Art + Tech: The work of Aparna Rao and Soren Pors - a Ted Talk video worth watching!

Arparna Rao: High-tech art (with a sense of humor)

Aparna Rao is an artist from Bangalore, India, who creates interactive installations supported by electro-mechanical systems.  She collaborates with artist Soren Pors.


RELATED
Pors & Rao website - a delightful interactive website highlighting the works of Arpana Rao and Soren Pors.  Below are pictures of some of the duo's work, along with links to the Vadehra Art Gallery, where the works can be viewed online:


Pygmies: http://www.vadehraart.com/exhibition/viewDetails/63/1285
Decoy: http://www.vadehraart.com/exhibition/viewDetails/63/1287

Drifter: http://www.vadehraart.com/exhibition/viewDetails/63/1288

Revisiting Good Blogs - Web of Things: "Architecting the Web of Things for Tinkerers and Hackers"

One of my interests is pervasive computing, which casts a very wide "web".  That's why I like the Web of Things blog.  Below is an excerpt from the "About" section of the blog:

"Why do you want to change the Internet? What’s wrong with it? 
Not much really. It’s just a little boring. It only contains data published by other humans, but it’s not enough linked with our physical reality, not real time / real world enough for our taste! 


Why should I read this blog? 
Well depends how much you care about technology. It’s both for geeks/hackers who need a playground to develop and try ideas. But it’s also for the security expert who wants to take part to make the Web a safer place to hang out. It’s also for people who want to find new ideas." 


More about the Web of Things: 
"The Web of Things is a community of developers, researchers, and designers that explore the future of the physical Web. We explore how to leverage Web standards to interconnect all types of embedded devices (sensors, mobile phones, etc.) in order to make them easier to use and to integrate in classic Web applications. We aim to build a future Web of devices that is truly open, flexible, and scalable, and we believe Web standards are the best way to do it." 


The Web of Things blog was founded by Dominique Guinard and Vlad Trifa, two "researchers/geeks" working at ETH Zurich and SAP Research Zurich.

GOOGLE LABS R.I.P.: My favorite thing about Google is GONE!

RIP GOOGLE LABS      : O     : <        :  (        :  {        :  \        :  [      


I visited Google Labs today and this is what I found:

Here are a few articles and posts about this topic:
Google Labs is Closing? That's Unthinkable - Whether or Not It's a Good Idea
Harry McCracken, Technologizer, 7/20/11
Google Labs shuts down, the end of an era
Ray Walters, ExremeTech, 10/14/11
Google's Clearout Sweeps Away Code Search 
Alex Armstrong, I Programmer, 10/16/11
Google takes the axe to Buzz and others, focuses on Google+
Meghan Kelly, SocialBeat 10/14/11
Why is Google Shuttering Google Labs?
John C. Dvorak, PC Magazine, 7/22/11
More Wood Behind Fewer Arrows
The Official Google Blog 7/20/11
Larry Page's Remarks

RELATED
I was able to find some links to Google Code Labs at http://code.google.com/intl/en/labs/

A few interesting tech links from Experienta/Putting People First and HCI 596 Blog

No time for reflective blogging today, so here are a few interesting links!


The future of the TV Experience 
(Article discusses Blink, a media industry magazine)


Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces Conference (DPPI 11)

Cambridge Consultants: Patients Want More User-Friendly Medical Devices
Levent Ozler, Dexinger, 6/3/11

Internet of things blurs the lines of bits and atoms
Katia Moskvitch, BBC News, 6/2/11


NESTA: Hot Topics: Digital You-Discussion about Telepresence

Hot Topics - Digital You from NESTA UK on Vimeo.


