News from the HCI lab at UNC-Charlotte - Creative Interactions (Videos)

In the video below, Nathan Nifong, discusses and demonstrates his independent study work through the HCI LAB (Human-Computer Interaction) at UNC-Charlotte. He focused his work on creating a motion-responsive musical instrument that integrated movement, sounds, and graphics.


"We're trying to research anything and everything that will help to make computers easier to use." -Nathan Nifong


Thanks to Celine LaTulipe, for the link!


RELATED
To get a better idea about the HCI lab, a small, yet sparkling gem on the UNC-Charlotte campus, take a look at the following video:




"I get to create things, and to me, you just can't beat that!"- Celine Latulipe


Dr. Latulipe is known for her work with the Dance.Draw project, Interactive Surveillance, and tools that support things like bimanual interaction, collaboration, and creativity.

Summer Break: Music Apps, Multimedia, Kinect, My New iPad2, Tech-reading, Google+, Dancing...

I'm on summer break, which for me, means that I spend an increased amount playing/creating music and doing all of the other fun stuff I don't have much time for during the school year. I'm still exploring what I can do with my new iPad2 - there are so many music apps!  My favorite at this moment is Garage Band. It keeps me engaged for hours, and I can take it with me anywhere I go.  I'm also exploring iPad apps for education and students with special needs, since many of the young people I work with have autism spectrum disorders.  They all really love music.


Today, I came across turntable.fm, a "social-djing" website, from a link shared by Dimitri Diakopoulos.  I think it would be fun to play with.

Turntable.FM, The Fastest-Growing Music Service You're Not Using
William Fenton, PC Magazine, 6/23/11
Social DJing with Turntable.FM
Andrew Mager, 5/28/11

I'm still plowing through technology journals and zines from previous months - I had to skip over my stack to read the cover article of the most recent Communications of the ACM:

Algorithmic Composition: Computational Thinking in Music

Michael Edwards, University of Edinburgh, 2011

I LOVE the design of this cover. It would make for a nice interactive interface for an iPad music app. Or a larger touch-screen display. Or even a SMARTBoard! (BTW, My first computer-related course was Computer Music Technology, in 2003. My undergraduate honors research (psychology), years ago, focused on constructive cognition and music recognition/memory. This topic is dear to my heart.)

I've spent some quality time with my first grand-baby this summer.  Although his "screen time" is limited, given his age of 7 1/2 months, he enjoys playing with music on my iPad.  He likes the drums found in the iPad GarageBand application.  Here he is playing with NodeBeat, an app created by Seth Sandler and Justin Windle:

Most of his time is spent off-screen:





Over the last few months, there has been a surge of interactive touch-enabled apps for education, including some for young people with special needs.  This will be the topic of a few of my future posts.

Link: "The Old Internet Neighborhoods" -Message Boards, Forums, Chat Rooms, RIP? +more

In skimming through my RSS feeds today, I noticed that that Google+ has generated quite a bit of reflection about the evolution/revolution of on-line communities over the past week or so. In the article below, Virginia Heffernan reminisces about the days of the digital networking before the spread of broadband connections and Smartphones:


The Old Internet Neighborhoods
Virginia Heffernan, Opinionator, New York Times 7/10/11


Thanks to Bonnie Bracey Sutton for the link!


Here are some visual reflections related to Google+:

-Stephen Downes


-Brooks Bayne

-Abid Shaikh
-Abid Shaikh


SOMEWHAT RELATED

Google+ is Awesome, Facebook Maimed, Twitter Mortally Wounded?

Keith Kleiner, Singularity Hub, 4/6/11

What is Your Plan for Google+ Experimentation and Exploration?
Beth Kantor, Beth's Blog: (How Networked Nonprofits Are Using Social Media to Power Change)
7/7/11
The Evolution of Cyberspace: Virtual Worlds
Craig Harm, Sendsonline.org, 1/22/11
Throwback to the 90's: How Social Networking is Moving Back to Private
Lydia Leavitt, The Next Web, 10/17/10
Google+Facebook Extension Integrates Facebook Viewing and Updating on Google+
David Galloway, Lifehacker, 7/9/11
Note:  Apparently there was some problems with the extension, as mentioned in the update of the above article:"Update: We've learned that this browser extension has a lot of privacy violations and are retracting our recommendation of this extension. Please visit this Reddit post to find out detailed info on the problems and how to uninstall the extension from your system."  
David Galloway linked the following article from his post:
Facebook blocks Google Chrome extension for exporting friends
Emil Protalinski, ZDNet, 7/5/11

What Do You Love: A Cute Multi-stream Search Engine from Google. Key in what you "love" and see what comes up!

