Microvision's SHOWWX Laser Pico Projector: I want one!

Microvision's SHOWWX laser pico projector is not yet available in the U.S. This mobile projector connects to a variety of devices and looks like it would be quite useful in a variety of situations. The picture below is from the Microvision SHOWWX website, where you can find additional information, a photo/video gallery, and a place to sign up for further information.

Acording to ubergizmo, the Microvision Show laser pico projector "connects directly to laptops, mobile phones portable media players, digital cameras, and other devices to project large, high -resolutions onto any surface"

IEEE One Voice: Sharing the accomplishments and potential of people involved in technology and engineering. Great for sharing with students to encourage STEM studies!

John R. Vig, IEEE President and CEO, recently wrote a column about the need to share with the world the importance of the accomplishments of people who work in technological fields. In his column, he refers to the IEEE One Voice video, which I think is something all young people should view as they gather information for making important decisions for the future.

IEEE is a professional organization that is not limited to the stereotype of an "engineer". If you are a parent, teacher, school counselor, or mentor to a young person, take the time to learn more about the range of careers related to engineering and technology.

If you know a seventh or eighth grade student, take a look at IEEE's Future City Competition, designed to provide young people an opportunity to learn more about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields while teaming with engineers who are volunteer mentors to create computer models, then three dimensional models, of a future city. The Future City program is part of the National Engineers Week foundation.

RELATED National Engineers Week Foundation Discovering Engineering Toolkit Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (February 18, 2010) Engineering Your Life ( This is a great site for encouraging girls to consider engineering and related fields, great for career exploration activities, as it covers a variety of engineering disciplines.) Below is a list of the various IEEE societies, taken from the IEEE website.  If we want to encourage our young people to consider STEM fields, it is important that we know we're talking about! IEEE Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society IEEE Broadcast Technology Society IEEE Circuits and Systems Society IEEE Communications Society IEEE Components Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Society IEEE Computational Intelligence Society IEEE Computer Society IEEE Consumer Electronics Society IEEE Control Systems Society IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society IEEE Education Society IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society IEEE Electron Devices Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Geoscience & Remote Sensing Society IEEE Industrial Electronics Society IEEE Industry Applications Society IEEE Information Theory Society IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society IEEE Magnetics Society IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society IEEE Photonics Society IEEE Power and Energy Society IEEE Power Electronics Society IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society IEEE Professional Communication Society IEEE Reliability Society IEEE Robotics & Automation Society IEEE Signal Processing Society IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society IEEE Standards Association IEEE Systems Man and Cybernetics Society IEEE Technology Management Council IEEE Ultrasonics Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society IEEE Vehicular Technology Society IEEE Women in Engineering

More interactivity: Interactive Walls, Interactive Projection Systems, GestureTek's Motion-based Game

I recently discovered that Accenture's website has a few interactive web pages that provide information about the company's interactive wall technology.  What I liked about the site is that I could interact with it by touching the screen of my HP TouchSmart PC, and it worked!  (I'm always on the look-out for interactive websites that are good for touch-screen interaction.)


Below are screen shots of the on-line semi-functional demo of Accenture's Strategic Decision Interface:

(The website worked through touch-interaction via my HP TouchSmart PC!)

For more information:  Interactive Wall Technology:  Seeing the Big Picture


Newfangled Projector Systems:
New Projectors Make Any Wall an Interactive Whiteboard: Epson, Boxlight unveil potentially game-changing technology -Meris Stansbury, eSchool News 1/13/10

"In a move that could shake up the interactive whiteboard (IWB) market, two projector manufacturers have just released new products that can turn virtually any surface into an IWB...The development means schools no longer have to buy separate hardware to enjoy the benefits of IWBs, whose interactive surface and ability to engage students have made them quite popular in classrooms."

The article highlights Epson's BrightLink 450i ultra short-throw projector which eliminates most shadows, and images can be anywhere from 59 to 96 inches diagonally with WXGA resolution.  The system requires an infrared pen. 


Another system is the ProjectoWrite2/W from Boxlight, which is a short-throw LCD projector with XGA resolution that can project up to 80 inches diagonally.


GestureTek


I've written a few blogs in the past about GestureTek.  I wonder if their technology would work with the projection systems mentioned in the eSchool News article. Below are a few examples of what GestureTek's been doing lately:


GestureTek's Video Game Wall at the Child's Play Activity Center (Las Vegas)







The above pictures of the Child's Play Activity Center show how GestureTek's WallFX interactive display system can be used to create a fun environment for children. The system includes a ceiling projector and a camera that can capture full-body motion.  The system provides 25 games and special effects.  Wouldn't this concept be great for interactive and fun educational games?