NESTA is the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts


RELATED
The following links provide a wealth of resources related to emerging technologies and human-computer interaction:
Experientia - Putting People First blog
HCI  596 blog 
"This blog is for the HCI 596 course being taught at Iowa State University through it's Human-Computer Interaction program."
NESTA 

The New Media Consortium Needs Examples of K-12 Tech. Innovations for the 2011 NMC Horizon Report

The following information was taken from the New Media Consortium website. The deadline is April 1st - sorry for the late notice - it came across my path just today:

"We are pleased to announce that the Advisory Board for the 2010 NMC Horizon Report: K12 Edition has selected the six topics for this year's report:

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less  * Cloud Computing * Mobiles

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years * Game-Based Learning * Open Content

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years * Learning Analytics * Personal Learning Environments

Call for Examples
We are interested in learning about any kind of research, pilot programs, innovative projects, or faculty work happening at your school in any of the six areas listed above. (See the attached 2011 NMC Horizon Report: K12 Edition Preview of the topics for more details.) Our goal is to help readers understand the potential impact of these technologies and their applications on teaching, learning, or creative inquiry.

How to Participate
If you know of examples we could include, please use the brief web form at go.nmc.org/horizon-example-project  to tell us about them. We ask for a title, a URL, and a one- or two-sentence description; you also will need to select which of the six topics your example falls under. The process takes about two minutes. We hope to have your examples by Friday, April 1, but no matter what, we'd love to hear about what you are doing. The url above is always open to pointers to great projects."

For more information:
2011 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition - Preview of Topics (pdf)

Thanks to Liz Dorland for the link!

Interesting animation made with Google Docs presentation app. (Google Demo Slam), via Flowing Data

The video below was an entry in the Google Demo Slam,  an effort started by Google to share the word with the world about their innovative technologies.  By the time I learned of Epic Docs Animation, the video had over 800,000 views.  I plan to view a few more Google Demo Slam videos over the holiday break!


-Tu+, Namroc, and Metcalf 

For more information and Demo Slam videos, visit Google's Demo Slam website: "Welcome to Demo Slam, Where Amazing Tech Demos Battle for Your Enjoyment"

RELATED
Epic animation in Google Docs
Nathan Yau, Flowing Data, 12/22/10
Google's rationale for creating Demo Slam:
"We spend our time making a whole bunch of technologies that are free for the world, but a lot of people dont even know about them. And that kind of sucks. So, we thought organizing the world's most creative tech demo battle would be a great way to help spread the word and teach people about tech. Not to mention, it is a lot of fun."
About Demo Slam
Hall of Demo Champs

IDEO's Human Centered Design Toolkit - A MUST READ and a great resource!

Update 12/3/12:  The IDEO HCD Toolkit is available for download, but you will need to sign up in order to download the free 105-page copy on the IDEO  HCD Connect website.


The 105-page document is a great resource from IDEO, a global design consultancy.  It is clearly written and contains a variety of pictures, charts, and diagrams that facilitate the understanding of concepts.  A 61-page field guide is also available for download, and provides support for facilitators of design projects to lead group meetings and individual interviews. It includes exercises that teams should complete before going out into the field.


"Why Human-Centered Design?"
"Because it can help your organization connect better with the people you serve.  It can transform data into actionable ideas.  It can help you to see new opportunities.  It can help to increase the speed and effectiveness of creating new solutions." -IDEO


The HCD Toolkit, 2nd Edition, was prepared for use by organizations that work with communities of need, primarily in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which is important for high school students to know about, particularly those who are pretty sure about pursuing further education in a technology-related field.  


I also think that exposure to concepts related to human-centered design focused on work in developing countries would be helpful to encourage more female students to enroll in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses.  (This still is a significant problem. Both of the high schools I work at have very few girls in the computer programming classes, even though both schools have at least one female who teaches programming!)


At any rate, I think this toolkit should be a MUST READ for anyone interested in emerging technologies and human-centered design, anywhere on the planet. It transcends the concept of "design as a job that must be done" to something that can facilitate broader innovation across organizations, our communities, and the world.


