jacucci, G., Moer, A.V., Interactive Public Displays   Computer Graphics, Vol. 33(2) IEEE Computer Society (25-27)

The International Symposium on Pervasive Displays (PerDis 2013)

PerDis 2013 Program
Sample Papers:
Otero, N., Muller, M., Alissandrakis, A., and Milrad, M. Exploring video-based interactions around digital public displays to foster curiosity about science in the schools. PerDis 2013 (pdf)
Alt, F., Schneegass, S., Girgis, M., Schmidt, A. Cognitive Effects of Interactive Public Display Applications. Proceedings of the 2nd ACM International Symposium on Pervasive Displays. 2013
Langeinrich, M., Schmidt, A., Davies, N., and Jose, R.  A practical framework for ethics: the 

Note:  Members of ACM have access to all of the proceedings of PerDis2013 in the ACM Digital Library. Non-members have access to the abstracts.

PD-NET

PD-net approach to supporting ethics compliance in public display studies. Proceedings of the 2nd ACM International Symposium on Pervasive Displays. 139-143
PD-Net 
PD-NET Publications - a great reference list, with links to many papers
Reading List on Pervasive Public Displays
About Instant Places
About the Living Lab for Screens Set

DOOH-DIGITAL OUT-OF-HOME

Digital Out of Home (DOOH): Screens Large and Small at the Mall (and some touch-screen Coke machines!) Interactive Multimedia Technology, 1/1/10

Daily Digital Out of Home post "Billboards That Look Back" : Could miniature cameras embedded in ads lead to Big Brother at the mall? The World Is My Interactive Interface, 5/28/08
J. Müller et al., "Looking Glass: A Field Study on Noticing Interactivity on a Shop Window," Proc. 2012 SIGCHI Conf. Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 12), ACM, 2012, pp. 297–306
Michelis, D., Meckel, M. Why Do We Want to Interact With Electronic Billboards in Public Space?  First Workshop on Pervasive Advertising, Pervasive 2009, 5/11/09
The Rage of Interactive Billboards
The Print Innovator, 11/28/12
10 Brilliant Interactive Billboards (Videos)
Amy-Mae Elliot, Mashable, 8/21/11

SOME INTERESTING EARLIER WORK

Jeff Han's 2006 TED Talk (This is worth revisiting, as it came out before the iPhone, iPad, etc.)

Tan, D.S., Gergle, D, Scupelli, P., Pauch, R. Physically large displays improve performance on spatial tasks. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, V13(1) 2006 (71-99)

Revisiting promising projects: Dynamo an application for sharing information on large interactive displays in public spaces (blog post)
Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology, 09/16/07

Brignull, H., Izadi, S., Fitzpatrick, G., Rogers, Y., Rodden,  T. The introduction of a shared interactive surface into a communal space. Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW'04), Chicago, ACM Press, 2004 (pdf)

Izadi, S., Brignull, H., Rodden, T., Rogers, Y. and Underwood,M. Dynamo: public interactive surface supporting the cooperative sharing and exchange of media. In Proc. User

Interfaces and Software Technologies (UIST’03), Vancouver, ACM Press, 2003, 159-168. (pdf)

Proxemics (Wikipedia)

Why Do We Want to Interact With Electronic Billboards in Public Space? 

WHY DO WE WANT TO INTERACT WITH ELECTRONIC BILLBOARDS IN PUBLIC SPACE? from danielmichelis