Feb 22, 2011

Urban Ministries of Duram's online serious game, SPENT: Can you make it through the month on $1,000.00? (via Tracy Boyer)





SPENT is an online serious game that is a result of a collaboration between the ad agency McKinney and Urban Ministries of Durham, N.C.    The game was launched this month to help increase community awareness about the needs of people who have been negatively impacted by the on-going economic crisis - people who have lost jobs, the under-employed, and the homeless.   


The factoids provided in the game are based on data (see link below).  One goal for presenting this information is to help players sift through the myths they might be carrying around in their heads about poverty and the realties that many people face every day.   


The game offers players the opportunity to take on different roles, make tough decisions, and see the results of these decisions. 


The game is a call to action.




RELATED
McKinney launches Spent, an interactive game about poverty
Tracy Boyer, Innovative Interactivity, 2/21/11
Play SPENT
Sources for the data/information provided in SPENT (pdf)
Urban Ministries of Durham
McKinney
WhiteNoise | Lab (Sound Design for SPENT)
Emphathize Walt Barron, 5 Words (McKinney Blog)  2/8/11



Feb 21, 2011

Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction - Video of MacWorld presentation by authors of upcoming book.

I'll admit it. I've been a SciFi fan and Trekkie since childhood. 


When I discovered that Nathan Shedroff and Cris Noessel were writing Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction, I just had to take a break from writing reports to share the news.  


The video below is from the author's MacWorld presentation that covers some of the content of the book's first chapter:


Below is information about the book, from the publisher's website:

"Interaction and interface designers can learn practical lessons from the interfaces in Science Fiction films and television. Though lacking rigorous engagement with users, production designers are nonetheless allowed to develop influential "blue-sky" examples that are inspiring, humorous, prophetic, useful, and can be incorporated into "real" work to make online, mobile, and ubiquitous interfaces more interesting and more successful. This book will share lessons and examples culled from imaginative interfaces free from traditional constraints. In addition, the authors will outline their process of investigation and describe a toolkit for others to make similar explorations into other domains." 
book in progress by Nathan Shedroff & Chris Noessel. Publisher: Rosenfeld Media. Anticipated publication date: 2012
Nathan Shedroff is the chair of the new MBA in Design Strategy program at California College of the Arts.  Chris Noessel is an interaction design director at Cooper.


via Putting People First 

Transit: Digital Video Dance Storytelling on Large Displays at the LAX Airport, by Scott Snibbe and Francesca Penzani

Scott Sona Snibbe, an interactive artist, created a large-scale video installation on twenty-nine connected HD displays that curved around at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at the LAX airport in 2010.   The video tells a story of groups of people traveling through an airport who eventually begin dancing in interesting ways.  

Francesca Penzani was the choreographer for this project. Noah Cunningham was responsible for the cinematography, editing, and post-production.




RELATED
SNIBBE INTERACTIVE
The Snibbe Interactive website has lots of great photos and videos of the company's work.



Thanks to Daniel Chen for sharing this video!

Feb 20, 2011

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Is Changing the World: BLUR Conference, February 22-23, Omni Orlando Resort (Includes video)

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 8:00 AM - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 5:00 PM (ET) Omni Orlando Resort, 1500 Masters Blvd. 
 ChampionsGate, Florida 33896 Phone: (407) 390-6664
Blur Conference

ABOUT BLUR 
(from the conference website)

"It’s easy to forget that the computer mouse is over 45 years old."

"What’s not as easy to forget is that we’re now collectively getting used to interacting with computers via means and interfaces that have moved way beyond the keyboard and the mouse — the iPhone and Wii being the most prominent examples."

"The truth is that we stand on the verge of a major revolution in the models of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). A revolution that will fly right past academic and into a world of retail, medical, gaming, military, public event, sporting, personal and marketing applications."

"From multi-touch to motion capture to spatial operating environments, over the next 10 years, everything we know about HCI will change."

"Blur is the only conference that is exploring the line of interaction between computers and humans in a substantive, real-world and hands-on way."

"At Blur, vendors, strategists, buyers and visionaries assemble to not only discuss the larger issues of HCI, but also to lay their hands on the latest in HCI technology. Blur is the only forum for a focused, hands-on exploration of the varied technologies evolving in the HCI."

