In my dreams, I am a full-time tech student. Fortunately, I can follow my inner geek and share what I find on this blog. The information below was inspired by links from a Facebook status update by Laurence Muller, author of the Multi-Gesture blog.
The video below is a montage of TEI'10 hands-on studio:
"From TEI 2010. These are the hands-on studios (like workshops) where 200 people participated in building and making all day long elbow to elbow, getting into the details and taking perspectives."
About TEI:
TEI '10: Fourth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, January 25-27, Cambridge, MA. "TEI, the conference on tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction, is about HCI, design, interactive art, user experience, tools and technologies, with a strong focus on how computing can bridge atoms and bits into cohesive interactive systems."
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"
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.
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!
More women are playing games, and the Wii has grabbed a good portion of attention from them, especially with titles such as Wii Fit.
While some say this is due to Nintendo's marketing strategy, in my opinion, I think it is because Nintendo developed a system that is non-geek and family-friendly. When I first heard of the Wii, they were in short supply. I spent quite a bit of time stalking out the local GameStop stores to buy one. I wasn't the only female doing the same thing.
Think about it. The Wii was introduced just at the time when prices of large flat-panel TVs were coming down, making them more affordable to families. Although Dad might have hankered for a large-screen TV to watch sports, any Mom in her right mind would want to multi-purpose such an expense. If you have to have a huge TV messing up your family room decor, it makes sense to use it for multiple purposes, like playing the Wii.
Not long after the Wii made it home, it eventually sprouted legs and was adopted by my young adult daughters. Now the only way I get to play the Wii is if I make the trip uptown, a 30 minute drive. And if everyone is playing Rock Band, I have to wait my turn to play the drums.
I need to buy another Wii! I think it will carry me through old age:
It will help me keep my girlish figure (this is NOT a picture of me, by the way)
Seriously, the Wii is turning out to be handy for folks, young and old, with health problems:
Pulse Sensing: Wii Vitality Sensor
Here is a video showing how the Wii is used at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital's brain injury program:
Since more therapists and nurses are female, it stands to reason that a game console such as the Wii, which is very user-friendly, would be top on the list for use in health and rehabilitation settings.
Here is a video of what seems to be an HCI student testing out the Wii with her grandparents:
Nintendo might have some competition once Microsoft's Project Natal comes to market. Natal doesn't require any sort of device to interact with the games. For more information about the latest in games for health and "exergames", take a look at the following blogs:
If you follow this blog, you know I like to share what people are doing with multi-touch and related natural user interfaces/interaction. In this post, I'd like to share an article about two students who decided to build and market a multi-touch table- the article below explains the story in-depth, and video shows the nuts and bolts.
According to the above article, Aaron Bitler and Brady Simpson they were inspired by CNN's Magic Wall during the 2008 election. Bitler and Simpson learned more about natural user interface/interaction during a presentation in a business class that featured a video about the Microsoft Surface table and natural user interface technologies. They formed a company, 3M8, to build and market mutli-touch display/tables.
From what I can tell, it looks like Bitler and Simpson relied on the DYI information and support from the NUI-group website to carry out their ideas. Bitler and Simpson met with representatives of 22Miles, a company located in San Jose that provides interactive solutions, including multi-touch, for web, mobile, and touch screen implementations.
I'll post more about 22Miles in an upcoming post.
Until then, take a look at 22Miles' promo video, featuring a huge 3D interactive multi-touch heart:
This article is a good read - it discusses business models in the tech industry, something that has puzzled me for a while.
Via Michael Gartenberg, Engadget 12/15/09 Entelligence: A Google hone could be the death of Android "Without a doubt, the big buzz since the weekend has been over the "Google Phone," an HTC-built device called the Nexus One handed out to Google employees last week in what Google describes as a "mobile lab." Confirmed to be running Android 2.1, the Nexus One has once again raised the idea of Google selling unlocked devices directly to consumers. (Google has been selling unlocked HTC Android phones for some time, but only to developers.)" -
Comment
I thought about getting a "Droid", since my family is locked into Verizon. That's why I never got an iPhone - but the Droid's sharp edges didn't feel very comfortable in my hand. After reading Creative Applications.Net's "15 Best and Must Have iPhone Apps of 2009", I want Santa to bring a few sleigh-fulls of iPhones to Verizon.
