These are just mock-ups, but”the researchers are working to create powerful biomimetic actuators for locomotion. As part of their research, Kawaguchi and his team have conducted computer simulations to investigate the use of neural oscillators in a locomotion system that imitates the way centipedes crawl. They are also working on simple, mechanical tentacles that extend and contract to move the robot in a specified direction. If all goes according to schedule, they will have a fully functional robot in two years.”
via Pink Tentacle
The interaction workshop is now the proud owner tons of new sound-making/tweaking toys! It is now, amongst others, equipped with an electric guitar (Squier Strat + a small amp), a synthesizer (mini Korg), and three new digital recorders!
Go have a look downstairs to get inspired and/or annoy the hell out of the other humans there with your obnoxious 80’s Van Halen-style guitar and synth solos.
The music of Bjork, Daft Punk, and Ryuichi Sakamoto don’t have much in common, on the surface. But they all run their live shows through Lemur, a multi-touch interface for creating real-time light shows and music mixes. The latest version was just released, and it features simpler graphics, and an improved ability to create custom touchscreens. Read more.
I wish I had a Mac now.
Freedom is an application that disables networking on an Apple computer for up to eight hours at a time. Freedom will free you from the distractions of the internet, allowing you time to code, write, or create. At the end of your selected offline period, Freedom re-enables your network, restoring everything as normal.
Damn, it should win a Nobel prize.
I’ve wanted to do this last year, but ran out of time for it. This year is hopefully the right time.
I would like to follow one or two second year students’ degree projects, document them and publish little weekly reports online here on InteractionDesign.se and on UID’s website. The goal is to reveal and expose what goes on during 20 weeks on the road to graduation for UID MA students. It won’t be much or very elaborate, just enough to be interesting. Hopefully it will drive traffic and interest towards the website(s), the many degree projects, the exhibition and event at the end of the semester in June. And I think it will be fun to uncover the obstacles and struggles on the way to see the Wizard!
Here we go!
The Yellow Brick Road, week 1: project kickoff
I’m not sure who I will follow yet, so this first week is global.
Pictures of students introducing their degree projects in the Auditorium (Monday, Jan 19 2009).
Two nice TED talks, one from David Carson, the other from Paula Scher. I especially liked the one by Mrs. Scher and her take on seriousness vs. solemnity. As of David Carson’s, well, he is funny, but if you saw the Helvetica movie, he’s basically saying the same things in the exact same words… Still entertaining though.
Sprint’s Plug into Now gadgets give you up to date info about all sorts of random things you might not need to know about.
A bit too much and but I can’t help looking…Yikes.
You may have heard of the toolkit from Bug Labs (a handheld computer that accepts different modules; camera/display/gps/etc). IDEO is sharing the progress of a short project they are doing with them here:
If you are using MSN, Facebook, Google Talk, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, all their chats, ICQ, AOL and so on. It might get a little bit boring to go to all sites and start all programs.
Have no fear, Digsby is here! Digsby is a front-end to all the popular social networking sites, mail services and instant messengers. You can send messages to all of them and read messages, status updates etc.. All in a nice interface. Only thing missing is Skype.
For Windows, Mac and Linux. Windows users beware! Read carefully the installation progress and what you want to install.
Now, this is really nice, seriously.
You probably saw this on Core, but perhaps you didn’t read it. I think you should:
Design Versus Innovation: The Cranbrook / IIT Debate.
The difference between the two viewpoints on design education is enlightening. Can an institution follow and impart multiple approaches effectively, or does it need a strong coherent design philosophy to attract, nurture, and graduate students of high caliber that are inclined in that direction?
The argument for a wider lens is clear, but I wonder if it is possible or desirable. What is the flavor of our school (aside from what the official website states)?
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a name for it! SPIME! Which translates as: smart object. It is not actually a bad idea. One friend of mine keeps losing her car keys all the time and asked me if could make something that she would be able to call her keys, so she could hear where they are. Well, spimes are actually those kind of objects. Embedded with scary technology, spimes are googlable stuff. So you could just type in Google: “Where are the keys to my Bentley?” Google would probably answer: “You are a designer. No Bentleys for you, but the keys to your 1988 Toyota have been eaten by your dog. Do you want the vet’s number?”
Here’s 50 minutes talk by Brucey-boy on Spimes
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gntV6AePOM]
Here is a concept video from Apple made in 1987. It’s all there, touchless interface, gestures, bracelets that apparently do stuff. All put in to a terrible scenario, that makes you laugh and cry at the same time.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcYrPkFe2J0]
And another product from the Futureshock! products: Knowledge Navigator. The scenario is a lot better, but..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mLqJNDWx-8]
.. if these things have coming for over 20 years now (or more), why all of the sudden everybody’s so into them. Call me old-fashioned, but I like the mouse. It’s handy, accurate and tangible.
We recently acquired new titles for the Interaction Workshop library. Mikael also donated various books offered by sponsors of the MUM’08 conference held on campus last December.
Come and have a look. If you want to suggest a title, just talk or email me.
/Camille