Interactive Tweet Topic Explorer, by Jeff Clark

Thanks to Nathan Yau (FlowingData) for the link!


If you use twitter, you might like exploring Jeff Clark's on-line interactive Tweet Topic Explorer to get a new perspective of your tweets, or the tweets of others. (Just enter the twitter ID in the search box in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.)  
Here is a screenshot of my tweets.

Jeff Clark created this application using Processing.js. According to his blog post, it works well in the Chrome browser, and doesn't work in IE. Jeff is a programmer with an academic background in Applied Physics and Mathematics, and is interested in data mining, statistical analysis, and visualizations. You can learn more about Jeff Clark's work, and visually-inspired thoughts/communication on his Neoformix blog.

RELATED
Tweet Topic Explorer
Jeff Clark, Neoformix 4/19/11
Word Cluster Diagram
Jeff Clark, Neoformix, 4/18/11
See what you and others tweet about with the Tweet Topic Explorer
Nathan Yau, Flowing Data, 4/20/11

Mathematica 8: Resources, free online seminars, plus TED-talk video: "Teaching kids real math with computers"

I admit it.  Once in a while, I wake up after having a dream with a re-occurring theme of algorithms, technology, and programming.  It happened again this morning, inspiring me to take a look at the Wolfram Mathematica website. 


Here are a few on-line seminars I might take a look at soon:

Seminar: What's New in Mathematica 8?

"To give a broad overview of the major new features in Mathematica 8, including free-form linguistic input and Wolfram|Alpha integration, probability and statistics, finance, control systems, graphs and networks, improved image processing, wavelet analysis, C code generation, and more, using example-driven material."

Statistics and Data Analysis with Mathematica 8
Image Processing with Mathematica (Seminar description and registration)


Look at what I found while exploring the Wolfram suite of websites!


TEDGlobal 2010: 
Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers



RELATED
Mathematica 8 Seminar Calendar
Image Processing and Analysis (Info)
Interface development with Mathematica (I haven't tried this out.)
Here are a few links about the arts and math, from the Wolfram site:
Mathematica and High Fashion
Art Inspires a Lesson in Calculus
Computer Science PRofessor Sculpts Award-Winning Art with Mathematica
Wolfram Tones: An experiment in a new kind of music
Mathematica Music Demonstrations
Computerbasedmath.org 
Conrad Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram

FYI:  For those of you who are curious to know more about my technology dreams, I plan to devote a few posts about them in the future.   Here's a link to a post I wrote after waking up from a dream about haptic interfaces:

Last night I dreamt about haptic touch-screen overlays...

SIFTEO, the next-gen Siftables! (Tangible User Interfaces for All)

Despite my enthusiasm for TUI's , I somehow missed the news about the transformation of Siftables to a commercial version, Sifteo:

Sifteo Inc. Debuts Sifteo™ Cubes - A New Way To Play (PDF) 

"Sifteo cubes are 1.5 inch computers with full-color displays that sense their motion, sense each other, and wirelessly connect to your computer. You, your friends, and your family can play an ever-growing array of interactive games that get your brain and body engaged.

Sifteo’s initial collection of titles includes challenging games for adults, fun learning puzzles for kids, and games people can play together." -Sifteo website

For more information, see the Sifteo website,  blog, and YouTube  channel.  If you can't wait to get your own set,  take a look at Josh Blake's Sifteo Cube Unboxing Video!

RELATED

About two years ago, I was interviewed about my thoughts about the interactive, hands-on, programmable cubes, then called Siftables,  for an article published in IEEE's Computing Now magazine:  Siftables Offer New Interaction Mode  (James Figeuroa, Computing Now, 3/2009). 

For those of you who'd like more information about tangible user interfaces (TUIs) and  the development of Siftables, I've copied my 2009 post,   Tangible User Interfaces, Part I:  Siftables,  below:

TANGIBLE USER INTERFACES, PART I: SIFTABLES (2009)

In 1997, the vision of tangible user interfaces, also known as TUI's, was outlined by Hiroshi Ishii and Brygg Ullmer of the Tangible Media Group at MIT, in their paper, "Tangible Bits: Towards Seamless Interfaces between People, Bits, and Atoms" (pdf).   According to this vision, "the goal of Tangible Bits is to bridge the gaps between both cyberspace and the physical environment, as well as the foreground and background of human activities." This article is is a must-read for anyone interested in "new" interactive technologies.

