Off Topic: My Summer Vacation Pictures

The pictures were taken in Scotland, Norway, Ireland, England, and France.

Interactive Multimedia Technology Themes -Update on Travel Technologies

Over the next month or so I will be re-organizing this blog. I'll be analyzing the various themes that have emerged since I started this on 4/11/06, over three years ago, as part of an assignment for a class about distance education and on-line communication tools.

My first topic was "Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds". Although I continue to focus on those themes, I mostly center around off-the-desktop interactive, collaborative, and emerging technologies that support interaction and activities in public spaces.

One theme that interests me is technology that supports travel experiences. Since I've had the opportunity to travel a great deal (before the economy started to go downhill), I've had a chance to explore this arena as a participant-observer*, and have documented my findings through photographs and video.

It is a joke in my family that if I disappear from the tribe, I can usually be found nearby, poking at an interactive touch screen, photographing something related to technology, or sneaking in a few shots of other people interacting with technology, and sometimes even talking to strangers as they use technology. (I usually ask permission to take pictures of people who are in my view finder, but sometimes they just happen to be in my line of sight.)

It is amazing what an earful you can get about technology as a fellow traveller!

I came across the work of Nanonation when I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, and was a little disappointed with the touch-screen content and interaction around the ship. From what I can tell from the NanoNation website, the applications have been improved somewhat, especially the way-finding application on the Freedom of the Seas:

Wayfinding Application, Freedom of the Seas

-Nanonation

Nanonation was also involved in the development of a "Discovery Wall" at the Umpqua bank. This system incorporates tangible icons that sit on a shelf located near the Discovery Wall that trigger an interactive flash presentation on a screen. The icons represent various bank products, and are RFID enabled.

Discovery Wall, Umpqua Bank

-Nanonation

Back to the topic of cruise ship/travel technology:

When I was on the Ruby Princess cruise in December of 2008, I was impressed with the "Movies Under the Stars" set-up. At night, the sunning decks are transformed into out-door movie viewing spots, where you can lounge around, basking under the stars at you watch the gigantic silver screen and excellent sound system.

During the day, the system is used to display games that people play on the Wii, which provides the non-playing sunbathers additional entertainment.

I recently learned that the Movies Under the Stars system was developed and installed by FUNA, an international company that focuses on marine-related industries, as well as land-based industries.

Take a look to my "Wii-OOH" Flickr set slideshow to see the Wii in action on the large screen of the Ruby Princess, and on smaller screens in the food-court of the Concord Mills (NC) mall:

(Note, the mall pictures were taken with my cell phone.)

I want to go back!

HCI Note

*I was trained in the use of participant observation long ago, when I was studying social science

and psychology at the University of Michigan. It is a method that was developed early on by anthropologists

and sociologists, and adopted later by researchers in other fields. Some human-computer interaction

researchers use this method, and related techniques, such as ethnography, in their work.

Kicker Touchscreen Conference Phone (front)

Kicker Touchscreen Conference Phone (front)
Originally uploaded by Kicker Studio

I am a fan of the work by Kicker Studios. I especially enjoy reading their blog that gives great details about how product design is done. I always come away from the blog with something new.

In the case of the touch-screen conference phone, the designers focused on their own needs, since they spend a chunk of time in conference calls. To get a closer look at the design process behind this phone, see the blog post, " Product Concept: Touch Screen Conference Phone".

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I learned that Twitter was hacked, just after I blogged about privacy & security & emerging technologies..

After reading a few things about emerging technologies and concerns about privacy and security, I posted the following to my Technology-Supported Human-World Interaction blog.

Pervasive Computing, DOOH, Intelligent Buildings, Programmable Nano Sensors, Privacy & Security & Ethics.. hmmm

Right after that, I learned that Twitter was hacked. Here is the TechCrunch article:

In Our Inbox: Hundreds Of Confidential Twitter Documents

"Here’s a dilemma: The guy (”Hacker Croll”) who claims to have accessed hundreds of confidential corporate and personal documents of Twitter and Twitter employees, is releasing those documents publicly and sent them to us earlier today. The zip file contained 310 documents, ranging from executive meeting notes, partner agreements and financial projections to the meal preferences, calendars and phone logs of various Twitter employee".

I think issues related to privacy, security, ethics, and emerging/social technologies need to be discussed more extensively among academicians, industry leaders, students, and the general public. We don't know what we don't know.

Mobile Gesture Design at Nokia: Gesture Interaction Around the World

From the Nokia Conversations YouTube Channel:


The video explains it all.

(Fritz Desir, thanks for the link!)

Multi-touch Virtual Poker?!

Andrew Milner, of Perth, Australia, recently developed the Hold'Em 1000 Virtual Poker Table. The system provide video streaming of all players, and tracks every player action. Take a look at the video:


I don't play poker, so I don't really know if it would be more exciting to play the virtual version of the game. I don't have the $20,000.00 on hand to find out, but I am sure that this table would be well-received at high-end club that serves the rich, trendy, and famous.

For more information, visit videopokertable.net.

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Touchscreen Virtual Poker Table is a Tech Royal Flush
Nick Broughall, Gizmodo, 7/10/09