(wikipedia) NFC or Near Field Communication, is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 10 centimetre (around 4 inches) distance.[1] The technology is a simple extension of the ISO 14443 proximity-card standard (contactless card, RFID) that combines the interface of a smartcard and a reader into a single device. An NFC device can communicate with both existing ISO 14443 smartcards and readers, as well as with other NFC devices, and is thereby compatible with existing contactless infrastructure already in use for public transportation and payment. NFC is primarily aimed at usage in mobile phones.

So, it’s basically RFID and Bluetooth mash-up, ok. But, here is a really interesting thing. This company called Touchatag makes it extremely simple to use and program the RFID chips, by just downloading an app from the website and putting the tag or QRcode on the reader, thus making spimes actually happen, plus it’s really cheap as well. Camille.. maybe one for these for the lab and one NFC-enabled phone as well?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtTNTjdquek]

Maybe it’s possible to use Processing with this. The java library is on the dev site.

read more…

Leave a comment

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYsvB2y2Ero]

Following the introduction of exhibits. Robot Watch like the first, and with a robot named “Robot tile”. Was introduced in August 2004, the laboratories belonging to Mr. Iwata, Shingo Tateyama said was responsible for the middle of Yuta and his students. And direction of movement of the whole floor to move the upper and lower elevating autonomic features (tiles) in the robot, several (the 4-6 plane) used to take with you. Currently, online RPG and “second Live”, 3D has become a commonplace communication tool and a high sense of virtual games. However, only move the character to still use the mouse or keyboard, but unfortunately the taste is difficult to feel that the virtual hard. This has been developed as a mechanism to navigate through the virtual space can actually walk on his feet, that a robot tile.
read more…

Leave a comment

Since there is a lot confusion about this, I’ll do some copy-pasteing.

“New rules set to come into force on December 15th stipulate that individual employers rather than the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) will decide whether there is a need to recruit foreign workers.

The terms of employment must be equal to or better than those set out in Swedish collective bargaining agreements or what passes for standard practice in a particular industry.”

“Are people who are studying in Sweden going to be able to apply for a work permit?

Yes. A student who has earned 30 higher education credits or completed one semester of post-graduate education will be allowed to submit an application for a work permit while in Sweden. The student must however also have an employment or an offer of employment.”

“For how long can a student stay in Sweden and look for work after completing his/her studies?

A student who has earned 30 higher education credits or completed one semester of post-graduate education can apply for a work permit while in Sweden. He/she must submit an application before his or her current permit expires. The student must also have a job or an offer of employment when he/she submits the application.”

“I want to start a company in Sweden. Can I apply under the new regulations?

Self-employed are not covered by the new regulations.

If you want stay in Sweden for more than three months in order to start a company or enter into a company partnership in Sweden, you will need a residence permit. However, self-employed persons do not require a work permit.

When you apply for your first residence permit, you do so at a Swedish embassy or consulate in your country of origin or in the country where you have legal residence. Your permit needs to have been entered in your passport before your arrival in Sweden. You can read more about the requirements for self-employed under the headline “Work Permit”.”

For how long can one be granted a work permit?

A temporary permit can be granted for two years at a time. If the offer of employment is less than two years the permit will be limited to the time offered. A permanent permit can be granted after four years with a residence permit based on employment.

The Local

Migrationsverket

Read comments

Here is an open-source AR game, that uses tilt to interact with game character. Linux only, though. If sombody wants to install Ubuntu or Debian on their computer, I can compile the game for you. (my Ubuntu computer is not fast enough for computer vision)

Leave a comment

Most if not all the conferences of LIFT09 are available online. They even offer interviews and various webcam feeds.

http://www.nouvo.ch/lift

Leave a comment

Read comments

If you have something to submit or nominate, the deadline is March 6.

More here.

Leave a comment

For those who are and aren’t interested in special effects: this is amazing.

Links: Ed Ulbrich’s TED talk, Digital Domain (his biz)

Leave a comment

The first year IxD students have just commenced their 5-week multi-layering graphic design project, in partnership with Propeller.

Their first assignment is a short 2 and a half day exercise consisting in ‘designing’ four different alarm-clocks that:

• Shows time (h, m, s);
• Shows alarm(s) set;
• Counts down time until the alarm rings (h, m);
• Counts down snooze (very important indeed);
• Has no digits, letters or clock arms.

Whilst losing time doing research on the web today, I again came across Build‘s blog which prompts it’s viewers to… take a picture of the (modernist) clock screen-saver they designed!

Even though they have added numbers to their ‘clock’, it is still very minimal and surprisingly effective. Here’s my picture:

péa's screen-saver photo

Leave a comment

I met Ranjit Bhatnagar at last year’s Sketching in Hardware event in Providence, RI. He is very talented in making instruments out of the most unusual scrap items and pieces of electronics. I just discovered that he is having a little “Instrument-a-day marathon”.

He regularly teaches classes about homemade instruments and music bending:

Check his site: http://www.moonmilk.com

Leave a comment

You’re likely to have heard of or seen one of rAndom’s projects. There’s a nice video piece on gestalten.tv on some of their work and their open process.

Watch it here.

Leave a comment

It was time for glitch in image/video to catch up with audio. Some of you might not like seeing it as a trend because it will destroy the special relationship with compression artifacts you thought was only yours.

Watch it in HD

Leave a comment

The School of Visual Arts (New York, USA) published a reading list for their MFA Interaction Design program:

http://interactiondesign.sva.edu/blog/entry/requested_reading_recommendations/

We have many of these titles in our library downstairs. Which books would you add to the list? Submit in the comments and maybe we can add it to our library.

Leave a comment

A great project by Dunne & Raby (recommended to me by my mentor Mike Kruzeniski). 

One day, in the future, robots will do everything for us. It’s a dream that refuses to go away. Over the coming years, robots are destined to play a significant part in our daily lives — not as super smart, functional machines, nor as pseudo life forms, but as technological cohabitants. But how will we interact with them? What new interdependencies and relationships might emerge in relation to different levels of robot intelligence and capability? These objects are meant to spark a discussion about how we?d like our robots to relate to us: subservient, intimate, dependent, equal?

Read more

Read comment

How much can you simplify a form and keep it recognizable? Of course this has to do with how much exposure this form has in the first place. Anyways, this is a great example:

more details here

Read comments