The pictures in the article of the metaDesk, transBoard, activeLENS, and ambientRoom, along with the references, are worth a look, for those interested in this seminal work.

Another must-read is Hiroshi Ishii's 2008 article, Tangible Bits: Beyond Pixels (pdf). In this article, Ishii provides a good overview of TUI concepts as well as the contributions of his lab to the field since the first paper was written.

Related to Tangible User Interface research is the work of the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT. The Fluid Interfaces Group was formerly known as the Ambient Intelligence Group, and many of the group's projects incorporate concepts related to TUI and ambient intelligence. 


According to the Fluid Interfaces website, the goal of this research group is to "radically rethink the human-machine interactive experience. By designing interfaces that are more immersive, more intelligent, and more interactive we are changing the human-machine relationship and creating systems that are more responsive to people's needs and actions, and that become true "accessories" for expanding our minds."

The Siftables project is an example of how TUI and fluid interface (FI) interaction can be combined. Siftables is the work of David Merrill and Pattie Maes, in collaboration with Jeevan Kalanithi, and was brought to popular attention through David Merrill's recent TED talk:

David Merrill's TED Talk: Siftables - Making the digital physical -Grasp Information Physically

"Siftables aims to enable people to interact with information and media in physical, natural ways that approach interactions with physical objects in our everyday lives. As an interaction platform, Siftables applies technology and methodology from wireless sensor networks to tangible user interfaces. Siftables are independent, compact devices with sensing, graphical display, and wireless communication capabilities. They can be physically manipulated as a group to interact with digital information and media. Siftables can be used to implement any number of gestural interaction languages and HCI applications....Siftables can sense their neighbors, allowing applications to utilize topological arrangement..No special sensing surface or cameras are needed."





Siftables Music Sequencer from Jeevan Kalanithi on Vimeo.

More about Siftables:
Rethinking display technology (Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe, 7/27/08)
TED: Siftable Computing Makes Data Physical
Siftables: Toward Sensor Network User Interfaces (pdf)

It seems that people really like the Siftable concept, or they don't see the point. I found the following humerous critique of Siftables on YouTube:

"Imagine if all the little programs you had on your iphone were little separate chicklets in your pocket.
You'd lose em.
Your cat would eat em.
You'd vacuum them up.
They'd fall down in the sofa.
They'd be all over the car floor.
You'd throw them away by mistake..."

In my opinion, it is exciting to learn that perhaps some of this technology has the potential of becoming main-stream.

Monday Musing and Meanderings: Interesting videos and links about emerging technologies.

INTERACTIVE TANGIBLE TABLETOP MUSIC


Reactable Live! SubMixPro Studio Torino

The Reactable featured in the above video is used for DJ-ing in clubs. The one I've played with is at the science museum in my area - I love it. It is fun to improvise on the Reactable with another person.  For more information, see my previous blog posts featuring the Reactable.

AUGMENTED REALITY
While listening to CNBC on my satellite radio on the way home today,  I heard that investing in Qualcomm might be a good idea.   I wonder if this means that Wall Street analysts think that  AR will become mainstream soon...   


The video below shows a variety of creative AR game applications:


Qualcomm has an AR SDK that comes with tutorials, samples, an API reference, and developer forums. The SDK can be downloaded from the Qualcomm AR web-page.

For more information:

GDC 11:  AR- The Augmented Future of Mobile Serious Games?  Eliane Alhadeff, Serious Games Market, 3/7/11

Qualcomm Augmented Reality Research

Qualcomm Extends Augmented Reality with Unity Technologies

Qualcomm's secret mobile weapon:  Augmented Reality Robert Enderle,  TG Daily, 2/24/11

This sort of technology has been around for a while. For an example, take a look at  the 2007 MScape game demo of the AR game, Roku's Reward:

THE KINECT FOR MEDICAL DATA VISUALIZATION 

Here is another use of augmented reality, but this time, harnessing the Kinect:

Magic Mirror for Medical Data Visualization using Kinect

Madhav K. ,  Kinecthacks 

Public Presentation of mirracle

PHOTOELASTIC TOUCH

Transparent Rubbery Interface using a LCD and Photoelasticity
Toshiki Sato, Haruko Mamiya, Taro Tokui, Hideki Koike,  The Unversity of Electro-Communications;  Kentaro Fukuchi, Japan Science and Technology Agency
Abstract (pdf)


ART AND SCREENS

Nomad capacitive brush turns your iPhone into an art canvas for $24.00
Darren Murph, Engadget, 2/22/11

Nomad Brush for the iPad from Don Lee on Vimeo.

