Pogue's Post: Clear Trend in Pocket Projectors
NYT, 2/24/2010
David Pogue, a technology writer for the New York Times, recently wrote a detailed, entertaining post about pocket projectors, also known as pico projectors. According to Pogue, the LG Expo cell phone comes with an (almost) built-in projector. The Aaxa, another pico, uses lasers to generate high-resolution images, comes with speakers, and allows for projecting from a range of sources, including DVD players, TiVo, camcorders, laptops, computers, and soon, iPods & iPhones.
According to Pogue, "pico projectors have a very bright, high-resolution future".
RELATED
Microvision's SHOWWX Laser Pico Projector: I want one!
Light Blue Optics: Interactive Microprojectors in your Day-to-Day Life
Mobile Projection from a Cell Phone or PDA!
LG DLP Pico Projector
LG eXpo GW820 with Pico Projector
For the tech-curious:
DLP Pico Projector Developoment Kit-Part 3- Another Geek Moment
"Part 3 of Another Geek Moment series on the DLP® Pico™ Projector Development Kit provided by Digi-Key and Texas Instruments. In this episode, Jeremy explains some of the capabilities of the Pico projector and how to manipulate them."
http://dkc1.digikey.com/us/en/ph/TI/Pico.html
Pico Projectors will be intermixed with all sorts of devices:
CES 2010: Laser Pico Projector, Netbook E-Reader Combo
Feb 26, 2010
Feb 25, 2010
Cyan Design's Multi-touch Experiments, Tutorials, and More (Collider Exhibition Series- Interactivity and New Media)
Chris Yanc, of Cyan Design, has been creating multi-touch applications for a while. His work, "Multi-touch Experiments" was included in the Collider Exhibition Series in Akron, Ohio. Below is a video of his experiments, a video of a demo app for an interactive touch conference map, info about his work with the 36 Views of a Bridge project, and links to his tutorials and code.
Collider Series - Multitouch Table Experiments from Chris Yanc on Vimeo.
About the Collider Exhibition Series (info taken from the website):
"The Collider Exhibition Series examines the impact, implications and inspi- ration of the phenomenon generally categorized under the umbrella term New Media within the design practice and fine arts.Collider: Interactivity and New Media is an initial exploration into this realm. The exhibition seeks to provoke an awareness of the pervasive nature of New Media as it is applied in every function of our society and immerges as a forum for the highest expressions of our contemporary culture. It explores the results of collisions between humans and machines, biology and com- putations, art and technology, thought and process. What is New Media? And what are the implications to artists and designers when worlds, cul- tures and even identities collapse, build and collide."
Chris Yanc's Multi-Touch Demo App: Tokyo Game Show 09 Conference Map
multitouch demo app - tokyo game show 09 conference map from Chris Yanc on Vimeo.
Chris was involved with the 36 Views of a Bridge at the Bridge Project in Cleveland, Ohio. His post, 36 Views of a Bridge, explains in detail how his work was created, and also observations of groups of people interacting with the multi-touch table that was part of this project.
Chris was kind enough to share his repository of tutorials and code:
http://www.cyancdesign.com/tutorials/ His tutorial page has lots of good links!
I'll be highlighting more work by innovative individuals, groups, and companies from time-to-time in future posts.
Collider Series - Multitouch Table Experiments from Chris Yanc on Vimeo.
About the Collider Exhibition Series (info taken from the website):
"The Collider Exhibition Series examines the impact, implications and inspi- ration of the phenomenon generally categorized under the umbrella term New Media within the design practice and fine arts.Collider: Interactivity and New Media is an initial exploration into this realm. The exhibition seeks to provoke an awareness of the pervasive nature of New Media as it is applied in every function of our society and immerges as a forum for the highest expressions of our contemporary culture. It explores the results of collisions between humans and machines, biology and com- putations, art and technology, thought and process. What is New Media? And what are the implications to artists and designers when worlds, cul- tures and even identities collapse, build and collide."
Chris Yanc's Multi-Touch Demo App: Tokyo Game Show 09 Conference Map
multitouch demo app - tokyo game show 09 conference map from Chris Yanc on Vimeo.
Chris was involved with the 36 Views of a Bridge at the Bridge Project in Cleveland, Ohio. His post, 36 Views of a Bridge, explains in detail how his work was created, and also observations of groups of people interacting with the multi-touch table that was part of this project.
