Technology is changing our world, and in some fields, more so than others. For professional newspaper journalists, things are pretty bleak, as web-based news content is stamping out much of what has been held dear to the heart in traditional press rooms. Newspaper companies are folding and great journalists have lost their jobs.
Is there hope for the future?
Journalists who have digital media skills are voicing their views about this phenomenon as the profession moves to reinvent itself. There is much to discuss, since the number of folks with Smartphones and access to web-based news content on-the-go increases each day.
The first post I'm sharing was written by Colin Mulvany, who works as a multimedia producer at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. He began his career is a still photographer, but changed gears and transitioned to his present role creating content for his paper's on-line website.
Colin Mulvany is the author of the Mastering Multimedia blog. His blog post, Will the touch tablet save professional journalism?, provides an overview of changes in journalism and links to related on-line articles about the topic. What I liked about Mulvany's post is his vision of how the transition from newspaper to the digital world might play out in the near future.
It all centers around the touch-tablet that is paired with the newspaper. So how will this make money? Mulvany has a few ideas. One of his suggestions involves improving the navigation of newspaper websites, and providing content and layout that the reader can customize for interaction with the tablet.
The second article, The End of Hand Crafted Content, written by Michael Arrington at Tech Crunch, points out how on-line news content is like "fast food", generated by blogs and aggregators. Arrington discusses how the same content is written and refashioned and written, and the true creators of the content (real journalists!) are not often noted...or noticed.
Arrington provides good links on his post. If you have time on your hands, take time to read it, and also browse through the numerous comments posted by readers. Although I rarely am inspired to comment on an on-line post, in this instance, I did so. My comment is buried in there somewhere!
RELATED
Minority Report Scenes:
3D ads at the mall, subway scene with USA-Today e-paper (updated with video in "real time")
http://www.youtube.com/user/mrcavalcanti
The holographic ads in the Minority Report mall scene begin at 0:28. The subway scene with the USA Today 3-paper begins at 1:27. (Mulvany has a similar video on his post.)
Holographic Ad at a Canadian Mall: "Living Poster"
http://www.youtube.com/user/smtire
Maybe the holograph guy in the mall could deliver the news or a weather report, along with a few Minority Report-like mall ads!
Dec 14, 2009
Dec 13, 2009
Multi-touch and Tangible Computing & the Lumino Project
Professor Patrick Baudisch and his student researchers at the Haaso Plattner Institute in Germany have focused on Human-Interaction for a quite a while. One look at the research project page of Dr. Baudisch says it all. Over the past few years, the human-computer interaction (HCI) teams at Hasso Plattner have explored multi-touch and tangible computing, with very interesting results.
Take a look at the following video from Design Boom's YouTube Channel, and follow the related links for more information!
Tangible Tabletop Computing with Lumino
(The Lumino project was developed using Microsoft Surface.)
RELATED
Lumino Project Website
Lumino Team:
Professer Patrick Baudisch, Torsten Becker, Frederik Rudeck
Human Computer Interaction, Hasso Plattner Institute
"The Human Computer Interaction group headed by Prof. Dr. Patrick Baudisch is concerned with the design, implementation, and evaluation of interaction techniques, devices, and systems. More specifically, we create new ways to interact with small devices, such as mobile phones and very large display devices, such as tables and walls."
Articles/Posts
Lumino (Design Boom, no author or date)
Smart 'Lego" blocks take touch screens into 3D Colin Barras, New Scientist (10/6/09)
"Fat Fingers" can become dainty for touch Screens Colin Barris, New Scientist (11/24/09)
Microsoft Surface and Objects (Features Lumino "Tangible Blocks" at the 1:02 marker)
Take a look at the following video from Design Boom's YouTube Channel, and follow the related links for more information!
Tangible Tabletop Computing with Lumino
(The Lumino project was developed using Microsoft Surface.)
RELATED
Lumino Project Website
Lumino Team:
Professer Patrick Baudisch, Torsten Becker, Frederik Rudeck
Human Computer Interaction, Hasso Plattner Institute
"The Human Computer Interaction group headed by Prof. Dr. Patrick Baudisch is concerned with the design, implementation, and evaluation of interaction techniques, devices, and systems. More specifically, we create new ways to interact with small devices, such as mobile phones and very large display devices, such as tables and walls."
Articles/Posts
Lumino (Design Boom, no author or date)
Smart 'Lego" blocks take touch screens into 3D Colin Barras, New Scientist (10/6/09)
"Fat Fingers" can become dainty for touch Screens Colin Barris, New Scientist (11/24/09)
Microsoft Surface and Objects (Features Lumino "Tangible Blocks" at the 1:02 marker)
Dec 12, 2009
Open Source eViacam head mouse lets you control your computer with your head, or your finger in the air
Also posted on the TechPsych blog
I just downloaded and tried eViacam, an open-source head mouse software, and found it to work accurately and smoothly. I used the software on my HP TouchSmart PC, which has an embedded video camera. eViacam also works with USB webcams. You can download eViacam from Sourceforge. It is released under the GNU/GPL license.
Although this software is very useful for people with disabilities such as cerebral palsy and ALS, it looks like it could be useful for anyone. For example, the software can track your finger as you move it in the air, and it comes with an on-screen keyboard that you can turn on or off.
By the way, one of the videos I watched on YouTube was of someone playing a game with this system. I'd like to know what games it could support!
How to Control Your Mouse with Your Head (Face) Or Your Finger
mobilephone2003 (Duncan Maile)
Screenshot
-Cesar Mauri Loba, Universitat Rovira i Virgili
eViacam's future most likely will depend on donations, as this software was developed to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. You can donate to eViacam using PayPal.