Video: Gesture Interactive Window Display at a Repetto Store in France, by the Marcel Agency

The video below features an interactive window created by the Marcel agency for a Repetto store in France.  The display allows passers-by the ability to interact with the content in the display through arm gestures via motion sensors.  


Repetto - Vitrine interactive. from Marcel on Vimeo.

Interactive Timeline "Wordle" for WikiLeaks: Explore the Cable Street Database, an Example of Interactive Journalism

What can a cloud of words tell us about foreign policy?:
"An interactive analysis of all the 250,000 documents in the so-called Cable Street database" -Aftenposten

http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/cablegate/?lang=en

RELATED

Behind the scenes of Aftenposten's Wikileaks visualization

Tracy Boyer, Innovative Interactivity (II), 2/23/11

Eirick Wallem Fossan: Multimedia journalist and Flash developer for Aftenposten.

Comment:  I usually don't blog about political topics, but I felt that this interactive visualization was an effective method of helping the public understand the information/data shared through the Wikileaks process.  

My last post focused on the large multi-touch wall installed at a new library at North Carolina State University.  The library was designed for collaborative activities.  An interactive "Wordle" displayed on a multi-touch wall for students to explore with peers would probably be worth using!    

Public libraries, outfitted with collaborative displays, would also be great places for the people to explore all sorts of visualized data.  

Supertouch Group: Use an iPhone or iPad to Send Balls into Kinect Dodgeball

See how they inter-"kinect"!



"The SuperTouch group mission is to generate wonder through simple, fun, entertaining and educational uses of interactive technology and HCI."


RELATED


iPAD + Kinect + Processing

IPAD + Kinect + Processing = stellar foundation for interactions from SuperTouch Group on Vimeo.

State of Information Visualization, 2011 InfoVis in HTML5 "how-to", and more (Thanks to Robert Kosara)

Take a look at Robert' Kosara's recent post on his eagereyes blog:
 
The State of Information Visualization, 2011

In this post, Robert reviews of some of the important trends in information visualization in 2010, discusses the potential of HTML5 for creating information visualization experiences on the web, and makes a few predictions about the near future.  Robert is pretty sure that the world is ready for "truly interactive, browser-based visualization".  He notes that the Protovis Primers he shares on his website are quite popular.

Most of the following resources and links were taken from the eagereyes website:

Information Visualization, HTML5, and JavaScript Resources (more to come)
HTML5 and Visualization on the Web

Robert Kosara, eagereyes, 12/21/10

Canvas Tutorial (HTML element used to draw graphics using scripting)
HTML5 Canvas Cheat Sheet

Dive Into HTML5 Tutorial (canvas element)

HTML5 Games/Interactive Experiments  (Hakim El Hattab)

node.js: (How to run JavaScript on a server.)
JavaScript: The Key to In-Browser Visualization
Robert Kosara, eagereyes, 2/11/10
PROTOVIS
A Protovis Primer, Part 1
A Protovis Primer, Part 2
A Protovis Primer, Part 3
"Protovis is a very powerful visualization toolkit. Part of what makes it special is that it is written in JavaScript and runs in the browser without the need for any plugins. Its clever use of JavaScript's language features makes it very elegant, but it can also be confusing to people who are not familiar with functional programming concepts and the finer points of JavaScript." -Robert Kosara

The Year of InfoVis Theory

Robert Kosara, eagereyes, 3/10/10

Telling Stories with Data:  Using visualization to create narratives and engage audiences

VisWeek 2010

Embedding Information Visualization Within Visual Representation (pdf)

Caroline Ziemkiewicz and Robert Kosara

Thanks, Robert, for sharing these very useful resources!

ūmi from Cisco - Forget about the video phone, why not try home teleconferencing on your huge HDTV?

You've probably seen the series of commercial for ūmi telepresence featuring Ellen Page. In one, she's trying to learn how to play the spoons.  In another, she's engaging in a tea party.  The one I like the best is when she tries to "telepresently" converse with her friend, Steve.   From what I can tell from the commercials and the Cisco website, I think that the ūmi is a much better option than the video phones that have been brought to market over the past two years!

If you want to be telepresent, and if you have $599.00, you can add a ūmi to your cart while visiting the CISCO ūmi telepresence website. With free shipping and a 30-day return policy, why not try it? If your friends and relatives have a laptop and Google Chat, you can still use your ūmi  with them.  (My hunch is that the experience is much better if both parties have a ūmi.)

It might cost a bit more than $599.00 to get your ūmi up and running. First of all, you'll need to have an HDTV with an HDMI input port, with a resolution of 1080p, or 720p. You also need to have a top-tier broadband connection to the Internet if you have a 1080p HDTV, which requires a minimum of 3.5 Mbps upload/download speed. If you have a 720p HDTV, you'll need a minimum of 1.5 Mbps upload and download speed.

FYI: I connect to the Internet from my computer on the second floor of my home via a wireless router, located on the first floor. My upload speed is just 0.965 Mbps, which is not fast enough for the ūmi. My download speed is 8.991 Mbps, which is more than I need. I checked Time Warner Cable and found out that they now offer Wideband, with download speeds up to 50 Mbps, with upload speed up to 5 Mbps.  If I really, really want a ūmi, I'll have to solve this problem with Time Warner/Roadrunner.

The following video has a short discussion of TV UI and usability testing- they tossed a bag of rice at the TV to simulate a cat jumping at the screen....

In the Lab: The Innovators Behind Cisco ūmi


Below are a couple of videos about the ūmi from Cisco's YouTube site:





RELATED
Wikipedia's definition of telepresence:
"Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance that they were present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location."
Cisco Broadband Speed Test
Cisco Blog
How is your network running?
Brenna Karr, Cisco Blog 12/17/10
Previous post:  Like Neil Steinberg once said, "Dude, Where's My Video Phone?"
Dude, Where's My Video Phone?
Neil Steinberg, Forbes, 10/15/07

Hans Rosling Interacts with Health Data: 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes

Hans Rosling's enthusiasm for data visualization has increased my appreciation for statistics. In the video below, Rosling interacts with 120,000 data points related to 200 countries over 200 years. I especially like the "Alternate Reality" effect.



"Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact based world view"

Hans Rosling is a Professor of Global Health in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Director of the Gapminder Foundation.  The Gapminder World website has a wealth of resources for teachers, students, and anyone who is interested in learning about things through the use of information visualization.

According to information from the website, "Gapminder is a non-profit venture – a modern “museum” on the Internet – promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.Gapminder was founded in Stockholm by Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund and Hans Rosling on February 25, 2005. Gapminder is registered as a Foundation at Stockholm County Administration Board (Länstyrelsen i Stockholm) with registration number (organisationsnummer) 802424-7721."


Below is a list of annotated links to various Gapminder webpages:

Gapminder Labs: "Gapminder Labs is where we experiment with new features, visualizations and tools. Some of these might later gain a more prominent place on Gapminder.org."
Gapminder for Teachers: "This section is for educators who want to use Gapminder in their education. You'll find shortcuts to tools and guides for Gapminder in a classroom."
Gapminder Downloads: This section includes links to downloadable content, such as Gapminder Desktop, handouts, lesson plans, including teacher guides, and a good number of interesting interactive presentations.
Gapminder Videos: The videos include interesting presentations as well as a number of Hans Rosling's TED talks. The material is free to use and distribute under the Creative Commons License.
Data in Gapminder World:  This section includes all of the indicators displayed in Gapminder World.
Gapminder World
Gapminder FAQs

Cross-posted on the TechPsych and The World Is My Interface blogs

Media Facades: "When Buildings Start to Twitter" video timeline, via Thomas Schielke, of arclighting, plus lots of related links!

This morning I received a message from Thomas Schielke, of arclighting about his recent work.  Included in his message was a link to this awesome video, Media Facades: When Buildings Start To Twitter, which is a video timeline of this history of media facades. 

Below is a description of the video, by Thomas Scheilke:
"The timeline depicts international media facades with their different artistic, social or brand messages up to interfaces like iPhone Apps or brain sensors for public participation. The movie is a shortened version of the lecture, The semiotics of media facades - When buildings start to twitter" that was presented at the Parsons The New School for Design in New York in 2010." 

Luminous tweets and retweets 
"During the day, façade structures with their windows and material combinations grant a specific building image to the public. However, after sunset electrical light is the medium for an architectural image. The light appearance sends an atmospheric signal to the citizens like hang on in front of an asleep structure, look at an inviting but static façade or enjoy a vivid architecture sharing short stories. In the last decade, media facades have become a widespread element for luminous tweets. They establish a network between the building owner and the citizens, sometimes driven by aesthetical debates, other times by commercial intentions to avoid traditional light advertisement."
"The pursuit of persuasion by way of big screens gives the impression that size receives a higher relevance than content, comparable with the large amount of trivial tweets in Twitter. Various media facades appear as monumental monologues repeating a fixed animation daily. A few facades use signals from the environment and transform them into a play of light and shadow. Others emerge as urban dialogues when buildings show combined moving pictures. Some even allow people to send messages to the building to receive luminous retweets. They turn the city into a community following the dialogue and with the respective Apps may possibly even gain a following community worldwide."
"The historical overview of international projects covers various lighting methods and techniques from lighting designers as ag4, Arup Lighting, blinkenlights, Fusion, LAb[au], Licht Kunst Licht, L´Observatoire International, Mader Stublic Wiermann, Okayasu Izumi, magic monkey, Matthew Tanteri, Onur Sonmez , Qosmo, realities:united, StandardVision, Urbanscreens, Uwe Belzner, Yann Kersalé and architecture like Asymptote Architecture, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, O.M. Ungers, Peter Cook, Peter Marino, UN Studio, schneider + schuhmacher, Simone Giostra, WOHA architects1. Artists like Doug Aitken, Jaume Plensa, Kurt Hentschläger and Zhong Song are included in the timeline as well."  -Thomas Schielke
http://www.arclighting.de
FYI: Thomas is one of the authors of the book  "Light Perspectives: Between Culture and Technology". Lean back and relax to the music as you watch a related video by Schielke: Light Architecture: Luminous Walls

Related info from Schielke's YouTube site:
Luminous walls:  From clerestory windows via modernist wallwashing to pixelated planes
"The movie is a shortened version of the lecture that was presented at the Cornell University in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis in Ithaca/USA (Oct. 18th 2010) and at the Columbia University in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in New York (Oct. 26th 2010)."
"Luminous walls belong to the essential repertoire of qualitative lighting design. With light, spaces can be defined and reinterpreted. Illuminated walls allow us to provide orientation and to perceive the form and dimension of space. Further, their glow and play of brilliants could bestow a space with an impressing scenography. The timeline reveals different lighting approaches: From backlit clerestory windows for spiritual enlightenment in the gothic period to modernist uniform wallwashing. Contemporary examples will open the view for pixelated colour changing planes based on LED technology. The movie with an overview of international projects covers lighting methods and techniques for luminous walls and their visual appearance. With a perception-orientated design perspective the designer could use vertical illuminance to create bright spaces and thereby also contribute to sustainable lighting solutions."
"The overview of international projects from architects like Antonio Gaudi, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, Jean Nouvel, Peter Zumthor, Raffael Moneo, Toyo Ito, Christoph Ingenhoven and Karim Rashid or light artists as Peter Kogler and Erwin Redl covers various lighting methods and techniques for luminous walls and their visual appearance. Note: The image for 1814 needs to be reassigned to Bergisel Panorama in Innsbruck/Austria painted in 1897."
RELATED
Previous posts:
Revisiting Urban Screens:  555 Kubik Facade Projection Video; Info about Media Facades 
More Urban Screens and Outdoor 3D Media Facades

Urban Screens, Urban Scenes, Media Facades: Obscura Digital's Outdoor iGoogle Artist Themes Launch in NYCU 

