Kloonigame's Crayon Physics Deluxe is a fun, interactive physics game that works well on a touch screen. It is not as complex as Algodoo, as it doesn't require the player to interact with lots of settings.
The above video is of the commercial version of the game. It is a labor of love by Petri Purho, of Helsinki, Finland. You can find Petri's games on the Kloonigame's website, including the free version. Crayon Physics won an award at the 2008 Independent Games Festival.
Algoryx, a software company, has announced an educational version of Phun Physics, called "Algodoo". It is on display Classmate PC at BETT 2009 in London this week (January 14-17).
"Algodoo is a 2D-simulation environment for creating interactive scenes in a playful, cartoony manner, making use of the physics that we use to explain our real world. Algodoo is designed to encourage young people’s own creativity, ability and motivation to construct knowledge. The synergy of science and art makes Algodoo as educational as it is entertaining. Algodoo applies a constructionistic learning paradigm - learning by designing, constructing and exploring physical systems."
"Algodoo has been optimized for the Intel-powered convertible classmate PC and makes innovative use of many of its features including the webcam for creating physical models from live photos, the touch screen and digital pen input for drawing objects, and the accelerometer for virtual experiments and very direct interaction with the physical simulation. We are quite amazed by the performance, features and look and feel of this little notebook. Learn more about it here: http://www.classmatepc.com/"
The HP TouchSmart Notes application can be used in a variety of interesting ways. I have an HP TouchSmart PC, and I like how easy it is to slide the notes about the screen using this multi-modal application. It allows the user to take capture pictures, video, or audio to create notes, as well as traditional "stickies" that allow for typing or finger-writing input. You can even draw or write over photos. It is an application that has many accessibility features. It also supports many of the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
The various notes can be put together in a variety of ways, and allow for video or photo storytelling and interesting ways of leaving messages- even a song or two. I did some hunting and found the more information about some non-verbal students with autism who are learning verbal skills through this technology at Hope Technology School in Palo Alto, California. Video of student using the HP TouchSmart Notes application at Hope Technology School:
Here are a few "How Two" videos that demonstrate the TouchSmart Notes features and interactions:
Microsoft's newest operating system, Win7 (beta), allows for multi-touch interaction and application development. From what I can tell from the news from the Consumer Electronic Show (CES 2009), touch and gesture interaction holds quite a bit of interest among consumers and application developers alike.
Hopefully people will think carefully about user experience and usability factors when developing the applications we'll be using in the not too distant future!
Because of my background as a school psychologist, I’m interested how touch/gesture applications can address accessibility and universal usability issues.
I wasn't able to locate user experience or usability information for Win7. Here are a few links from the Microsoft website that I think are worth reading:
Regarding touch/gesture interaction, know that “19% (24.4 million) of computer users have a mild dexterity difficulty or impairment, and 5% (6.8 million) of computer users have a severe dexterity difficulty or impairment.”
Christian Moore, from the NUI-Group, shared this nice graphic that depicts the various fields that intersect or converge with interface design, which I think is useful when thinking about how we will design, develop, and use emerging technologies:
Concepts such as accessibility and universal usability can fit into this design!
I received couple of interesting links about interactive multimedia applications from Anthony Uhrick, of NextWindow, who is attending CES (Consumer Electronics Show). (NextWindow is the company who produces large touch-screen displays that have duo and multi-touch capabilities.)
Kevin Kennedy and his team at InterKnowlogy partnered with Zygote 3D Human Anatomy and Intermountain Health Care to develop a health care application developed in Windows Presentation Foundation to run on Microsoft's multi-touch Surface computing table.
The application supports collaboration between health care professionals and could also support collaboration between patients and doctors as well. Aspects of the application could be useful for patient education.
I really liked the part that demonstrates how you can zoom deeply into the 3D heart and look at things from various angles.
The above video demos an application that might be useful for teaching history with an interesting timeline interface dial.
Visit InterKnowlogy for more videos and information about what they are doing with Windows Presentation & Silverlight as partners with Microsoft's Surface team.
If you are interested in more 3D anatomy, visit Zygote's 3D Human Anatomy site and 3D Science. If you are an educator, you'll see that 3D interaction has potential for creating more engaging science and health education lessons!
Another interesting link is to TouchTV Networks, which has partnered with companies such as Vectorform, who are also working with multi-touch applications using Windows Presentation Foundation.
Video from TouchTV Networks of CES 2009 Demo:
Vectorform's Virtual Drum Kit application:
Vectorform's Surface at School - demonstrates how this can be used in a classroom:
