Design and Design Failures: Nicolas Nova's Interact 10 Presentation Slides (great pics!)

Today I thought I'd share slides from Nicolas Nova's presentation at Interact 10, a conference held recently in Savannah, G.A. I really wanted to attend this conference.

Design and Designed Failures: From Observing Failures To Provoking Them

Nicolas Nova is the author of the Pasta & Vinegar blog, and works at Lift Lab.

Here are a few of my favorite Pasta & Vinegar posts- I'll add a few more links later.

Tablet PC's strike back
Digital keypads in Paris
ATM interface complexity
(I've taken similar pictures while traveling!)

A review of Interact 10 can be found on Experientia's Putting People First blog.

RENCI Visualization Center Update & Link to Innovative Interactivity post

I've been meaning to visit a few of North Carolina's RENCI visualization centers, but I just haven't had a moment to squeeze the field trip in my schedule.  Tracy Boyer, who authors the Innovative Interactivity blog, had a chance to visit the center in Chapel Hill


For those of you who can't visit a RENCI center, visit Tracy's blog and read about her first-hand experience as a visitor: RENCI pioneering the visualization industry with innovative interfaces
I found a link to the following project, "The Docuverse",  deep within one of the RENCI websites:


The Docuverse: 1.5 million documents on the screen at once.

"The Docuverse is a method of displaying an entire digital library on a screen at once. The Docuverse takes a digital library of HTML documents and a set of queries and creates a “universe” around these queries. Each “galaxy” corresponds to a library query. Each “star” corresponds to a document. The most relevant documents found through a query are the stars located close to the center of a galaxy. Documents perceived by a search engine as less relevant are out among the arms of the galaxies. The visualization is interactive, allowing the user to zoom in and out of galaxies, change queries, and overlay different kinds of data mining results onto the visualization to show how documents with certain characteristics are distributed throughout the collection."

-RENCI


Below are a couple of videos from RENCI's YouTube channel:





Unity 3D Game Engine running on a multi-projector dome system using JavaScript:

FYI:  C#/WPF App to open Unity plug-in window at custom dimension

RENCI Focus Areas (from the RENCI website):
Biosciences & Health
Computing & Technology
Data & Information Management
Disaster & Environmental Research
Economic Development
Education and Outreach
Humanities, Arts and Social Science
Visualization & Collaborative Environments
Project Archive


RELATED
Multi-Touch at RENCI
Research by Touch:  RENCI Multitouch Table Gives Computer Science Research an Intuitive Interface
RENCI Anchor at Europa Center
RENCI at Duke University
RENCI at ECU
RENCI at North Carolina State University
RENCI at UNC Asheville
RENCI at UNC Chapel Hill 
RENCI at UNC Charlotte
RENCI at UNC Coastal Studies Institute
RENCI at UNC HSL

How to visit RENCI at UNC Chapel Hill

Video Games are Good: A Wii Lab for Walter Bickett Elementary School! (Union County, N.C.)

My last post:   Recess is Good...

This post:  Video Games are Good

I went to check my work email today and noticed this article about the Wii on my school district's website. Here is the cut & paste, with additional information and links about games for health below:

Walter Bickett Elementary gifted Wii lab from Tate Realtors 

Written by: Deb Coates Bledsoe, UCPS Communications Coordinator Posted February 4, 2010 by Deb Coates Bledsoe

Walter Bickett Elementary School held a ribbon cutting of its Wii Lab recently officially opening it to students. Pictured, from left, are Walter Bickett physical education teacher Jeff Sauser, PTA vice president Michelle Anderson, PTA president Carrie Beckham, Ron Sumrow and Danielle Spuler both of Allen Tate Realtors and Walter Bickett Elementary principal Theresa Benson.

Thanks to the generosity of Allen Tate Realtors, Walter Bickett Elementary students have the opportunity to be not only smarter, but also a little healthier. 
   
Funds donated to the school last year by Allen Tate helped purchase a Wii Lab, which was unveiled recently with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The lab consists of five stations, each containing a 26-inch flat-panel TV on a cart with locking cabinet. It also has the Wii gaming console and the Wii Fit Plus and Balance Board.
   
“Allen Tate Realtors have been community partners to Walter Bickett Elementary for many years,” said school principal Theresa Benson. “I am proud and honored to continue our partnership and friendship."
   
Allen Tate’s contribution of more than $3,000 last year made the purchase of the Wii Lab possible, while the TV’s were purchased with funds from the school’s parent teacher association.
   
The monetary help comes from an annual event held each year by Allen Tate Realtors called a “FUNDay.” This is a fee-based event where Realtors and employees pay to play golf and other activities. All proceeds benefit public education.
   
The day also includes silent and live auctions to raise additional funds. More than 800 individuals historically participate in the annual event, usually held at The Point Lake and Golf Club on Lake Norman. This year’s contribution to the Walter Bickett Elementary School is $4,166.
   
The Wii labs supplement the school’s Promethium boards, document cameras, data projectors, Wi-fi lab and iPod Rock Stars, which already serve students. These help students become globally aware and technology savvy, Benson said.
   
Another lab with an additional five stations is in the plans with money that was awarded to the school in a PEP (physical education program) grant.

RELATED
6th Annual Games for Health Conference
May 25-27,  Hyatt Harborside Boston
Games Beyond Entertainment Week

Serious Games Drastically Changing Health Outcomes

Eliane Alhadeff

Serious Games Blog: Posts on Games for Health

Eliane Alhadeff

I gave a presentation about game accessibility and games for health in K-12 settings at the 2008 Games for Health conference:

Accessible Games for Health and K-12 Education: Lessons from the Classroom

View more presentations from Lynn Marentette.