Media Facades and Projected Social Graffiti at Drexel University (Includes a 7-story tweet)

iRis Remote Interaction System, Newly Updated

Other Links
Book:  Media Facades:  History, Technology, and Content (M. Hank Haeusler)30+ Dazzling and Interactive Media Facades
Media Facades Festival 2010
Media Architecture Institute
International Urban Screens Association
Urban Screens
"URBAN SCREENS a project by Urban Media Research Berlin, investigates how the currently commercial use of outdoor screens and related infrastructure for digital moving images in urban space can be broadened with cultural content. We address cultural fields as digital media culture, urbanism, architecture and art. We want to network and sensitise all engaged parties for the possibilities of using the digital infrastructure for contributing to a lively urban society, binding the screens more to the communal context of the space and therefore creating local identity and engagement. The integration of the current information technologies support the development of a new integrated digital layer of the city in a complex merge of material and immaterial space that redefine the function of this growing infrastructure of digital moving images."
Urban Screens Video Channel
3d Projections on Buildings: A distinctive Way of Communicating
Communicating Through Architecture:  Media Facades and the Digital Infrastructure  The Rathous (Contains an assortment of videos and pictures)
Art and Commerce Meet on Building's Interactive Media Facades Kelsey Keith, Fast Company, 10/2/2009


Cross-posted on The World Is My Interactive Interface blog.

Microsoft Surface Light and Physics App for Kids at the Smithsonian

Microsoft Surface at the Smithsonian


The Surface is located in the Smithsonian's Castle,  and is part of "The Wonder of Light: Touch and Learn!" exhibit, which opened on Tuesday, November 9th (2010).  Microsoft donated the Surface unit to the Smithsonian.


Below is  slideshow of the interactive exhibit:



The video below provides a closer look at the applications created by Infostrat for the Smithsonian exhibit:


RELATED
New Interactive Exhibit Opens in Smithsonian's Castle, Bringing Light To Life
Smithsonian News Release, 11/9/20

Josh Blake's post, Microsoft Surface and Magical Object Interaction.

Telling a Story: Slideshow of Old/Historical Content

I don't usually share much about my family on this blog, but I was so impressed by my daughter's photos of historical and old/run-down structures that I had to post a slideshow of what she's passionate about.


Lauren is a history buff and enjoys exploring around to take pictures of anything old that has a story.   Whatever it takes!



The photos in the slideshow were taken with a Sony SLR, with no extra equipment.  None of the photos are photo-shopped. 


Lauren is great at "point and shoot",  and her technique draws the viewer in to her personal POV.  Lauren just had a little baby, so it might be a little while until she can finish researching the stories behind her photos.  When she does, I'll be sure  to share her finished work!


(If you were wondering, Lauren stopped going on risky explorations after she learned a baby was on the way.)

Xbox Kinect Interactive Puppet Prototype, from Theo Watson and Emily Gobeille (design.io) & Update on Funky Forest

I came across the following video on a post on the  Creative Applications blog about the Theo Watson and Emily Gobeille's  recent work with OpenFrameworks, Kinect, and an interactive puppet prototoype:

Interactive Puppet Prototype with Xbox Kinect from Theo Watson on Vimeo.

I'm not surprised that Theo Watson and Emily (design.io) decided to experiment with the XBox Kinect. I can't wait to see what they will create for Kinect in the future, based on their previous work --   A couple of years ago I wrote a post about their enchanting interactive installation, "Funky Forest":  OpenFrameworks & Interactive Multimedia:  Funky Forest Installation for CinKid. 


You can see from the video of their Funky Forest installation (2007 CinKid) that they create engaging interactive applications:

Funky Forest - Interactive Ecosystem from Theo Watson on Vimeo.
(Information from Theo Watson's Vimeo site)
"Funky Forest is a wild and crazy ecosystem where children manage the resources to influence the environment around them. By using their bodies or pillow "rocks" and "logs", water flowing from the digital stream on the floor can be dammed and diverted to the forest to make different parts grow. If a tree does not receive enough water it withers away but by pressing their bodies into the forest children create new trees based on their shape and character. As children explore and play they discover that the environment is inhabited by a variety of sonic life forms and creatures who appear and disappear depending on the health of the forest. As the seasons change the creatures also go through a metamorphosis."
Credits:
Theodore Watson
Emily Gobeille
Project Page:
muonics.net/​site_docs/​work.php?id=41
zanyparade.com/​v8/​projects.php?id=12


Note:  A version of Funky Forest, Moomah Edition, is permanently installed in New York City at the Moomah Children's Cafe. This version includes interactive environments related to the four seasons of the year, including an interactive particle system with falling leaves and snow.


