Sunday, April 3, 2011
TOUCH THE WEB 2011: 2nd International Workshop on Web-Enabled Objects Call For Papers
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Augmented Realty Eyeglasses: I AM geeky enough to make this fashion statement!
THE AR WALKER, from NTT DoCoMo
Of course, the fashionable get-up is in the prototype stage, so you won't be able be seen in public with the newest type of shades anytime soon. For more information, see the video below:
AR WALKER
RELATED
Cross-posted on the Interactive Multimedia Technology blog.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Large Scale Networked Pervasive Public Displays- PD-NET (cross-post)
- To create enabling technologies for large-scale pervasive display networks through the design, development, and evaluation of a robust, scalable, distributed and open platform for interconnecting displays and their sensors.
- To establish Europe as the international centre for work on pervasive display networks.
- To address key scientific challenges that may inhibit the widespread adoption of pervasive display network technology: Tensions between privacy and personalization, situated displays, business and legislative requirements, User Interaction.
Participants from Duisburg-Essen:
Participants from Lugano:
Participants from Minho:
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Interfacing the World with 4G and a SmartPhone
Here are a few quick links about 4G and SmartPhones:
4G Summit Website (June 3-4 2010)
Everything you need to know about 4G Wireless
Priya Ganapati, CNN Tech 6/4/10 via Wired
Previous post: LTE vs WiMax: Trying my best to understand emerging technologies
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The World as a Networked Interface: GENI, the Global Environment for Network Innovations
Today I learned that Rudra Dutta, an associate professor at North Carolina State University, is participating in the GENI project. GENI stands for Global Environment for Network Innovations, and is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Here is the information from the GENI website:
Exploring networks of the future
"Evolving technological and social networks, intertwined and wordlwide in scope, are rapidly transforming societies and economies. The Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI), a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is open and broadly inclusive, providing collaborative and exploratory environments for academia, industry and the public to catalyze groundbreaking discoveries and innovation in these emerging global networks...GENI is a virtual laboratory at the frontiers of network science and engineering for exploring future internets at scale. GENI creatse major opportunities to understand, innovate and transform global networks and their interactions with society."
GENI at-a-glance (pdf)
GENI's mission
"The GENI mission is to: open the way for transformative research at the frontiers of network science and engineering, and inspire and accelerate the potential for groundbreaking innovation of significant sociio-economic impact."
Press Release, Reuters, 10/12/09
GENI Project Office at BBN Technologies Announces $11.5M in NSF Funding for 33 Academic and Industry Teams (The complete list of proposals funded in GENI Spiral 2 is listed in this press release)
About BBN Technologies
"BBN Technologies is a legendary R&D organization that leverages its substantial intellectual property portfolio to produce advanced, repeatable solutions such as the Boomerang shooter detection system. With expertise spanning information security, speech and language processing, networking, distributed systems, and sensing and control systems, BBN scientists and engineers have amassed a substantial collection of innovations and patented solutions. BBN now employs over 700 people in seven locations in the US: Cambridge, Massachusetts (headquarters); Arlington, Virginia; Columbia, Maryland; Middletown, Rhode Island; San Diego, California; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; and O'Fallon, Illinois. For more information, visit www.bbn.com."
SOMEWHAT RELATED
BBN's Boomerang State of the Art Shooter Detection
Put this in the hands of some technically-grounded artists and musicians, and just think of what could happen!
In ubiquitous computing, we need to rely on a range of networks, and not the traditional kind. Although the Boomerang was specifically developed for military purposes, it has features that I think would be very useful in public, non-military settings. It uses passive acoustic detection and can operate in motion and in stationary positions. The mast is an array of microphones, and the system is programmed to detect information about incoming fire. It works in urban terrains as well as in fields, and can quickly detect information and relative information, including information about elevation, about the "shooter. The system can detect the differences between various sounds, such as door slams, firecrackers, and so forth.
I want one, but not to detect shooters! (I wrote some experimental code snippets when I was studying AI for Games that might work with something like this, in real/augmented reality environments.)