At the bookstore yesterday, I was pleased to see that there were all kinds of books about developing iPhone apps and games in the computer section!
I think I know why. Barnes & Noble and the iPhone friended each other!
According to Jennifer R. Bergen's ZDNET article about the Barnes & Noble iPhone app, "the coolest part of the app is that it allows you to use your camera to take a photo of a CD, book, or DVD cover, and then immediately receive product details, editorial reviews, and customer ratings, as well as find and reserve a copy."
Bergen goes on to further discuss the eReader app, which "offers iPhone/iPod touch users, as well as BlackBerry smartphone, and PC and Mac users, the ability to have instant access to more than 750,000 eBook titles. If you want to pay an extra $9.99, you can get hundreds of new eBook releases and eBook bestsellers. The app also allows you to modify the type, size, and font and annotate and bookmark text."
Chris O'Shea's Pixelsumo blogs is one of my favorites. His recent post, "Musical Heads" featured three different takes on the theme. The one I liked best was Neurosonics Audiomedical, created by Chris Cairns.
I didn't see the video when it was set loose on the Internet about four months ago. The musical heads in the video include Shlomo, Foreign Beggars, and The Scratch Perverts.
I usually don't search on the internet for disembodied musical beat boxing heads!
RELATED Who is Chris Cairns? Johnathan Wells, Flux 9/15/09 (Interview- includes some information about how the video was made.) Partizan Website Chris O'Shea's Pixelsumo Blog (Link will take you to O'Shea's visual blog index.)
Thanks, Chris O'Shea, for your blog, full of interesting, creative, and sometimes very unusual things. Thanks, Chris Cairns & musicians, for sharing your creativity with the world.
I came across the video of the following "5 Rules" presentation on Long Zheng's "I Started Something" blog. This presentation created by Duarte, a company that focuses on visual stories and corporate branding. The presentation can be found embedded in the public beta version of Microsoft Office 2010 Microsoft Office 2010. The new version of PowerPoint features a DirectX-powered graphics engine, which supports smooth animations.
The concepts shared in the presentation are useful for students, teachers, and anyone else who has the challenge of creating an engaging and meaningful presentation. At the end of the video, the last slides provide more specific "how-to" information regarding the nuts and bolts of putting together a quality presentation. You'll probably need to view the presentation Office 2010 Beta in the PowerPoint format if you have the urge to dig deeper. You can find it in the Sample Templates section.
Duarte's Five Rules for Creating World-Changing Presentations
The video is is of the Stantum Slate PC, via Netbooked's YouTube channel...The system in the video is running on a modded Dell Mini 10, and doesn't require calibration. Notice how the system easily handles a variety of interaction- fingers, thumbs, pinch, rotation, multiple finger swipes, brush strokes, fingernail action, stylus, and more.
At this time, the Stantum Slate is available for developers only.
Hand Eye Technologies is developing ways to use your smart-phone over remote control driven interaction. Jonathan Kessler, the CEO of the company, was interviewed by Tracy Swedlow, of ITTV, about his background and his ideas for the future of interactive television.
If you happen to have an HIT-enabled mobile device, near an HIT enabled display, two-way communication is established, via a LAN, WiFi, or wireless 3G carrier. The mobile device's camera is used to manipulate things on the interface, and the set-box takes care of some of the rest.
Interactions include selecting text and objects, "drag and drop", insert/delete, inputting text or annotations, and drwing on the screen. Hand Eye offers a drawing application called Video Graffiti, and traces the movements you make when you move your mobile device.