SOMEWHAT RELATED

Why Video Games are Good For Your Soul 
James Paul Gee

Big Thinkers:  James Paul Gee on Grading with Games

(Edutopia Video)

RECESS IS GOOD! The State of Play : Recess is linked to academic achievement and social development.

Below are links to the information about a Gallup survey of principals about school recess, commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and Playworks. With the push for academic rigor and higher performance on one-size-fits-all state-mandated group tests, young children have had fewer opportunities to play while at school, despite the observation that children return from recess more focused and ready to learn.

First-Of-Its-Kind Gallup Poll Links Recess To Academic Achievement

The State of Play: Gallup Survey of Principals on School Recess

State of Play Recess Report (pdf)

From what I can tell, the survey results are based on the perceptions of the principals.

I think we  knew this!
Here are a few quotes from the RWJF website:








"Recess doesn’t come without challenges. Because it is often disorganized and difficult to manage, recess is the time when principals encounter the vast majority of their school’s disciplinary problems."

“Recess offers an extraordinary opportunity to improve a school’s climate,” said Jill Vialet, founder and president of Playworks, a national nonprofit and grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that helps schools improve their recess. “Just a little bit of training for staff can go a long way in helping schools dramatically reduce disciplinary problems at recess and direct more attention to teaching and learning.”

"The poll echoes findings from a growing body of clinical research, including a study by Dr. Romina Barros, a professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her groundbreaking study, published in the February 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics, found that children who have more recess time behave better in the classroom and are more likely to learn."


RELATED
Daily School Recess Improves Classroom Behavior
Einstein News, 1/6/2009
"The study, published in Pediatrics, suggests that a daily break of 15 minutes or more in the school day may play a role in improving learning, social development, and health in elementary school children. The study's principal investigator is Romina M. Barros, M.D., assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Einstein."
Why Play Matters
4 Reasons More Recess Helps Kids Do Better in School
Nancy Shute, US News & World Report, Health  2/4/2010
Playscapes: A Blog About Playground Design
How children lost the right to roam in four generations
David Derbyshire, Daily Mail, 6/15/07
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says free and unstructured play is healthy and essential Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MS Ed, the Committee on Communications and Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health 1/1/2007

Here's what I wanted to see at IXDA's Interaction10 in Savannah - ( & some other links)

I really wanted to attend IXDA's Interaction '10 conference in Savannah, Georgia. Unfortunately, it is sold out. If you are interested in learning more about the hot topics in interaction design, take a look at the Interaction '10 Speakers  page that includes links to each speaker's presentation or workshop description, and in some cases, some interesting links.

Some of the presentations I wanted to see:


Designing Social Interfaces: The Game
Erin Malone, tangible ux and Christian Crumlish, Yahoo!


The Use of Virtual Worlds Among People with Disabilities
Kel Smith, Anikto LLC


Augmented Reality: Is it Real?  Should We Care?
Kevin Cheng, Twitter (also author of OK/Cancel)


Interaction Design for the Fourth Dimension
Maria Cordell, Macquarium


Thinking Like a Storyteller
Cindy Chastain


Citizen Volunteerism and Urban Interaction Design
Solomon Bisker, Carnegie Mellon/School of Architecture


Designing for the Web in the World
Timo Arnall/Oslo School of Architecture & Design



NOT TOO RELATED


So why didn't I go to Interaction 10?   


For those of you new to this blog, after spending a few years working part-time at one and taking graduate courses, I returned to work full time in 2008, due to the economic downturn, daughters in college, etc. 


I am a school psychologist, and my "day job" sometimes spills into several evenings, as I serve two small high schools, a small "early college" program in addition to my home site, a program for students with severe disabilities. I have quite a bit of paperwork to complete, and this time of the year is especially busy.  I often must work on psychological evaluation reports, counseling& consultation notes, and mandatory special education paperwork/data entry, outside of work hours.


I try to devote about one hour a day, on average, devoted to researching and writing for this blog, and about 5 hours a week working on computer projects to keep up my design/development and programming skills.  When I'm out and about, I pay close attention to people and how they interact with a range of technologies in public spaces.  


Comment:
If you are interested in education and the range of topics of concern to school psychologists, the following link is to web page of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).  This page that includes and extensive list of links to articles written by school psychologists that were published in the Principal Leadership magazine, a publication of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.  


There is a need for solutions in education that incorporate the use of useful and usable technology. If you are interested in designing, developing, and researching applications for use in educational settings, I encourage you to spend some time reviewing some of the topics included on the NASP website! 

Principal Leadership Magazine Articles
(Most of the articles contain useful references.)

Sample of articles-in PDF format:
Understanding and Fostering Achievement Motivation
Transformative Leadership for Social-Emotional Learning
Promoting School Completion
Self-Concept and Self-Esteem in Adolescents
Angry and Aggressive Students
Preparing Students with Disabilities for School-to-Work Transition and Postschool Life

Gigantic Social Interactive Direction Sign in London: Nokia's promotion of the free Ovi Maps application.

I meant to post this a while ago and forgot about it. A huge digital arrow sign was installed over London to promote Nokia's free Ovi map navigation system. It was up and active for two weeks. People could interact with the sign by sending it a message from their phones. See the videos below for more details!

-My Nokia Blog


The World's Biggest Signpost from adghost on Vimeo.

Notice how the people who see the signpost use their mobile phones to take pictures and share with their friends.

I found a similar video on the Infosthetics blog:


"This gigantic, interactive signpost sponsored by Nokia Ovi Maps in the form of a dynamically rotating electronic LED screen allows passers-by to send in their favorite location and coordinates via text or email. The giant pointer, hung on a 60 ton construction on height of 50m, then automatically rotates to the given direction and displays the submitted description to the world."