For details about this system:
GestureTek's video game wall shows where gesture-based games can go
-Dean Takahashi, GamesBeat, 8/25/09


GestureTek's Immersive Multi-platform Game:  Head-butting Interactive Soccer

"Video gesture control pioneer GestureTek., unveiled its new Momo™ Software Development Kit for game developers and original equipment manufacturers at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. Gesture recognition software tracks motion and objects such as faces and hands and brings immersive, gesture-based interactivity to multiple platforms, such as PCs, laptops, mobile phones, toys and other devices. The video is a demonstration of a head-butting soccer game."
GestureTek Interactive City Flight Simulator Game

How It Works: Microsoft's Project Natal for the Xbox 360 video from Scientific American


Microsoft gathered a wealth of biometric data to recognize the range of human movement in order to develop an algorithm for the next generation of controller-less gaming. "Natal will consist of a depth sensor that uses infrared signals to create a digital 3-D model of a player's body as it moves, a video camera that can pick up fine details such as facial expressions, and a microphone that can identify and locate individual voices."


The technology behind Natal has the potential for a range of uses beyond gaming.

Scientific American article:
Binary Body Double:  Microsoft Reveals the Science Behind Project Natal for Xbox 360

Ubice = Multi-touch On Ice at the Nokia Research Center in Finland (Video + Pic via Albrecht Schmidt)

Albrecht Schmidt posted a link to the following video on his User Interface Engineering blog -
watch how the multi-touch surface is built from ice blocks:



The following pictures are from Albrecht Schmidt's User Interface Engineering blog:


What a great idea for a "Winterfest"!    They should take it to the next level:  Multi-touch ice sculpture.


(Cross-posted on The World Is My Interface blog.)

Classroom of the Future: Orchestrating Collaborative Spaces (Interesting book!)

I'd like to share a link to a new book that looks worth reading:  "Classroom of the Future:  Orchestrating Collaborative Spaces".

I follow the blogs of two of the book's authors.   Stefano Baraldi is  a researcher and consultant in the field of HCI, and  Albrecht Schmidt, a professor and chair of pervasive computing and User Interface Engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.

"The future of the classroom is an issue that essentially concerns many of us as students, parents, taxpayers, policymakers, teachers, design professionals, or researchers. A glance at the history of pedagogical practice reveals, however, that despite rapid developments in the outside world, classrooms have evolved very little over the years. While our understanding of learning and favourable learning environments has substantially improved and technological innovations are offering a variety of new possibilities, it still seems that most of today’s schools and universities remain more or less unaffected by these developments.

This book brings together the perspectives of researchers, architects, technical designers, and teachers on emerging theoretical and technological developments pertaining to the classroom of the future.

Innovative ideas are offered on how new technologies and learning approaches can be integrated into schools. It challenges us to think of learning spaces in a new way. Classroom of the Future is of interest to researchers and students, designers and educators across various disciplines including education, cognitive, social and educational psychology, didactics, computer science and design as well as to parents and policymakers." (Publisher's description)

Free preview of the book (1st chapter)

For your convenience, the book's table of contents:

1. The Classroom of the future - an introduction ......................................................1

Kati Mäkitalo-Siegl, Jan Zottmann, Frederic Kaplan and Frank Fischer

Part I: Learning Spaces Shaped by Instructional, Classroom, and School Building Design

2. The classroom of the past .................................................................................15

Andreas Schratzenstaller

3. Spaces for learning — schools for the future?     ...................................................41

Joanna Sutherland and Rosamund Sutherland

Part II: Facilitating Learning Using Technology-Enhanced Objects and Furniture

4. Taking teaching beyond the classroom: Pervasive computing technologies

for the classroom of the future    ..........................................................................63

Paul Holleis, Albrecht Schmidt, Heiko Drewes, Richard Atterer and Petra Dollinger

5. Making the classroom a play-ground for knowledge         ................. .....................87

Stefano Baraldi

6. Computer support for children’s collaborative story-making in the classroom...........115

Giulia Gelmini Hornsby

7. Scriptable classrooms ......................................................................................141

Frederic Kaplan and Pierre Dillenbourg

Part III: Knowledge Building in Virtual and Physical Learning Spaces

8. Knowledge communities in the classroom of the future........................................163

Nicolae Nistor

9. Digital cultural heritage to support novel activities in the classroom of the future...181

Lily Díaz and Lotta Partanen

Part IV: Joint Efforts for Designing and Implementing Future Spaces of Learning

10. Designing tomorrow’s classroom with today’s teachers ........................................199

Andreas Lingnau

11. Evolving the classrooms of the future: The interplay of pedagogy, technology

and community ...................................................................................................215

Jim Slotta

Part V: Discussion

12. Turning the classroom of the future into the classroom of the present..................245

Ingo Kollar

List of contributors..............................................................................................257

Author index.......................................................................................................259

Subject index......................................................................................................267

Stefano Baraldi's blog:  On the Tabletop

Albrecht Schmidt's blog:  User Interface Engineering