FOR THE TECH-CURIOUS
Libfreenect for OX, by Theodore Watson

XBox Kinect running on OS X ( with source code ) from Theo Watson on Vimeo.
The following information and links were taken from the Vimeo description of the above video:  
"This is a port/adaptation of Hector Martin's libfreenect for OS X made by Theodore Watson.
Hector Martin's Libfreenect project page is here:  git.marcansoft.com/​?p=libfreenect.git
Most of the code is unchanged but there are some changes to libusb which was needed to get it running (and a few extra libusb commands) as well as some tweaking of the transfer sizes.
It should be self contained and you shouldn't need to install libusb (the app links it directly ).
Grab the Source Code:
UPDATE:
(Tested on OS X 10.6.3 - 32bit now and with fixes)
theo.tw/​deliver/​kinect/​001-libfreenect-modded-osx-updated.zip
ofxKinect for OF users - thanks Dan!
openframeworks.cc/​forum/​viewtopic.php?p=24948#p24948
Tips:
- Try both usb ports.
- Try not to have too many other devices plugged in (or any)."


(Check the Vimeo website to see if there are updates)


OpenFrameworks Forum
http://www.openframeworks.cc/forum/


RELATED
Presentation about Funky Forest  (ThisHappened)

Emily Gobeille & Theo Watson talk about Funky Forest from This happened – Utrecht on Vimeo.


Cross-posted on the TechPsych blog.

Resources about Interactive TV and Media: The Interactive Television Dictionary and Business Index

Here is the link:


The Interactive Television Dictionary & Business Index

More information to come!

Interactive iPad Apps for Kids with Autism: Could some of these be transformed for multi-touch tabletop activities?

I came across a great post about interactive iPad apps for special needs:

Ten Apple iPad Apps to Help Children with Autism
Joanne Carter, MacCreate 11/5/10


In this article,  Joanne Carter shares screen shots and detailed descriptions of a variety of iPad apps that support learning and communication skills of young people with autism.  You can find additional information about the apps discussed in the article by visiting the following links: 

Proloquo2go, Story_Builder, "Off we go" book series, Soundtastic, Visual Impact, Living Safely,  Tapspeak Sequence for iPad, iCommunicate for iPad, Autoverbal Talking Soundboard Pro, Is that Gluten Free?, and I Dress for Weather. 


I think that some of these apps have the potential to be transformed and tweaked for use on multi-touch, multi-user  tables such as the SMARTTable or Microsoft's Surface.  The aim would be to encourage paired and group communication and social skills among children with special needs.  I'll share my thoughts on this topic in a future post.

Philipp Geist: Blending the Physical with the Digital; Google TV/Leanback, Vimeo's new Couch Mode, oh...and ViewSonic's 3D (glasses-less) pocket camcorder...

I'm thinking about getting one of the new "internet ready" TVs.  I have a serious reason to do this. I'm working on some interactive video projects, and a couple of my projects are geared for teens and young adults who have autism.*   My hunch is that many of my students would like to watch- and interact with-content optimized for Google TV and Vimeo's Couch Mode.  The content is designed to look good on larger high-resolution flat-screen displays, and I'm sure it would be great on my school's newer SMARTBoards.  I need to learn more about  developing applications for this purpose.

(Currently I use my HP 22-inch TouchSmart PC to view web-based video content, and to evaluate websites that provide "touchable" and interactive content that might work well on interactive whiteboards.)

At any rate,  I've been looking for great videos that have the potential for use at work with older students who have autism. I'm also looking for effective ways that the students can use to interact with multimedia and video content. This is important, since the students have minimal verbal communication skills, have limited reading ability- if they can read at all.  They learn about their world through visual means, and are capable of learning much more - but not through traditional means.

Since our school is focusing on globalization and learning about the cultures of other countries, I've been on the lookout for some interesting videos that might appeal to our students.  

Today I came across a great find- Philipp Geist.  Who is Philipp Geist?  According to his bio, Philipp works internationally as a light and multi-media artist in the mediums of video, performance, photography and painting. Some of his work focuses on architecture, history, and cultural heritage.  A good example of his work is the installation he created for a festival in Thailand in 2009:

Bangkok / Thailand 4D Light & Sound Installation by Philipp Geist (23Min) from Philipp Geist | Videogeist on Vimeo.