The sliding list widget demonstrated in the above video was created using Flash and can be downloaded from Chris's website: Sliding Lists ~ TUIO Flas App Widget. The link will take you to "how-to" information, a code example, and also to a link to download the widget.
Chris was kind enough to share his repository of tutorials and code:
http://www.cyancdesign.com/tutorials/ His tutorial page has lots of good links!
I'll be highlighting more work by innovative individuals, groups, and companies from time-to-time in future posts.
Labels:
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bad design,
chris yanc,
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Feb 24, 2010
Telepresence, Video Conferencing and Distance Education
I've come across more news about telepresence and video conferencing lately. The technology is getting better, and businesses are finding that this provides a great way to save money and time.
Here are some videos and pictures from the Telepresence Options Network about ways large displays are used in a variety of settings.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Tata Communications are installing telepresence meeting suites in a variety of settings. Public rooms can connect with public rooms anywhere, any time.
For more information, see the Tata Communications website.
RELATED
Polycom Touch Control Provides Unprecedented Telepresence Ease of Use
Polycom Delivers Breakthrough Video Quality Innovation that Cuts Telepresence Bandwidth Requirements in Half
"Through coding efficiency innovations, Polycom's support for H.264 High Profile will deliver breakthrough video performance at any bandwidth, including full-motion HD video quality starting at just 512 kbps, and full-motion DVD-quality SD video starting as low as 128 kbps."
Polycom: Immersive Telepresence
Polycom: Room Telepresence
Polycom: Personal Telepresence
The Human Productivity Lab is hosting the Inter-Company Telepresence and Videoconferencing Conference and Working group on Thursday, April 22, 2010, in Reston, Virginia.
Whitepaper: Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light (Howard S. Lichtman)
Other telepresence companies:
Teliris
Informata Communications
Verizon Video Conferencing
Nortel Telepresence
Glowpoint
Polycom
TelePresence Tech (2D and 3D Telepresence)
LifeSize (logitech)
Masergy
BT Conferencing
Vidyo
Hai Vision, Hai Vision Education
OGCP Telepresence
Several high schools in my school district have distance learning sites. I noticed that Polycom video encoders are part of the package. The following is information from the UCPS Distance & Online Learning website:
"In Union County Public Schools, distance learning students are located in traditional classrooms throughout the district's high school distance learning sites, connected via conferencing to a teacher and students located in a distant classroom (the host/sending site).
Here are some videos and pictures from the Telepresence Options Network about ways large displays are used in a variety of settings.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Tata Communications are installing telepresence meeting suites in a variety of settings. Public rooms can connect with public rooms anywhere, any time.
For more information, see the Tata Communications website.
RELATED
Polycom Touch Control Provides Unprecedented Telepresence Ease of Use
Here is an excerpt from the promotional materials:
"Providing a user experience similar to industry-leading mobile devices (like smart phones, mp3 players, etc.), the Polycom Touch Control's seven-inch color screen allows casual and power users to easily navigate key functions from basic dialing and content sharing, to advanced features using finger gestures to touch and slide universally recognizable icons and navigate intuitive arrows and tabs. The graphical interface makes it easy for users to locate contacts and dial video calls using a corporate directory, local address book, or presence-enabled contact list. The Polycom Touch Control also makes it easy for anyone (even visitors without network access) to share content during a video call or to present content using the room's audio/visual systems during a non-video meeting. Multiple content sharing methods are available with Touch Control to allow users to quickly and easily share content using the integrated USB ports."
Polycom Delivers Breakthrough Video Quality Innovation that Cuts Telepresence Bandwidth Requirements in Half
"Through coding efficiency innovations, Polycom's support for H.264 High Profile will deliver breakthrough video performance at any bandwidth, including full-motion HD video quality starting at just 512 kbps, and full-motion DVD-quality SD video starting as low as 128 kbps."
Polycom: Immersive Telepresence
Polycom: Room Telepresence
Polycom: Personal Telepresence
The Human Productivity Lab is hosting the Inter-Company Telepresence and Videoconferencing Conference and Working group on Thursday, April 22, 2010, in Reston, Virginia.
Whitepaper: Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light (Howard S. Lichtman)
Other telepresence companies:
Teliris
Informata Communications
Verizon Video Conferencing
Nortel Telepresence
Glowpoint
Polycom
TelePresence Tech (2D and 3D Telepresence)
LifeSize (logitech)
Masergy
BT Conferencing
Vidyo
Hai Vision, Hai Vision Education
OGCP Telepresence
Several high schools in my school district have distance learning sites. I noticed that Polycom video encoders are part of the package. The following is information from the UCPS Distance & Online Learning website:
"In Union County Public Schools, distance learning students are located in traditional classrooms throughout the district's high school distance learning sites, connected via conferencing to a teacher and students located in a distant classroom (the host/sending site).