"Hand Eye Technologies' mission is to create and communicate the premier software platform that enables mobile devices to interact with the digital world around them... any time, anywhere." - Hand Eye Technologies
"It is more about human-computer interface than remote control". -Jonathan Kessler
This looks like it is moving towards the next level of 2-way TV interactivity, much better than what the traditional remote control can do.
Interactive TV Today About InteractiveTV Today: "Founded in 1998 by Tracy Swedlow and co-owned by Richard Washbourne, InteractiveTV Today [itvt] is the most widely read and trusted news source on the rapidly emerging medium of multiplatform, broadband interactive television (ITV). We provide concise, original coverage of industry developments, technologies, content projects, and the people building the business. Our readership is mostly made up of hundreds of thousands of executives from around the world."
"...So it works out more cost effective for the films to actually have someone put the graphics on the screens for real. It also greatly enhances the performance of the actors. You only have to watch any of the Star Wars Eps 1-3 to see how wooden acting is when you don’t actually know what is in front of you. Actors love to be able push buttons and bang touch screens during their scenes. Having to actually do it in a certain order can stretch their capabilities mind you, and I am pretty gob smacked at how absolutely computer illiterate some of them are. Don’t they use email?
Anyway, due to this diminished ability to hit and bang things in any certain order, it is our job to make it impossible to mess things up. That’s why they are all genius typers. We make it so they can type any old thing and the letters still come out the way they are meant to each time. We also put little locking codes into our programming so they can’t accidentally escape the graphic mid job. It’s amazing how many of them can type the Esc button when they are meant to be spelling LOGIN."
Thanks, Tim!
SOMEWHAT RELATED
Coincidentally, when I was visiting the NUI-Group forums this morning, I came across a link to Jakob Nielsen's "Usability in the Movies -- Top 10 Bloopers", which are worth taking a look at. I've posted the list, but you'll need to go to Nielson's web page to read the descriptions. You'll smile.
1. The Hero Can Immediately Use Any UI
2. Time Travelers Can Use Current Designs
3. The 3D UI
4. Integration is Easy, Data Interoperates
5. Access Denied/Access Granted
6. Big Fonts
7. Star Trek's Talking Computer
8. Remote Manipulators (Waldo Controls)
9. You've Got Mail is Always Good News
10."This is Unix, It's Easy"
During the opening night community session at the recent AIGA Make/Think conference, twenty AIGA chapter leaders from around the country took the stage. Jeremy Perez-Cruz,of AIGA Orlando, was one of them. This was his 60 seconds:
Make Think from Tea&Letter on Vimeo. Quote from Jeremy's Vimeo channel: "My one minute video presentation for the AIGA design conference's 20/20. 20 designers in 20 minutes. October 8, 2009 Memphis, TN. Shot and edited with the patient assistance of deebstudios.com Music: "Joy" by Four Tet (Make Think remix by me)."
Jeremy's design:related page
Jeremy's AIGA Profile
SoTouch and onedotzero collaborated to create a multi-touch, multi-user application that ran on a Mindstorm Aurora table at the onedotzero Adventures in Motion Festival at the BFI Southbank in London during in September 2009. The interactive application provided festival participants enjoyable ways to filter and search the festival program. The art director for this project was Alex Le Guillou.
(Music: Raindrops, by Basement Jaxx)
How it works
How does it work?
According to information provided by So Touch, users can search by dragging and dropping keywords in personal search discs. Physics rules incorporated into the SoTouch application allow the manipulated objects bump and react to each other, encouraging social interaction among the people at the table. For this particular application, each even could be viewed in a description panel, including timing, description, pictures, and videos, enabled for multi-touch gesture interaction. Additionally, people could use the table to send emails to friends, using a scalable keyboard.
The application was designed for flexibility, using the TUIO protocol, and allowing it to be customized for use at other festivals or shows through xml.
Detail
About SoTouch "Intelligent Surfaces" "We deliver complete solutions to turn passive environment into active business contributor in retail, show room and trade show, leveraging multi-touch and touch-less technology."