"The one-hour show is the central part of the celebrations and will be seen by thousands of visitors.  It interprets artistically the king's life and his work dedicated to public welfare. The art installation combines images of the kings and his social projects in the past and present with 3D animations of Thai natural and cultural heritage and abstract painterly passages." (from the Vimeo site)

Phillip Geist's Showreel

Philipp Geist Showreel 2009 from Philipp Geist | Videogeist on Vimeo.

HIGH-RES MULTIMEDIA WEB CONTENT ON LARGE PANEL HD TV!

This might boost holiday gift sales and in turn, give a little jolt to the economy. To do my duty for my country, I will continue to research Internet TV as I narrow down my selection for my new Internet-ready TV.... Below is some Information about Google TV, Google Leanback, and Vimeo's Couch mode that I've recently gathered to share with my IMT followers:

GOOGLE TV:  "The web is now a channel"

"With Google Chrome and Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Google TV lets you access everything on the web. Watch your favorite web videos, view photos, play games, check fantasy scores, chat with friends, and do everything else you're accustomed to doing online. Plus, the world's best websites are now being perfected for television -- check out our Spotlight gallery for examples."  "The worlds' favorite websites are being tweaked and perfected for the television." -Google TV

I'm not too excited about the design of the application that transforms your Android phone or iPhone into a remote control.  I hate most remote controls.  According to Google TV, multiple phones can control the same TV, and you can use your voice to search, which seems like it would be a good thing...  I wonder if they tested this out with real families, not just families of Google TV techies .

GOOGLE LEANBACK Video (Integrated into GoogleTV)

Google Leanback 
When I visited the Leanback website, I encountered the following screen with a suggestion that I type in what I was looking for.  I typed in "lynnvm", the name of my YouTube channel.  Apparently Google provides you with a randomly generated featured video that appears in the background that has nothing to do with what you are looking for.  


In this screen shot, my YouTube channel offerings are in the foreground. "Maleficent Halloween Tutorial" is what played in the background: 

VIMEO INTRODUCES COUCH MODE: Vimeo's version of Google's Leanback is Couch Mode.  It is optimized for use on Google TV, so that makes things less complicated in the world of videoviewingland.   According to Ryan Hefner's article on the Vimeo staff blog, "Couch Mode is a special new section of Vimeo that allows you to watch collections of videos (such as Staff Picks, your inbox, your videos, etc.) completely uninterrupted like a TV channel."
Couch Mode works on computers, but since it relies on HTML5 and CSS3, without Flash, it only works with Chrome and Safari browsers.  For more information, see the video below:



RELATED

VideoGeist: Media installation/mapping, visual art concepts, visual art

Philipp's Blog

VIMEO Couch Mode

Google TV

Google TV Web Site Optimization Guide

Google TV is coming to 10,000 lucky developers

"A few of our favorites include Net-A-Porter, which lets you watch runway videos and shop for high fashion; Meegenius, a place where you can read and customize children’s books; TuneIn, a personal radio for your TV; and The Onion which always gives us a good laugh." - Google TV Blog

MeeGenius If you are a teacher, parent, kid, or lover of children's books, visit this interactive website ASAP. It is optimized for Google TV and works nicely on touch-enabled screens and devices.

As I was wrapping up this post, I came across information about Viewsonic's new 3D, glassesless pocket camcorder.  I'll update information about this new gadget when I have a chance to learn more about it. !

Comment: The idea of developing interactive multimedia apps in 3D intrigues me. At this point, the technology is too new for an "armchair technologist" like me to pursue with my incredibly busy work obligations.  I don't have the money to buy a 3D video camera.  But I might try this out, if it is true that it only costs $238.00!

Viewsonic introduces 3Dv5 3D pocket camcorder, no glasses required
Darren Murph, Engadget, 10/20/10
Film Videos In 3D for Under $250 With Viewsonic's 3DV5
HotHardware, 10/28/10


* About me:  
I presently work full time as a school psychologist at a high school and at a program for students with more severe disabilities, including autism.  The students I work with have made amazing gains through the use of interactive multimedia applications, and also have responded well to video presented on the large IWB screens.   


I went back to school to take computer courses, initially so I could make interactive multimedia applications and games. I continue to blog about interactive multimedia,  emerging/ new technologies, and topics related to post-WIMP HCI/UX/ID/IA.  Although my "spare time" is limited,  I try to keep up my technical skills whenever I can by working on projects that can support the students I work with.