Another thing about the Boomerang, it sort of looks like something that was in one of my recurring technology dreams - the one about wireless sensor networks. Also read my loosely related posts highlighting the multi-disciplinary approach to this topic, unrelated to military settings:
"Web Meets World" User Experience of Embedded Systems and Interactive Wireless Sensor Networks
Albrecht Schmidt's User Interface Engineering Blog: Great Links, References, and Resources
The UX of SmartGridCity: Control Your SmartHouse Remotely, Online
Other links of interest:
SILO Project: Services Integration, controL and Optimization for the Future Internet
SILO Project Overview
Future Internet Information Meeting Webcasts (held on 7/29/09)
FIND: NSF's Future Internet Design Initiative
Questions from the FIND website:
- How can we design a network that is fundamentally more secure and available than today's Internet? How would we conceive the security problem if we could start from scratch?
- How might such functions as information dissemination, location management or identity management best fit into a new network architecture?
- What will be the long-term impact of new technologies such as advanced wireless and optics?
- How will economics and technology interact to shape the overall design of a future network?
- How do we design a network that preserves a free and open society?
UPDATE
As I was exploring Dr. Rudra Dutta's website, I found his resources for graduate students considering Ph.D. research. If this is something you are thinking about, I'm sure you'll find Dr. Rudra's words of wisdom well worth it!
Introduction to the Process of Research, A Personal View
Tips on Research Reading
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Layar for Android, an Augmented Reality Browser for Android: 3D version coming in November 2009
"Eventually, the physical and the virtual worlds will become one"
The power of location-based services is harnessed by Layar, working on mobile phones that have a compass, GPS, and a camera. The first version of Layer targets mobile devices with the Android operating system.
Layar, world's first mobile augmented reality browser:
TechCrunch Video: Layar: Augmented Reality Browser for Android
How it works:
In November, Layar Reality Browser will add 3D functionality to its augmented reality platform for Android:
"With 3D, developers can tag real-life objects with 3D text, place 3D objects in real-world space, and create multi-sensory experiences. The addition of 3D enables Layar developers to create more realistic and immersive augmented reality experiences for mobile devices"
Layar3D Augmented Reality Engine Trial: Arcade Game
Layar 3D Augmented Reality Engine Trial: Venue Tagging
How Layar 3D Works
" Layar 3D makes use of OpenGL, the accelerometer, the GPS and the compass of the phone. Developers can place 3D objects in their content layers based on coordinates. Objects can be optimized in size and orientation to create an immersive and realistic experience. The 3D capabilities support live downloading and rendering of 3D objects. Actions such as “open link” or “play music” can be assigned to 3D objects."
I love this concept!
For your convenience, I've provided links from the Layar website:
View all 116 layers that are now live all over the world on Layar 2.1
last update September 25th 2009
- Real estate (17 layers)
- Health care (4)
- Transportation (14)
- Tourism: Places to stay (4)
- Tourism: Tours / Guides (12)
- Eating & Drinking (10)
- Leisure and entertainment (19)
- Games
- Weather (1)
- Retail (12)
- Governmental (2)
- Universities / Schools (5)
- Local search & Directory service (4)
- Social networks & communities (11)
- Other (1)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Video Clip: Nokia's Study of Gestures Around the World (6th sense?)
The video explains it all.
The video is from the Nokia Conversations YouTube channel.
(Fritz Desir, thanks for the link!)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Still a dream: Ubiquitous Women in Technology
I recently received the following link in an email and thought I'd share some information related to this topic:
ACM-WCBH Initiative Finds Large Gender Gap in Teens Interested in Computing as a Career
Report (pdf)
"The NIC initiative began in late 2007 with a review of the question, “Why is interest in computer
science declining in U.S. colleges?” At that time, a recently published UCLA study found that the number of undergraduates choosing a computer science major was down a stunning 70% since2000.1 And according to a 2007 Computer Research Association (CRA) Taulbee Survey, therewere double-digit declines in enrollments for graduate degrees in computer science.2 Althoughit may be hard to believe, more than 80% of today’s college freshmen—the very students that grew up with computers and are now called “digital natives”—said they had no idea whatcomputer science majors actually do."
"The number of computer science majors is still not meeting projected workforce needs, and the Taulbee Survey points out that diversity in computer science programs continues to be poor. For example, just over 10% of the bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women."
Graphic related to the study (THE Journal)
RELATED
ACM's Committee on Women in Computing
Association for Women in Computing
National Center for Women & Information Technology
Woman & Information Technology By the Numbers pdf
GeekGirl Blogs
Girl Geeks.org
IEEE Women in Engineering
IEEE CIS: Women in Computational Intelligence
Engineering Pathway:
"This blog on engineering education is maintained by the Engineering Pathway, a portal to high-quality teaching and learning resources in engineering, applied science and math, computer science/information technology, and engineering technology and is designed for use by K-12 and university educators and students. The K-12 engineering curriculum uses engineering as a vehicle for the integration of hands-on science and mathematics through real-world designs and applications that inspire the creativity of youth. Users may search over K-12 engineering lessons and activities, as well as other K-12 resources, by many criteria - including content focus area, grade level and educational standards...."