Our distance learning labs feature modern Polycom equipment designed to enhance students' learning experiences. Our distance learning classrooms include:
| 3-42" NEC plasma displays, 1serving as a rear monitor | |
| Polycom video encoder | |
| 2 PowerCam cameras | |
| LCD Projector | |
| Digital presenter/document camera | |
| Laptop | |
| DVD/VHS combo device | |
| two-way audio microphones | |
| Internet access and network support I'll share more about this topic in future posts. |
Feb 23, 2010
Games and Learning: Lure of the Labyrinth, a Middle School Online Pre-algebra/literacy game - Watch the Video, Play the Game, and Follow Links to Related Resources
"Maryland Public Television (MPT) and MIT Education Arcade teamed up with FableVision to create Lure of the Labyrinth, an innovative gaming-meets-storytelling approach to improve math and literacy among middle-school students. Plunge into a shadowy, moster-filled factory on a mission to rescue your missing pet. Can you maneuver through math problems and find your beloved pet in time!?"
The Lure of the Labyrinth middle-school pre-algebra game is linked to state and national math standards and comes with good resources for teachers. On the For Educators page, teachers (and parents) can find information about how students can play the game, how it can be incorporated into the classroom setting, how to prepare the students for playing the game, how to use the game to support working in pairs and group, and more. Below is the introductory video:
Scot Osterweil and his team at MIT's Education Arcade, designed Lure of the Labyrinth. Scot is the research director of the Education Arcade, and has worked on software such as InspireData (Inspiration Software). He is the former Senior Designer at TERC, an R & D for math and science education.
RELATED
Klopfer, D., Osterweil,S., Groff, J., & Hass, J. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, Simulations, and How Teachers Can Leverage Them. Education Arcade, MIT (pdf)
Regarding barriers to adopting digital games, social networking, and simulation technologies in the school, the article reviews the work of Groff and Mouza:
"Groff and Mouza (2008) discuss six central factors, each with its own critical variables, that interact with one another to produce barriers to implementing technological innovations in the classroom: (a) Research & Policy factors, (b) District/School factors, (c) factors associated with the Teacher, (d) factors associated with the Technology- Enhanced Project, (e) factors associated with the Students, and (f) factors inherent to Technology itself.
Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., Salen, K. (2009) Moving Learning Games Forward: Obstacles, Opportunities & Openess. The Education Arcade, MIT (pdf)
Gee. J.P, & Levine, M.H. Welcome to Our Virtual Worlds (pdf) Educational Leadership, Literacy 2.0, March 2009, Vol. 66, (6). ASCD
"The United States is witnessing a growing student engagement crisis. With dropout rates approaching 50 percent in many urban school districts (Swanson, 2008) and recent education surveys showing that students are overwhelmingly bored in school (Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Morison, 2006; Yazzie-Mintz, 2007), we clearly need to find new ways to motivate learners."
"A crucial first step in promoting student engagement is to rethink literacy for the 21st century. One path to this new learning equation comes, perhaps paradoxically, from popular culture. Many young people today play long and difficult video games that involve complex thinking and problem solving married to complex language. Although the most frequent criticism of video games is that many involve shooting and killing, a good many focus on other things. Civilization and Rise of Nations force players to think on a large scale about history, development across time, and civilizations. SimCity, The Sims, and, for very young children, Animal Crossing ask players to build and sustain cities and communities. Age of Mythology players regularly read and write about mythologies across the world, specifically from Greek, Egyptian, and Norse civilizations. Some gamers write strategy guides for the games they play—technical writing at its best—and share them over the Internet."
James Paul Gee is the author of a number of publications regarding games and learning. He is the author of Good Video Games and Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy. He is the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University.
Klopfer, E. (2008) Augmented Learning Research and Design of Mobile Educational Games. MIT Press.
