Serendipity: Screen shot of two Google+ back-to-back posts about "circles".

Thinking about circles....

LINKS:
Crop circles: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8118257.stm
Complex circles, decision-making, expectations, plausible deniability: 
http://albrecht-schmidt.blogspot.com

I plan to share my thoughts on G+ circles in a future post.

Taking a look at CreativeJS: "The very best of creative JavaScript and HTML5" -

I came across the CreativeJS website while searching for HTML5/JavaScript resources suitable for creative multimedia projects.  The team at CreativeJS includes Seb Lee-Delisle, Val Head, Paul Neave, Rob Hawkes, Hakim El Hattab, and Lisa Larson-Kelley.


What a talented team!


RELATED
Recent blog post from CreativeJS:  Spherical Harmonics Mesh Builder
Seb Lee-Delisle
Neave Interactive
Rob Hawke's book:  Foundation HTML5 Canvas
Hakim El Hattab's Experiments
Lisa Larson-Kelley's Website:  Learn from Lisa (Web video publishing)

SOMEWHAT RELATED
Interactive Digital Fireworks

Digital Fireworks in Brighton from Seb Lee-Delisle on Vimeo.

How Algorithms shape our world: Kevin Slavin's thought-provoking TEDTalk video- great visuals!

"Kevin Slavin argues that we're living in a world designed for -- and increasingly controlled by -- algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can't understand, with implications we can't control." -TED



An interesting fact shared during the presentation- 2000 or so physicists work on Wall Street, engaged in  Algo-trading.   Remember the "flash crash"?

OK Go's Interactive HTML5 Music/Dance/Message Video, Featuring Pilobolus - behind the scenes and more. Delight.

Not long after the earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan, the creative team at Google Japan collaborated with the band OK Go and Pilobolus, a dance troupe,  to explore the capabilities of HTML5 and multimedia, while at the same time providing people from all over the world a means to send a message to others, including the people of Japan.  


I encourage you to visit the link to the interactive version of All Is Not Lost.   For your convenience, here is the traditional version:

Before the video begins, viewers can enter a message in a text box.  At the end of the video, the message will appear, with a few options for sharing the message. At a loss for words, I quickly typed "I love summer", and was delighted to see how the dancers gathered to form my message, as pictured in the screen shot.


Quite a bit of creative thinking went into the making of All Is Not Lost, as described in following article and video clips:
Behind the Work: Trish Sie on OK Go's "All Is Not Lost"
Shareen Pathak, Creativity, 7/27/11
"The trifecta also partnered with Google to create an HTML5-powered interactive experience, which leverages the Chrome browser to showcase the clip through 12 separate windows of dances that shift along with the music. Users can also type in messages in Roman letter or Japanese and watch the band create the letters with their bodies. The result? A visually arresting intersection of dance, technology and direction." -Shareen Pathak

A LOVE LETTER TO JAPAN....


THE MAKING OF ALL IS NOT LOST


RELATED
All Is Not Lost lyrics
OK Go's Human Kaleidoscope, All Is Not Lost, And How It Translates Into Sales
Teressa Iezzi, Fast Company, 7/28/11
O.K. to Go Dance Crazy
Tony Gervino, NY Times Magazine 7/31/11

Link: Google updating Chrome for Apple's Lion Multi-touch

Here are two quick links related to the Chrome update for Apple's latest operating system, Lion:

Google Updating Chrome for Lion Multi-touch
Stephen Shankland, CNET News, 7/27/11


RELATED
Chrome Dev Channel Release
7/26/11

Apple's iOS 5 facial recognition feature opens up interactive possibilities

I've been thinking about creating my first iPad app, and as I was searching for information, I came across a few articles related to Apple's new iOS 5 that I found interesting.  


Because my target user group includes young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD),  I was intrigued by the possibility that the facial recognition APIs might provide a means of assessing mood or emotional states.   Most of us understand that our faces function as mirrors to feelings, and we use our facial expressions to communicate our feelings to others.  Unfortunately, this is a concept that is difficult for young people with ASD to understand.  My hunch is that there is an "app for that".   


I'd love to great to create a little iPad app for young people with ASD for education, intervention, and/or communication activities that incorporates the facial recognition feature!


Apple's iOS facial recognition could lead to Kinect-like interaction
Darrell Etherington, GigaOm/Reuters, 7/27/11
Here is a quote from the above article:
"You could create apps that track a user’s eye movement and dynamically change content accordingly, for instance. App developers might even be able to use data gathered from facial recognition APIs to identify so-called “hotspots,” providing insight about where a user is looking most within an app and arranging content accordingly. In time, an iPhone app might even be able to assess the emotional state of the user, based on whether they’re frowning or smiling, and address the user in a manner appropriate to their mood. It might also be able to tell how engaged users are with mobile ads and content, which might be useful for iAd customers, among others."

Face Recognition Coming to iOS5

Stan Schroeder, Mashable, 7/26/11

Below is a video from from the above post which demonstrates an app developed by Polar Rose, a company that was purchased by Apple.

RELATED
Apple plans native panorama functionality in iOS5
Seth Weintraub, 9TO5Mac, 7/8/11

iOS 5's final release may include "Assistant" speech-to-text feature
Chris Rawson, TUAW, 7/23/11