The website has great resources about a multitude of topics related to engineering, computing, and related technologies. I especially liked the sections related to "broadening participation"
The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science and Technology
Try Engineering.org
Not-so-related:
Interesting posts from Engineering Pathways:
Engineering Education "Today in History" Innovation in Shopping Carts
Alice Agogino, 6/4/09
Engineering Education "Today in History" Apple II Goes on Sale
Alice Agogino, 6/5/09
Monday, May 11, 2009
Verizon/Novatel MiFi Personal Hot Spot: I want one!
David Pogue, the tech guy behind "Pogue's Post" of the NY Times, wrote an article about Novatel MiFi 2200, which will be available soon from Verizon. It is a slim device, a little thicker than a credit card, that provides Internet access to Verizon's 3G high-speed cellular data network. The service is $40.00 to 60.00 a month.
David had the opportunity to travel about with a MiFi 2200 and gives a great report about this experience in his article, "Wi-Fi to Go, No Cafe Needed". Basically, this provides 3G to Wi-Fi bridging, and allows you to share your connection with people near you. The MiFi can function as a server, too.
Novatel's MiFi, a 3G Wi-Fi router, is shown at the CES Unveiled, the official press event of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Everyware Health Care: Vena, the Wireless Asthma Inhaler Delivers Readings to PC, SmartPhone, or Online Electronic Health Records
According to a recent CNET article written by Dong Ngo, Cambridge Consultants is offering a wireless asthma inhaler that links patients with health care providers via wireless technologies and electronic medical records such as Google Health or Microsoft Health Vault.
"The platform, called Vena, employs two emerging wireless standards, including the Infrared-based IEEE11073 and the Bluetooth Medical Device Profile. Vena embeds the two into a single chip as the combination of them ensures compatibility of data exchanged between different types of devices and the security in the transmitting of medical data."
The design of this inhaler is stylish, and I'm sure that children and teens with asthma wouldn't mind carrying this around at school. Why is this important?
Asthma is the leading serious chronic illness of children in the U.S.
According to the American Lung Association, "Asthma is the leading serious chronic illness of children in the U.S. In 2006, an estimated 6.8 million children under age 18 (almost 1.2 million under age 5) currently had asthma, 4.1 million of which had an asthma attack, and many others have "hidden" or undiagnosed asthma. In 2006, the highest current prevalence rate was seen in those 5-17 years of age (106.3 per 1,000 population), with rates decreasing with age. Overall, the rate in those under 18 (92.8 per 1,000) was much greater than those over 18 (72.4 per 1,000). Asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15 and one of the most common causes of school absenteeism."
A less-attractive alternative for the connected teen is the bulkier prototype, a collaboration between SiliconSky GPS and David Van Sickle, a University of Wisconsin researcher.
According to another CNET article by Dong Ngo, "The prototype GPS inhaler is packed with technologies. It features Assisted GPS, a GSM modem, integral antennas, an embedded microprocessor, and an internal rechargeable lithium ion battery. The battery allows for up to 10 days of operation between charges."
The GPS inhaler might be useful and usable, but will not used as medically intended unless it has a great "look & feel".
With the increase in the numbers of children and teens with asthma, it is important to design on-the-go medical devices that increase compliance and healthy choices. It has to be cool.
Some references from the American Lung Association:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey Raw Data, 2006. Analysis by the American Lung Association, Research and Program Services Division using SPSS and SUDAAN
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy Youth! Health Topics: Asthma. December 7, 2007. Available here.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy Youth! Health Topics: Asthma. December 7, 2007. Available here. Accessed on December 20, 2007.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics, Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics. The State of Childhood Asthma, United States, 1980-2005. Number 381, December 12, 2006 (Revised December 29, 2006). Available here. Accessed on December 20, 2007.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Daniel Michelis: Interactive Displays in Public Spaces Blog
Daniel Michelis recently completed his Ph.D. dissertation on a topic that is dear to my heart. Information about his research can be found on his Interactive Displays in Public Spaces blog.