MIT STEP's Handheld Augmented Reality Simulations Site
Eric Klopfer is involved with MIT's StarLogo project. The newest version of StarLogo is StarLogo TNG. StarLogo Tim is part of MIT's Scheller Teacher Education Program (STEP)
Here are some links found on the STEP website:
MyWorld: Next Generation Wireless Ubiquitous Simulation Games
PDA Participatory Simulations
Scot Osterweil (MIT) The Four Freedoms of Play
"Scot Osterweil, a pioneer in learning and game play, shares his thoughts on the concept of "The Four Freedoms of Play." Scot Osterweil works at MIT as the Education Arcade Research Director. Here Scot presents to the Harvard Business School in Cambridge, MA in a weekly education technology forum called BrainGain."
Kurt Squire did his doctoral research on the use of Sid Meier's Civilization to teach social studies. Resources for how the game can be used in education can be found at the CivWorld website. Kurt is the co-founder and current director of the Games + Learning + Society (GLS) website, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is an assistant professor.
There are an increasing number of universities offering coursework related to the design and development of games for learning and education.
The Lure of the Labyrinth middle-school pre-algebra game is linked to state and national math standards and comes with good resources for teachers. On the For Educators page, teachers (and parents) can find information about how students can play the game, how it can be incorporated into the classroom setting, how to prepare the students for playing the game, how to use the game to support working in pairs and group, and more. Below is the introductory video:
Scot Osterweil and his team at MIT's Education Arcade, designed Lure of the Labyrinth. Scot is the research director of the Education Arcade, and has worked on software such as InspireData (Inspiration Software). He is the former Senior Designer at TERC, an R & D for math and science education.
RELATED
Klopfer, D., Osterweil,S., Groff, J., & Hass, J. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, Simulations, and How Teachers Can Leverage Them. Education Arcade, MIT (pdf)
Regarding barriers to adopting digital games, social networking, and simulation technologies in the school, the article reviews the work of Groff and Mouza:
"Groff and Mouza (2008) discuss six central factors, each with its own critical variables, that interact with one another to produce barriers to implementing technological innovations in the classroom: (a) Research & Policy factors, (b) District/School factors, (c) factors associated with the Teacher, (d) factors associated with the Technology- Enhanced Project, (e) factors associated with the Students, and (f) factors inherent to Technology itself.
Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., Salen, K. (2009) Moving Learning Games Forward: Obstacles, Opportunities & Openess. The Education Arcade, MIT (pdf)
Gee. J.P, & Levine, M.H. Welcome to Our Virtual Worlds (pdf) Educational Leadership, Literacy 2.0, March 2009, Vol. 66, (6). ASCD
"The United States is witnessing a growing student engagement crisis. With dropout rates approaching 50 percent in many urban school districts (Swanson, 2008) and recent education surveys showing that students are overwhelmingly bored in school (Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Morison, 2006; Yazzie-Mintz, 2007), we clearly need to find new ways to motivate learners."
"A crucial first step in promoting student engagement is to rethink literacy for the 21st century. One path to this new learning equation comes, perhaps paradoxically, from popular culture. Many young people today play long and difficult video games that involve complex thinking and problem solving married to complex language. Although the most frequent criticism of video games is that many involve shooting and killing, a good many focus on other things. Civilization and Rise of Nations force players to think on a large scale about history, development across time, and civilizations. SimCity, The Sims, and, for very young children, Animal Crossing ask players to build and sustain cities and communities. Age of Mythology players regularly read and write about mythologies across the world, specifically from Greek, Egyptian, and Norse civilizations. Some gamers write strategy guides for the games they play—technical writing at its best—and share them over the Internet."
James Paul Gee is the author of a number of publications regarding games and learning. He is the author of Good Video Games and Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy. He is the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University.
Klopfer, E. (2008) Augmented Learning Research and Design of Mobile Educational Games. MIT Press.
MIT STEP's Handheld Augmented Reality Simulations Site
Eric Klopfer is involved with MIT's StarLogo project. The newest version of StarLogo is StarLogo TNG. StarLogo Tim is part of MIT's Scheller Teacher Education Program (STEP)
Here are some links found on the STEP website:
MyWorld: Next Generation Wireless Ubiquitous Simulation Games
PDA Participatory Simulations
Scot Osterweil (MIT) The Four Freedoms of Play
"Scot Osterweil, a pioneer in learning and game play, shares his thoughts on the concept of "The Four Freedoms of Play." Scot Osterweil works at MIT as the Education Arcade Research Director. Here Scot presents to the Harvard Business School in Cambridge, MA in a weekly education technology forum called BrainGain."