The toolkit is full of tidbits of wisdom:


"Tip 1" (addresses the measurement of outcomes, akin to the "miracle question" used in solution-focused therapy/counseling/consulting.)
"Ask yourself what you would expect to see happening if the solutions were improving the lives of people. For example, if your goal was to increase household income, would women starting more businesses be an early indicator? If your goal was to increase childhood vaccinations, would the number of casual conversations about vaccines be a possible indicator?" -page 99
"Tip 2"
"It is critical to track the effects of solutions on men and women, young and old, empowered and disempowered – even if your ideas are focused on other groups. Often the group that is not the intended audience for the solutions is a key player in the implementation and use of solutions." -page 99


The toolkit also provides useful cautions:
"Watch Out"
"Often teams look for only the positive and intended consequences. To get a full view of impact, it is critical to challenge yourself to look for the negative and unintended
consequences of solutions." -page 99


The toolkit provides specific strategies, including helpful worksheets and forms, and good advice about story sharing, prototyping, identification of patterns, and so forth. Below is an example:





-IDEO



-IDEO, via Fast Company
Note:  The Human-Centered Design Toolkit was developed with the International Development Enterprises (IDE), Heifer International, ICRW, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

RELATED (and somewhat related)
Design Thinking for Social Innovation (Stanford Social Innovation Review,Tim Brown & Jocelyn Wyatt, Winter 2010)
IDEO's Guide to Designing for Social Impact
About IDEO:
Founded in 1991, IDEO is a global innovation and design firm that uses a human-centered, design-based approach to help organizations in the business, governments, education, healthcare, and social sectors grow and innovate.
Open-Source Innovation:  IDEO's Human-Centered Design Toolkit (Fast Company, Allisa Walker, 7/7/09)
Video: CEO of IDEO, Tim Brown, on Creativity, Play, and Innovation
(Touches on how our schools and work environments can and do suck out our playfulness and creativity, and provides interesting, simple suggestions.)

A few things from LM3Labs

I just noticed an interactive section of Lm3labs' website that demonstrates a range of interesting pictures that provide a nice overview of the company's work within the retail sector.  Lm3labs has offices in France and Japan.

The company, run by Nicolas Loeillot, is also involved in non-retail projects, such as museum exhibits, focusing on "touch-less" interactivity.  I've included a few pictures and videos below.

Microsoft's Photosynth on Lm3lab's touch-less Ubiq'window:

Photosynth + Ubiq'window Interactive Screen
by ubiqwindow

Demo of video-guide on a Ubiq'window:

Ubiq'window Demo in the US from Nicolas Loeillot on Vimeo.

Pictures of Lm3Lab's installations at Toshiba:
 





Somewhat Related
Nicolas Loeillot's Photos

Tangible User Interfaces Part II: More Examples, Resources, and Use for TUI's in Education

In Part I of my "mini-series" about Tangible User Interfaces, I discussed the origins of TUI and provided some examples of Siftables. In this section, I've provided some links to information about Tangible User Interfaces and the abstracts of two articles pertaining to TUI's in educational settings.

Zen Waves: A Digital (musical) Zen Garden


reactable from Nick M. on Vimeo.

Reactable

More about the Reactable
"The reactable hardware is based on a translucent, round multi-touch surface. A camera situated beneath the table, continuously analyzes the surface, tracking the player's finger tips and the nature, position and orientation of physical objects that are distributed on its surface. These objects represent the components of a classic modular synthesizer, the players interact by moving these objects, changing their distance, orientation and the relation to each other. These actions directly control the topological structure and parameters of the sound synthesizer. A projector, also from underneath the table, draws dynamic animations on its surface, providing a visual feedback of the state, the activity and the main characteristics of the sounds produced by the audio synthesizer."