What Do You Love (WDYL) is a a multi-search engine from Google that in my opinion, aims to facilitate topic exploration by providing people with a visual/multimedia array of "widgets" that provide tempting glimpses of a range of options for digging deeper into a topic.  


Words really can't explain it.  I suggest you try it out.  It is fun to see what comes up. Below is a screen shot of part of what came up when I keyed in "Interactive Multimedia Technology".   (If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll notice that the picture widget includes pictures I've posted on this blog over the past several years.)






















Key in your name and variations of your name to see what comes up.  Apparently there are a bazillion pictures of me in cyberspace, taken by my husband while I was relaxing on a cruise, one of my favorite pastimes:

RELATED
CHI 2011 WDYL Search Results
Google's What Do You Love (WDYL) Multi-Search
Rob D. Young, Search Engine Watch, 6/29/11
Google Asks "What Do You Love?" With New Service
Brennon Slattery, PCWorld, 6/28/11
What do you love? Google knows.
Regina Hope Sinsky, Venture Beat, 6/28/11


Thanks to Farhad Javidi for the link!

"Rise and Shine": TED video featuring Simon Lewis and his recovery from a serious brain injury, and how cutting-edge technology helped. (Video includes interesting visuals)

Simon Lewis was in an automobile accident that resulted severe injuries to his body, including a very severe head injury that left him in a coma.  As a result of his experience, he wrote a book, "RISE AND SHINE", covering his journey over 15 years of recovery and regeneration.  In the book, Lewis shares what he learned along the way, and how cutting edge technology and some non-traditional thinking helped him move forward.


Simon Lewis had the opportunity to discuss his journey at a TED partner event in India in December, 2010.   The following video of his talk is about 22 minutes long, but worth taking the time to watch. A variety of visuals are used to illustrate his journey and the research he did along the way. Near the end of the video, Simon Lewis demonstrates some of the technologies that he wears that supports his functioning.


Here is the blurb about the book from the Borders website:

"An impassioned tale of survival and recovery, this inspirational story recounts the author’s horrific car accident, his subsequent coma, and the more than 15 years of cutting-edge treatments and therapies endured during convalescence. With specific details of the rigorous rehabilitation process that ensued, including numerous breakthrough and experimental surgeries, the book also provides practical insight into navigating the treacherous world of insurance and how to differentiate between the often conflicting medical opinions offered. In addition to describing the numerous procedures undergone, the author tells not only of his pain, frustration, and despair, but also of his childlike wonder at the beauty and miracle of creation. A first-person account of sudden, unexpected tragedy and life-affirming courage, this remarkable tale of regeneration imparts lessons both medical and spiritual."


The Rise and Shine website includes many of the graphics used in Simon's video, and is worth taking some time to explore. Some of the graphics are interactive. (Since the website relies on Flash, it won't work if you try to access it using an iPad.)


Comment:  As a school psychologist with additional training in neuropsychology - specifically assessment and intervention for children and teens who have experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI), this topic is important to me.  I'm watching the video a second time, and I plan to read his book.

(Cross-posted on the TechPsych blog.)

Best Practices For Designing Websites for Kids - Quick Link

Best Practices For Designing Websites for Kids
David Morrison, Smashing Magazine, 7/6/11


Here is a short quote from the article:


"According to Jacob Nielsen’s research on teenagers, interactive website features (such as forums, mini-games, polls, ranking systems, competitions and 3-D interfaces) are valued by kids if they build a sense of community and foster participation. Bolting such features on will not likely prove effective, because kids will soon see the gaps and re-evaluate the website, despite any initial interest."