(The Arduino guys are at it again.)EDIT: Arduino and tinker.it are not the same thing apparently. I’m an idiot, should’ve checked my facts first. I will (never?) be a good journalist.
This time they are trying to simplify prototyping with hardware by introducing the Tinkerkit. Basically, it’s like a mash-up of a simplified Phidgets toolkit and an iPac, that translates the sensor readings to keystrokes, thus removing a lot unnecessary steps, if building a quick proto.
EDIT: Maybe I should edit this, so it won’t go unnoticed. This is really a huge step forward in what is considered to be ubiquitous computing. All the things around us are turned into interfaces, check the videos below to see what I mean. Although wearing a necklace that does this is, hmm, let’s say ridiculous, it will certainly trigger the minds of us interaction designers to explore the possibilities this has/will have.
Ubiquitous is here and it’s cheap. Touchscreens? Forget about it! Gesture-based interactive wave-your-hand-in-thin-air readers? Expensive! MIT guys have created somekind of necklace (or something) that has projector, camera and a mirror for under $300, that allows it’s wearer to handle ANY surface as a touchscreen device. You can even snap photos. TED will soon release a video of it, but here is some information on it already. The word on the street (the internet, actually) is that Jeff Han and Microsoft Surface are old news now.
Oh, Wired had some videos.
First year interaction design students cordialy invite you to see and experience their “Form of sound / Jas projects†this Monday!
The themes for giving a form to the sound are: air, light, tactility and material.
The rooms in which we will expose our projects yet have to be confirmed, but for sure they’ll be 2 or 3 in the black room. See you there at 13:30!
[UPDATED 08/01/2009]
Auditorium is a puzzle online game where you manipulate light to create sound. It runs in your browser with the flash plugin. The first few levels are free. The full game is not.
Hey fellow UIDers, our lovely interaction friends down in Copenhagen posted their recent projects online. I have to say the site is almost exactly what I had in mind when we discussed what we should do for showing projects here on InteractionDesign.se. It’s simple, clean and elegant, not too much, not too little. Ok maybe, there is a bit too much text and no videos, but I have to say I’m quite jealous on their online presence.
Can we get going with the web project and have something as nice or even better?
As Interaction Designers, the word ‘Avatar’ is not something new to us. We’re using it constantly and each of us surely has our own degree of meaning or connotation associated with this word.ÂÂ
During a discussion with my classmates, Vitorio and Ulrik this morning over coffee we discussed ‘avatars’. As an Indian, I thought it might be useful to mention a perspective that could enrich our understanding of this word.  ‘Avatar’ has its roots in Sanskrit – the ‘Latin’ of all Indian languages.
(From Wiki)
“Avatar or Avatara (Sanskrit:Â à ¤…à ¤µà ¤¤à ¤¾à ¤°, IAST AvatÄÂra), often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent (avatarati) and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes. Descents that are of importance are mainly those of the Supreme Being which are plenary and marked with superhuman qualities. Other types of descents are limited expansions of Ishvara, and some that are descents of lesser empowered divinities.”
(above) Vishnu with his 10 avatars (incarnations): Fish, Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion, Dwarf, Rama with the Ax, King Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalkin. (Painting from Jaipur, India, 19th century; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.)
Here’s wishing you all kinds of avatars! :)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFL1Jg7BahM]
I’m working on my degree project for Microsoft.
I’m trying to conceive/imagine the experience of sharing complex information in the year 2020, when our digital and real lives would get increasingly blurred, and our mediated experiences would be more ubiquitous. The project is in its 3rd week, and I’m refining the brief.ÂÂ
To illustrate a problem/opportunity in a way that I felt might make the point clear – I fell back on my old love for the stage. The actors in this skit are all students of the UID. These ‘sketches’ were done in 2 hours, during which time – I left the idea generation to the actors so that they could improvise. They elaborated on generic themes which I presented to them in the form of doodles. ÂÂ
Link to project blog
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg3lwBBPZ5M]
The virtual communities created by online games have provided us with a new medium for social interaction and communication.Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface.ÂÂ
The system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment.ÂÂ
More info on Marc Owens
A three parts serie titled Ergonomics for Interaction Designers published by the ISDA‘s Human Factors Professional Interest Section. The author of the posts is Rob Tannen.
Ergonomics for Interaction Designers: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
Firstly, this is not about adjusting your chair so that you’re not slumped over the screen when working on a Flash prototype (although office ergonomics is a very important subject). Rather, the topic of discussion is the increasing value of ergonomics knowledge to the interaction designer. Ergonomics is necessary for 3-dimensional, tangible product design where issues of physical fit and comfort are critical. But for interaction designers in the 2-dimensional world of the display screen, ergonomics has largely been…irrelevant. For example in most cases, interfaces are designed for existing, defined hardware that are out of the control of the interaction designer. But things are changing…
[via core77.com]
The Rasterbator rasterizes any image to any scale and splices it to A3 or A4 or the US standard size paper in a second. Use it here online (or download as well for windows)
Like this.
Low volume sound will turn the pen counterclockwise, mid volume sound will make it go straight, high volume sound turns the pen clockwise. Fun!
Here’s my doodle.
via Neatorama
This clip is better experienced over a black background.
Otolab of Milan creates sharp audiovisual installations and performances. They also run workshops.
They have a site here. Check under projects for more videos. I find their earlier work harsh and chaotic, but I think the newer projects are masterful.
Warning: Epileptic-unfriendly and attention-deficit-unsound.
PICNIC is the European version of the TED conference. It is based in Amsterdam every year in September. There are 35 videos available online via Vimeo:
http://www.vimeo.com/picnictv/videos
Check out the ones from Matt Jones and Adam Greenfield. These two guys will be visiting UID at the end of March part of Matt Cottam’s degree Project.
Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote
More interesting projects at his web site http://johnnylee.net