Kurt Squire did his doctoral research on the use of Sid Meier's Civilization to teach social studies. Resources for how the game can be used in education can be found at the CivWorld website. Kurt is the co-founder and current director of the Games + Learning + Society (GLS) website, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is an assistant professor.There are an increasing number of universities offering coursework related to the design and development of games for learning and education.
Feb 20, 2010
Globe4D: See how the Earth changed over time!
Something like this should be in every school's media center!
Globe4D - ICT Delta 2010 from Globe4D on Vimeo.
"Globe4D is an interactive, four-dimensional globe. It's a projection of the Earth's surface on a physical sphere. It shows the historical movement of the continents as its main feature, but it is also capable of displaying all kinds of other geographical data such as climate changes, plant growth, radiation, rainfall, forest fires, seasons, airplane routes, and more."
Publication:
Companje, R., van Dijk, N., Hogenbirk, H., Mast, D., Globe4D: Time traveling with an interactive four-dimensional globe. Proc. MM '06, ACM
Globe4D - ICT Delta 2010 from Globe4D on Vimeo.
"Globe4D is an interactive, four-dimensional globe. It's a projection of the Earth's surface on a physical sphere. It shows the historical movement of the continents as its main feature, but it is also capable of displaying all kinds of other geographical data such as climate changes, plant growth, radiation, rainfall, forest fires, seasons, airplane routes, and more."
Publication:
Companje, R., van Dijk, N., Hogenbirk, H., Mast, D., Globe4D: Time traveling with an interactive four-dimensional globe. Proc. MM '06, ACM
SMART Table Videos
One of the schools I serve as a school psychologist will be getting a SMARTTable. We've decided to enter the SMART Table multi-touch application contest, which means that we'll have to put our ideas into action soon, July 1st, to be exact. (We will be working on this project after work hours.)
The purpose of this post is to provide a spot to keep videos related to the SMARTTable, as well as other multi-touch tables used with students, so team members watch the table in action. (I will move this content to a special website for this project when I get a moment!)
Our school recently received about 8 SMARTBoards, and since every classroom is geared for students with severe disabilities, including autism, I thought I'd share the following video first. The students have started to work cooperatively and have begun to develop more communication skills:
SMARTBOARD AND STUDENTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES
(The teacher in this video uses theZACH browser, designed for students with autism, to help them independently navigate to interactive websites. The Zac browser can be navigated with a Wii remote controller, too.)
SMARTTable- Engaged Students from Davie County
ALIVE OR NOT ALIVE
ANIMAL NEEDS:
ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
1MORE, 1 LESS
"In this table activity 1 More, 1 Less students work on a series of touch exercises in the tables Multiple Choice, Hot Spaces and Hot Spots applications where they can practice simple addition and subtraction."
WHAT IS REAL ABOUT PLANTS AND ANIMALS?
ALPHABET
"In this table activity Alphabet students work on a series of touch exercises in the tables Multiple Choice and Hot Spots applications where they can learn about different letters of the alphabet."
HOW-TO VIDEOS FOR THE SMART TABLE
Adding background images from SMART Notebook using Windows XP
SMARTTable Toolkit: Adding background images from SMART Notebook using MAC OSX
The purpose of this post is to provide a spot to keep videos related to the SMARTTable, as well as other multi-touch tables used with students, so team members watch the table in action. (I will move this content to a special website for this project when I get a moment!)
Our school recently received about 8 SMARTBoards, and since every classroom is geared for students with severe disabilities, including autism, I thought I'd share the following video first. The students have started to work cooperatively and have begun to develop more communication skills:
SMARTBOARD AND STUDENTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES
(The teacher in this video uses theZACH browser, designed for students with autism, to help them independently navigate to interactive websites. The Zac browser can be navigated with a Wii remote controller, too.)
SMARTTable- Engaged Students from Davie County
ALIVE OR NOT ALIVE
ANIMAL NEEDS:
ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
1MORE, 1 LESS
"In this table activity 1 More, 1 Less students work on a series of touch exercises in the tables Multiple Choice, Hot Spaces and Hot Spots applications where they can practice simple addition and subtraction."
WHAT IS REAL ABOUT PLANTS AND ANIMALS?
ALPHABET
"In this table activity Alphabet students work on a series of touch exercises in the tables Multiple Choice and Hot Spots applications where they can learn about different letters of the alphabet."
HOW-TO VIDEOS FOR THE SMART TABLE
Adding background images from SMART Notebook using Windows XP
SMARTTable Toolkit: Adding background images from SMART Notebook using MAC OSX
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