The Bubblegum Sequencer: Making Music with Candy


Jabberstamp: Embedding Sound and Voice in Children's Drawings(pdf)
(A TUI application to support literacy development in children)

Affective TouchCasting (pdf)

TapTap: A Haptic Wearable for Asynchronous Distributed Touch Therapy (pdf)

BodyBeats: Whole-Body, Musical Interfaces for Children (pdf)

Telestory is a Siftables application that looks like it would be quite useful for supporting children who have communication disorders or autism spectrum disorders.

Telestory Siftables application from Jeevan Kalanithi on Vimeo.

"Telestory is an educational, language learning application created by Seth Hunter. In this video, the child is looking at a television screen. He can control onscreen characters, events and objects with the siftables. For example, he has the dog and cat interact by placing the dog and cat siftables next to each other." TeleStory Project Website

Here is a video of how Siftables can be used as equation editors:

Siftables Equation Editor from Jeevan Kalanithi on Vimeo.

RESOURCES ABOUT TUI'S:

5 lessons about tangible interfaces, GDC Lyon, December 2007(pdf) Nicolas Nova

Special Issue on Tangible and Embedded Interaction (Guest Editors: Eva Hornecker, Albrecht Schmidt, Brygg Ullmer) Journal of Arts and Technology (IJART) Volume 1 Issue 3/4 - 2008

Reality-Based Interaction: A Framework for Post-WIMP Interfaces (pdf)

Here are a couple of abstracts of articles related to the use of TUI's in education:

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Computer-Based Training Using Tangible User Interface for Low-Functioning Children with Autism Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Digital Games and Intelligent Toys

"Recently, the number of children having autism disorder increases rapidly all over the world. Computer-based training (CBT) has been applied to autism spectrum disorder treatment. Most CBT applications are based on the standard WIMP interface. However, recent study suggests that a Tangible User Interface (TUI) is easier to use for children with autism than the WIMP interface. In this paper, the efficiency of the TUI training system is considered, in comparison with a conventional method of training basic geometric shape classification. A CBT system with TUI was developed using standard computer equipment and a consumer video camera. The experiment was conducted to measure learning efficacy of the new system and the conventional training method. The results show that, under the same time constraint, children with autism who practiced with the new system were able to learn more shapes than those participating in the conventional method."

Towards a framework for investigating tangible environments for learning Sara Price, Jennifer G. Sheridan, Taciana Pontual Falcao, George Roussos, London Knowledge Lab, 2008

"External representations have been shown to play a key role in mediating cognition. Tangible environments offer the opportunity for novel representational formats and combinations, potentially increasing representational power for supporting learning. However, we currently know little about the specific learning benefits of tangible environments, and have no established framework within which to analyse the ways that external representations work in tangible environments to support learning. Taking external representation as the central focus, this paper proposes a framework for investigating the effect of tangible technologies on interaction and cognition. Key artefact-action-representation relationships are identified, and classified to form a structure for investigating the differential cognitive effects of these features. An example scenario from our current research is presented to illustrate how the framework can be used as a method for investigating the effectiveness of differential designs for supporting science learning"

Yet another video about an interactive touch-table desk with potential for educational settings

Here is yet another video of a touch table from Microsoft's Center for Information Work that I think has great potential for use in education settings and for "serious games".

Microsoft appears to be targeting business, retail, and entertainment for new "surface computing" applications. I'd like to see Microsoft focus some of their efforts with this technology on education, as I think this technology would support "engaged learning". It might also inspire young people to consider future careers in technology. Given that we have a high school dropout-rate of about 30% in the US, we don't have too much time to waste.


This system allows for hands-free search via voice, which would be great for people who have physical disabilities.

As a school psychologist, I can see many uses for this sort of set-up to support what I do at work. I can envision interactive assessments on this table- if you work in education or psychology, or if you are interested in this sort of technology, leave a comment!

Microsoft's Center for Information Work, the group working on the technology behind the table shown in the video clip.

For a glimpse of some of the work I did last semester using touch-screen displays, take a look at the following posts:

Touch Screen Poetry Picture Share

Google Earth with photo-overlays

Google Earth photo-overlay on a touch screen