Julien Lescure, CEO, and Florian Bernard, CTO, founded SoTouch, an advanced digital agency, in early 2009. The company is based in the U.K.
About onedotzero "Onedotzero is a contemporary, digital arts organisation with a remit to promote innovation across all forms of moving image and motion arts, activities encompass public events, artist + content development, publishing projects, education, production, creative direction, and related consultancy services ... onedotzero was conceived at the start of the desktop digital revolution in the mid-1990s out of a desire to explore moving image across single screen, interactive and live audio-visual work. today, onedotzero remains committed to providing a home for visionary moving image experimentation and contemporary creative collisions."
Interactive Urban Screen
The interactive urban screen installation, also known as the 2009 onedotzero identity, was made interactive by a Nokia n900 mobile phone, as shown in the pictures and video clips below.
Nokia n900 onedotzero Installation- Behind the Scenes
Onedotzero - Watch the interaction with an urban screen with a Nokia n900 (Story behind the scenes story).
RELATED N900 to appear in London next week! (JBC, Nokia Conversations, 9/4/009)
According to the article, the application for the installation was developed by digital artists/computational designers Karsten Schmidt and Gary Birkett. (I think the ad agency Wieden + Kennedy London was also involved with this project, since Nokia is their client.)
"In this paper we present novel input devices that combine the standard capabilities of a computer mouse with multi-touch sensing. Our goal is to enrich traditional pointer-based desktop interactions with touch and gestures. To chart the design space, we present five different multi-touch mouse implementations. Each explores a different touch sensing strategy, which leads to differing form-factors and hence interactive possibilities. In addition to the detailed description of hardware and software implementa-tions of our prototypes, we discuss the relative strengths, limitations and affordances of these novel input devices as informed by the results of a preliminary user study."
"With a client list that includes Red Bull, you know these guys aren’t messing around. Multitouch Barcelona designs "experiences that merge real and digital into a creative environment where people are invited to touch, play, move, feel as they do in the real world." Clearly enjoying a tongue-in-cheek methodology, the group’s philosophy seems to grow out of an affinity for natural interaction. The recent work showcased at Offf (a festival for, um, "post-digital creation culture") perfectly shows both their whimsy and tech chops. For example, the Human Interface, a person you use as a computer by asking him to carry out tasks such as email using a keyboard made from cardboard and tubes that carry email around. Nothing short of hilarious and yet strangely alarming." -Grand designers: the world's best design work Paul Armstrong, Wired UK, 8/17/09
I love Multitouch Barcelona. Especially their Space Invaders project.
(I posted this video previously, but I like it so much I decided to post it again!)
"This is another official update to the original "Shift Happens" video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://mediaconvergence.economist.com and http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com."
"Impress is the deliverance of the touch screen from its technical stiffness, coldness and rigidity. It breaks the distance in the relationship of human and technology, because it is not any longer the user which is subjected to technology, but in this case the display itself has to cave in to the human. Impress is a chance of approach of user and technology, above all, from technology.
It is a matter of a flexible display consisting of foam and force sensors which is deformable and feels pleasantly soft. Impress works with the parameters position and time like other touch screens as well, but in addition to that, it reacts, above all, on the intensity of pressure."
The application was created with Aruino and Processing.
I'd like to see how these concepts play out on a multi-touch, multi-user table system!
In this video, Jeffrey Heer, from the Computer Science Department at Stanford University, presents his work in the field of interactive information visualization, and focuses on visualization techniques,visualization tools, and collaborative visualization.
The video is nearly one hour long, but worth it if you are a techie who is interested in information visualization.
Another option - scan through the following presentation:
Voyagers and Voyeurs: Supporting Social Data Analysis
, is a Fellow at the Harvard University (USA) at the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) / The Initiative in Innovative Computing (IIC) in the Scientists' Discovery Room Lab (SDR Lab). Currently he is working on innovative scientific software for multi-touch devices and display wall systems. (I took Laurence's information from his blog.)
