According to a recent article by Garrick Schmitt, preloaders might become history in the very near future. Schmitt discusses HTML 5 and related topics, and included a link to the Pretty Loaded website, an archive of interesting web-site preloaders from our recent past - 2002 to 2009, to be exact. You can download a screensaver for PC or Mac from the site.
For more information, read Schmitt's article, and take also a look at the related links I've posted below.
Mozilla's Canvas Tutorial "canvas is a new HTML element which can be used to draw graphics using scripting (usually JavaScript). It can for instance be used to draw graphs, make photo compositions or do simple (and not so simple) animations. The image on the right shows some examples of implementations which we will see later in this tutorial..."
Seth Sandler, known for his MT Mini, an inexpensive DIY interactive multi-touch pad, is looking for input and ideas that will help him improve or enhance Slider, a game he created about two years ago. Take a look at the demo:
"This game uses reactivision software, along with Flash, to detect symbol fiducial block movements. The game is played by moving these symbols on a table. Players can enter and exit the playing field at any time. The game adapts to the number of players. The lower the score the better; the first player with a score of 12 ends the game. Future plans include: Projecting directly on the surface. Implementing multitouch so users can play with their fingers and objects instead of only object symbols."
I was looking for a drag-and-drop activity for students to use on interactive whiteboards (and also on my HP TouchSmart PC), and thought Mr. Potato head would be a good choice. My daughter linked me to something even better:Mr. Picasso Head, an on-line activity created by Ruder Finn Interactive, a few years ago.
"We are asking you to draw a small square image using software on our website. You don't need to be an artist or be able to draw - you can make patterns, write words, doodle - what-ever you want. Your image will be one of one million images that will make up the entire picture - The One Million Masterpiece.
You can choose to make your picture fit in with the surrounding pieces, or make it stand out, by using a preview feature that shows your image with the context of your neighbours. You can change your image at any time if you don't feel happy with it, and you can exchange messages with your fellow artists using our community pages."
If you join the One Million Masterpiece, you can a link to display a mini gallery of your favorite pictures that can be replayed on your Facebook profile.
If you have a NextWindow touch screen display, HP TouchSmart PC, or Dell Studio One PC, you might be interested to know that NUITech has upgraded their multi-touch software, Snowflake Suite. There is an evaluation download available on the NUITech website created for the NextWindow platform. (The TouchSmart and Studio One have NextWindow touchscreens.)
Here is a short clip of Snowflake 1.6 in action:
Snowflake Suite 1.6 provides users with an opportunity to change the standard content that is delivered with the software, which includes images, videos, 3D models, and backgrounds, so it can be customized according to need.
RELATED
Natural User Interface AB has adopted new branding and a new name, Natural User Interface Technologies AB, or NUITech.
Evaluation version of Snowflake Suite for NextWindow systems (including TouchSmart, Studio One)
Snowflake Suite running on multiple NextWindow 2150 overlays for 22-inch screens:
(The previous version of Snowflake, depicted in the above video, was a finalist for the 2009 Stevie Award, "Best New Product or Service of the Year- Media & Entertainment)
Singapore's Public Utility Board display, Singapore International Water Week, featuring NUITech systems and software.
Someone sent me an email about the jumpintotomorrow blog and I thought I'd share the link here.
I haven't had much time to really explore the site, but it looks like it has quite a bit of information about new and interesting technologies.
"jumpintotomorrow is a site that lists, features and promotes technology from all the corners of the world, provided by the product creators themselves – and it’s updated every single day...We’re technology aficionados, technology professionals, enthusiasts, academics and people who believe in and recognize the power of truly innovative ideas. The kinds of ideas that make us stop and say “you gotta see this.” Those are the ideas that have a way of reaching out and inspiring other breakthrough thinking. By listing, collecting and celebrating this kind of work, we hope it will reach out to others the way it reached out to us."
I first learned about Christopher Baker when I was taking an information visualization class. I was impressed by his work, My Map: A Self Portrait, which was created from his archive of 60,000 e-mails:
Baker's Murmur Study is a live visualization/archive of Twitter:
"One might describe these messages as a kind of digital small talk. But unlike water-cooler conversations, these fleeting thoughts are accumulated, archived and digitally-indexed by corporations. While the future of these archives remains to be seen, the sheer volume of publicly accessible personal — often emotional — expression should give us pause." -Baker
"HPVS (Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome) is a kinetic sculpture that considers the subtle, often-subconscious ways that mobile communication technologies shape our senses. The title references the recently discovered Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome -- a syndrome wherein mobile phone users become hyper-attentive to their mobile devices, often experiencing phantom ringing sensations even in the absence of incoming calls or messages. This work carefully orchestrates the vibrations of a collection of mobile phones to produce a familiar yet quietly-disturbing cacophony."
Hello World! or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise"An immersive video installation featuring over 5000 video diaries found on the internet."
"Hello World! is a large-scale audio visual installation comprised of thousands of unique video diaries gathered from the internet. The project is a meditation on the contemporary plight of democratic, participative media and the fundamental human desire to be heard." -Christopher Baker
"Christopher Baker is an artist whose work engages the rich collection of social, technological and ideological networks present in the urban landscape. He creates artifacts and situations that reveal and generate relationships within and between these networks. Baker recently completed his Master of Fine Arts in Experimental and Media Arts at the University of Minnesota. He is now the senior artist-in-residence at the Kitchen Budapest, an experimental media arts lab in Hungary. In his previous life as a scientist, Christopher worked to develop brain-computer interfaces at the University of Minnesota and UCLA." (taken from Christopher Baker's website)
Christopher Baker's Artist's Statement:
"My work is fundamentally concerned with the complex relationship between society and its technologies. Trained first as a scientist and only recently as an artist, my practice represents an uneasy balance of eager technological optimism, analytical processes, deep-rooted skepticism and intuitive engagement. Much of this practice is inspired by the interconnectivities – visible and invisible – present in the modern urban landscape. I am energized by the diversity of human expression that continuously activates our vast communication networks. I am awed by the scale and varied histories of the built environment and urban infrastructure. As technologists make daily promises to improve our lives by uniting these physical and digital worlds, I attempt to make work that examines the practical implications of our increasingly networked lifestyles. Primary to this task is an exploration of the ways we imagine and represent ourselves before (potentially massive) audiences and the ways we navigate and abide in public space. Thus, architecture and place figure heavily into my often site-specific practice. With these interests at heart, large-scale video projections allow me to create works that fuse existing physical spaces with more ephemeral digital elements, resulting in revelatory and sometimes disorienting forms."
Christopher Baker is currently a resident artist at Kitchen Budapest.
What is Kitchen Budapest?
"The spicy innovation lab Kitchen Budapest, opened in June 2007, is a new media lab for young researchers who are interested in the convergence of mobile communication, online communities and urban space and are passionate about creating experimental projects in cross-disciplinary teams"
"Research fields What happens to the net once it meets the urban space? How does private space relate to the saturating wireless networks? Where does user created content gain authority? How does our use of cities alter as we get more and more real time feedback of its dynamics? What makes a home smart? Street-smart?"
"We would like to rethink and remix the possibilities of new media in our everyday lives and to argument connections between new technologies and our society."
I am happy to live in a world where experimental artists can find places and spaces to grow and thrive!