RELATED
Cesar Mauri Loba, eViacam Researcher
CREA Sistemes Informatics
"eViacam is being developed using wxWidgets and opencv1 and runs on Linux and MS Win."
I just downloaded and tried eViacam, an open-source head mouse software, and found it to work accurately and smoothly. I used the software on my HP TouchSmart PC, which has an embedded video camera. eViacam also works with USB webcams. You can download eViacam from Sourceforge. It is released under the GNU/GPL license.
Although this software is very useful for people with disabilities such as cerebral palsy and ALS, it looks like it could be useful for anyone. For example, the software can track your finger as you move it in the air, and it comes with an on-screen keyboard that you can turn on or off.
By the way, one of the videos I watched on YouTube was of someone playing a game with this system. I'd like to know what games it could support!
How to Control Your Mouse with Your Head (Face) Or Your Finger
mobilephone2003 (Duncan Maile)
Screenshot
-Cesar Mauri Loba, Universitat Rovira i Virgili
eViacam's future most likely will depend on donations, as this software was developed to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. You can donate to eViacam using PayPal.
RELATED
Cesar Mauri Loba, eViacam Researcher
CREA Sistemes Informatics
"eViacam is being developed using wxWidgets and opencv1 and runs on Linux and MS Win."
Dec 11, 2009
Participatory Design Conference 2010 "Participation :: The Challenge" + some thoughts
I really want to go to Australia next year and attend this conference! Below are links to the conference, along with an excerpt from the conference description:
11th Biennial Participatory Design Conference: Participation :: The Challenge (pdf)
PDC2010 Conference Website
PDC2008 Conference Website
"Participation is the complex, contested, changing, creative and celebratory core of participatory design. We invite you to explore what participation can and needs to mean in the design contexts where we are working now and those we are likely to encounter soon. While current ‘best practice’ in many areas of interactive technology design now at least pays lip service to people’s participation, how is this participation being negotiated and defined, and by whom? And if Participatory Design methods developed some 20 years ago are claimed to have become standard design practice, how do we go about developing the methods that will define standard design practice 20 years from now?"
REFLECTION
Judging from what I've experienced as a consumer/user, there are many things that are floating around in the form of electronics, software, and related gadgets that are examples of the absence of participatory design.
My daily pet peeve is the remote control for my entertainment set-up, which includes DVR and a small but growing number of interactive TV channels. Another pet peeve is the usability of productivity software, including the software I must use for work.
At any rate, below are links to some of my thoughts related to usability topics that might be of interest to people who are thinking about or practicing participatory design or user-centered design.
2007 Letter to the Editor, Pervasive Computing
Useful Usability Studies (pdf)
2007 Blog Post
Usability/Interaction Hall of Shame (In a Hospital)
2008 Blog Posts
Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It"
An Example of Convergence: Interactive TV: uxTV 2008
2009 Blog Posts
Microsoft: Are You Listening? Cool Cat Teacher (Vicki Davis) Tries out Microsoft's Multi-touch Surface Table
Haptic/Tactile Interface: Dynamically Changeable Physical Buttons
The Convergence of TV, the Internet, and Interactivity: Update
UX of ITV: The User Experience and Interactive TV (or Let's Stamp Out Bad Remote Controls)
ElderGadget Blog: Useful Tech and Tools
11th Biennial Participatory Design Conference: Participation :: The Challenge (pdf)
PDC2010 Conference Website
PDC2008 Conference Website
"Participation is the complex, contested, changing, creative and celebratory core of participatory design. We invite you to explore what participation can and needs to mean in the design contexts where we are working now and those we are likely to encounter soon. While current ‘best practice’ in many areas of interactive technology design now at least pays lip service to people’s participation, how is this participation being negotiated and defined, and by whom? And if Participatory Design methods developed some 20 years ago are claimed to have become standard design practice, how do we go about developing the methods that will define standard design practice 20 years from now?"
REFLECTION
Judging from what I've experienced as a consumer/user, there are many things that are floating around in the form of electronics, software, and related gadgets that are examples of the absence of participatory design.
My daily pet peeve is the remote control for my entertainment set-up, which includes DVR and a small but growing number of interactive TV channels. Another pet peeve is the usability of productivity software, including the software I must use for work.
At any rate, below are links to some of my thoughts related to usability topics that might be of interest to people who are thinking about or practicing participatory design or user-centered design.
2007 Letter to the Editor, Pervasive Computing
Useful Usability Studies (pdf)
2007 Blog Post
Usability/Interaction Hall of Shame (In a Hospital)
2008 Blog Posts
Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It"
An Example of Convergence: Interactive TV: uxTV 2008
2009 Blog Posts
Microsoft: Are You Listening? Cool Cat Teacher (Vicki Davis) Tries out Microsoft's Multi-touch Surface Table
Haptic/Tactile Interface: Dynamically Changeable Physical Buttons
The Convergence of TV, the Internet, and Interactivity: Update
UX of ITV: The User Experience and Interactive TV (or Let's Stamp Out Bad Remote Controls)
ElderGadget Blog: Useful Tech and Tools
Dec 10, 2009
Allgodoo: Engaging Interactive Physics for Interactive Whiteboards
I posted this on the TechPsych blog:
Watch students play with physics on the SMARTboard using Algodoo running on an Intel Classmate PC with a built-in accelerometer
The post includes a video clip as well as links to tutorials, lesson plans for teachers, and more.
Watch students play with physics on the SMARTboard using Algodoo running on an Intel Classmate PC with a built-in accelerometer
The post includes a video clip as well as links to tutorials, lesson plans for teachers, and more.
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