Interactive Multimedia Technology

May 23, 2009

Razorfish's Touch Framework "Razorfashion" - A lot like my idea for an in-home FashionMirrorAdvisor...

Razorfish recently unveiled the Razorfashion application designed to provide shoppers with an engaging retail experience within the "multi-channel shopping ecosystem". I'm not the "shop to you drop" type of gal, but I can see that this concept could be useful in other situations, after a few tweaks.

Razorfashion Retail Experience from Razorfish - Emerging Experiences on Vimeo.

As soon as I saw this Razorfish Touch "Fashion" demo video, it touched a nerve. I've been playing around with a similar idea, but for my personal use, in the form of an RFID-enabled system. I'd call it something like "FashionMirrorAdvisor".

Instead of showing skinny fashion models like the Razorfashion application, I'd harness the power of built-in web-cam and mirror my own image on the screen. My mirror would dress me up in the morning when I'm way too foggy to think about matching colors and accessories.

My FashionMirrorAdvisor would be my friend. My "smart" friend, since all of my clothes would be RFID-tagged, along with my shoes, jewelry, and other accessories. My make-up, too.

It would be a no-brainer. I really could use this application - just ask my husband!

More often than not, most mornings I find myself staring at the clothes in my closet, frozen in time, unable to formulate a fashion thought. I might set my eyes on a favorite blouse, but blank out when I try to think about the rest of the steps I need to pull my look together.

I know I can't wear my reddish-pink camisole with my dusty-orange/brown slacks, but at 5:15 A.M., who has the time to think about this little detail? My friend, the TouchFashionMirror would prevent me from making this fashion faux-pas.

No problem.

My FashionMirrorAdvisor would show me a few outfits, and dress my real-time moving image on the screen. Since she knows all things, she'd show me ONLY the articles of clothing that were clean, since my RFID system would keep up with all of that. It would be much more functional than a "virtual wardrobe" application.

I could try out different earrings without having to get them out.

If I couldn't find something, the RFID system would take care of this detail. My FashioMirrorAdvisor would know where I misplaced my clothes, accessories, and even my keys, since they would all be tagged. The mirror application would provide me with a nice little map of my house and car, and highlight the location of the item.

My FashionMirrorAdvisor would keep track of my laundry, too. This would be a great feature. So if my dirty laundry was piling up, and I wanted to wear outfit X, Y, or Z over the next few days, I'd receive a gentle reminder that I'd need to do some laundry first!

Another practical feature:

My FashionMirrorAdvisor would also serve as my health consultant, keeping track of my weight and BMI. This data, along with information gained from the webcam, would be combined so that my advisor would NEVER suggest an outfit that would be too...snug.

I could program the system to provide me with gentle reminders if my weight was an issue. My FashionMirrorAdvisor would show me images of myself "before" and "after", outfits included.

Information about the "after" outfits could be fed to the system from the web-catalogs of my favorite fashion retailers, and once I lost those 10 darned pounds, I'd find a nice parcel delivered to my door.

Thanks to my FashionMirrorAdvisor, I know that the outfit would be just right.

UPDATE 5/8/10: The FashionMirrorAdvisor would be integrated with a mobile app - since I now have a smartphone, this would be quite useful in planning shopping trips centered around the purchase of new clothes, shoes, accessories, and coordinating cosmetics! I created a little game that I think would be ideal for this sort of thing, too.

I still want to work on this....someday.

Too many ideas, too little time!

RELATED
From the Razorfish site:
"The Razorfish Emerging Experiences team is a dedicated group of highly experienced professionals focused solely on emerging experiences and technologies. "Effective innovation" is our multifaceted approach to concepting and delivering pioneering solutions for our clients"

"Founded in 2008, Razorfish Emerging Experiences is a cross-functional team composed of strategists, artists, experience designers, and technologists. We’re part of the Razorfish Strategy & Innovation practice led by Shannon Denton. Jonathan Hull is the managing director of the team, Steve Dawson is the technology lead and Luke Hamilton is the creative lead."

Razorfish Emerging Experiences Portfolio

May 22, 2009

Axiotron's Mac Modbook

Axiotron's Tablet Mac

http://www.axiotron.com/fileadmin/templates/axt/img/143_01_fp_slice.jpg

http://www.axiotron.com/fileadmin/templates/axt/img/am_mar_01_MODBOOK-SLICED.jpg

$$$$. If it was multi-touch, I'd buy it.

Multimedia Business Cards, Face Tracker from LM3LABS

Multimedia augmented business cards offered by Lm3Labs. When a corporate logo on the business card is viewed by a customer's webcam, multimedia events are triggered:

Augmented Business Card from Nicolas Loeillot on Vimeo.

"Catchyoo Face Tracker tracks faces of passing people for creating eye-catching interactivity with digital content. Faces become pointers which trigger events and follow people".

This window looks like it would be fun to play with!

LM3LABS English
LM3LABS JP

May 20, 2009

xXtraLab's Multi-touch Projects

xXtraLab is an interaction design firm located in Taiwan. The xxtralab team has been working on some interesting multi-touch projects. Take a look!

Multi-touch wall for briefing and real-time info sharing
Multisensory iTea-table

LIVING 3.0 - multi-sensory i-TeaTable and briefWall from xxtralab on Vimeo.

NIKE 6453 TPE Multi-touch Table

NIKE 6453 Interactive Table from xxtralab on Vimeo.

"xXtraLab Design Co. is one of the leading multimedia company in Taiwan, focusing on the design & engineering of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) interfaces in museum, exposition, and showrooms (client lists here). Members of xXtraLab come from diversifying fields such as visual design, digital media, architecture, interior design, information engineering, design computing, industrial design, and fine art. we respect different cultural views and work as a multi-disciplinary team to offer inclusive design services."

Kodu: A visual programming language made for children to create games, running on the Xbox, using a game controller for input.

"The core of the Kodu project is the programming user interface. The language is simple and entirely icon-based. Programs are composed of pages, which are broken down into rules, which are further divided into conditions and actions. Conditions are evaluated simultaneously.

The Kodu language is designed specifically for game development and provides specialized primitives derived from gaming scenarios. Programs are expressed in physical terms, using concepts like vision, hearing, and time to control character behavior. While not as general-purpose as classical programming languages, Kodu can express advanced game design concepts in a simple, direct, and intuitive manner." -Microsoft

Video from MSR Techfest (low quality, but provides an example of Kodu in action)