"Come play, investigate, learn and apply at Blur — where we’re changing how you interact with computers forever." -Blur




BLUR Conference Agenda
(Note:   I added the links to conference participants and/or their organizations. Feel free to leave a comment if you know of any corrections or better links!)
Keynotes:

Neuroergonomics: How an Understanding of the Brain is Changing the Practice of Human Factors Engineering - Dr. Kay Stanney, Design Interactive
When Computers Feel: Understanding Human Emotional Measurement  - Hans Lee, EmSense
A Quick Hit on Mobility and HCI - Juan Pons, Swype
Panel Discussion: Haptics- The Beginnings and Future of Touch  - Nimish Mehta
Why HCI will lead the biggest tech revolution yet - Andrew Tschesnok, Organic Motion
Location as a Primary Interface Input - Matt Galligan, SimpleGeo; Nick Brachet, Skyhook Wireless
Robotics, Gaming and The Future of Entertainment- Paul Berberian, Orbotix
Virtual Coaches in Healthcare: A Vision of the Future - Dan Siewiorek, Carnegie Mellon University
10 reasons to be happy about giving computers emotion sensing - Dr. Rosalind Picard, MIT
Commercializing HCI Technology - Dr. Paul Kedrosky, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Dr. Gerry Barnett


Breakout Sessions:
Human Instrumentation - James Park, FitBit; Ben Rubin, Zeo; Jason Jacobs, RunKeeper;
Steve Larsen, moderator

New Museum Experiences: Learning from Multitouch and Multiuser Installations - Jim Spadacinni, Ideum
Kinect Hacks - Jonathan C. Hall; Lonergan Harrington; Jim Spadacinni, Sean Kean, moderator
Interactive Ads and Consumer Experiences - Alessio Signorini, Immersive Labs; Jon Fox, Helios Interactive
Augmented Reality - Ready for Primetime? - Vikas Reddy, Occipital; Carlin Getliffe, OmniarEdwin Rivera, Credelis; Dan Rua, moderator
Building an Interface for Endangered Language Learners - Finn Thye and Kelson Adams, Univ of Colorado - Boulder
Alternative Interface Inputs - Gary Clayton, Nuance; Nick Langdale-Smith, Seeing Machines; RJ Auburn, Voxeo; Steve Larsen, moderator
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation "Idea Hack" - Commercializing HCI Technology: A Discussion - led by Paul Kedrosky
Building Natural User Interfaces - Thomas Peterson, SoftKinetic; Ohad Shvueli, Prime Sense; David Minnen, Oblong
3D Interactive Design for the Human Body - Albert Hwang
Panel: Will the Kinect Change the HCI Industry Forever? A Group Discussion
HCI in the 21st Century:  Technologies for Extending and Amplifying the Human Experience (pdf) - Dr. Charlie Hughes, UCF; Dr. David Pratt; Dr. Joseph LaViola;  moderated by Steve Fiore, UCF


Some Videos of HCI/Tech featured at Blur 2011 
360 Panorama occipitalhq


"Illuminous" Eric Gradman



"Standard Gravity" Eric Gradman, OpenKinect (libfreenect/python)


Organic Motion Markerless Motion Capture


Advisory:
Steve Fiore, University of Central Florida
Bob Allen, Disney R&D
Kay Stanney, Design Interactive
Capt. Dylan Schmorrow, USN





Feb 18, 2011

New Radiohead video, Lotus Flower: Will we see Thom Yorke's moves on Kinect's Dance Central or Just Dance 2 anytime soon?

When I saw the new Radiohead video, Lotus Flower, featuring a dancing Thom Yorke, I wondered how his moves might play out in a dance application for the Kinect or Wii.

Wouldn't it be fun to figure out a way to represent the dance "steps" in this video?  Just a thought.  



RELATED
Radiohead Surprises With Early Release
Jon Pareles, New York Times 2/18/11
"Wii Just Dance 2 and Kinect Dance Central: UI and Usability Approaches"

About the Web of Things - Great Presentations & Links




"The Web of Things is a community of developers, researchers, and designers that explore the future of the physical Web. We explore how to leverage Web standards to interconnect all types of embedded devices (sensors, mobile phones, etc), in order to make them easier to use and to integrate in classic Web applications. We aim to build a future Web of devices that is truly open, flexible, and scalable, and we believe Web standards are the best way to do it."


WEB OF THINGS PRESENTATIONS
Web of Things - Towards Open and Sharable Networks of Embedded Devices

View more presentations from vladounet.
Design of a Web-based Distributed Location-aware Infrastructure for Mobile Devices

View more presentations from vladounet
Web of Things Upcoming Event
What: 2nd International Workshop on the Web of Things (WoT 2011)
Where: Pervasive 2011 conference, San Francisco, USA
When: June 12, 2011
For who: Hackers, developers, web, and ubicomp/pervasive researchers.

Web of Things Projects