Here are links to a few of his posts:
Interactive Displays: Perception, Awareness, and Interaction
Evaluating Interaction with Display Applications in Public Space
I especially like the diagrams Daniel uses to depict zones of interaction:
Figure 3: Four-phase Model
(Source: Daniel Michelis (2009), according to: Vogel and Balakrishnan, 2004)
(Author: Daniel Michelis, Institute for Media and Communications Management, University of St. Gallen)
Figure 1: Perception and Usage of Interactive Displays
(Source: Daniel Michelis (2009), according to: Brignull & Rogers, 2003)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Albrecht Schmidt's User Interface Engineering Blog: Great Links, References, and Resources
For more information, take a look at my post on the Interactive Multimedia Technology blog:
Albrecht Schmidt's User Interface Engineering Blog: Great Links, References, and Resources
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Lucid Project: Internet of Things, Mobility, and Context Aware Services
The following picture, from Open Gardens, shows how our mobile devices can be used to interact with the "Internet of Things", also known as the "Web of Things":
The Open Gardens blog is authored by Ajit Jaokar.
The slides below are from one of Jaokar's presentations about the impact of open source technologies and mobile communication:
Related to this topic is the concept of mobile social software, also known as MoSoSo. For more information read this paper about Mobile Social Software, a thesis written by Clint Heyer.
Friday, March 20, 2009
"Web Meets World": User Experience of Embedded Systems and Interactive Wireless Sensor Networks...
In my opinion, HCI/Usability/UX intervention is sorely needed in the converging fields of embedded systems and wireless sensor networks. I fear what the future will hold if usability and user experience factors do not receive attention.
I think there is hope, despite my quote in a previous post about some usability issues related to the SmartGrid City project.
For a good overview of the future of sensor networks and ambient technologies, read the transcript of Tim O'Reilly's "Web Meets World" keynote presentation from the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo, or watch the video below:
O'Reilly asks, "What are our best and brightest working on?" and "Are we working on the right thing?" (He even touches on Richard Bookstaber's "A Demon of our own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation", a book published in 2007 that discusses how the best and brightest developed innovations that made investments more risky. We now know the outcome of those innovations!)
Summer Reading?!
A number of different system concepts have become apparent in the broader context of embedded systems over the past few years. Whilst there are some differences between these, this book argues that in fact there is much they share in common, particularly the important notions of control, heterogenity, wireless communication, dynamics/ad hoc nature and cost.
The first part of the book covers cooperating object applications and the currently available application scenarios, such as control and automation, healthcare, and security and surveillance. The second part discusses paradigms for algorithms and interactions. The third part covers various types of vertical system functions, including data aggregation, resource management and time synchronization. The fourth part outlines system architecture and programming models, outlining all currently available architectural models and middleware approaches that can be used to abstract the complexity of cooperating object technology.
I wonder how much of this book is devoted to usability and user-experience topics!
Graphics for Embedded Systems
Niall Murphy's PanelSoft : User Interfaces and Usability for Embedded Systems Articles
Dr. Kristof Van Laerhoven (Multimodal Interactive Systems)
TinyOS (free, open source operating system for wireless sensor networks)
Siftables: Physical, Natural Way to Interact with Information and Media
My post: Tangible & Fluid User Interfaces Part I: Siftables
Link to previous post:
The UX of SmartGridCity: Control Your SmartHouse Remotely, Online
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Web of Things, Wireless Sensor Networks, Embedded Systems, and (Everyware) Health Care
What is the Web of Things?
I just came across the blog of the same name. The concept is similar to the "Internet of Things", but in my opinion, Vlad and Dominique, the guys behind the blog, have wrapped the concept into a more "user-friendly" package. They have found a way to articulate this concept far better than my feeble attempts, and for this, I am very thankful.
Web of Things: Architecting the Web of Things, for techies and thinkers!
Here is what I lifted from the "About" Section of this blog, plus a few other quotes:
"What is WebofThings.com?
It is a web page founded by Vlad Trifa and Dominique Guinard, two researchers/geeks working at ETH Zurich and SAP Research Zurich. It is more a scrap book that is here to dump our thoughts ideas on our research and work topic, which is the Web of Things. Unlike most Web 2.0 sites that are about advanced powerpoint engineering, we talk about real things that’s under the hood.
There are three main topics in here. First technologies, this section is only for geeks, simply put. It’s about coding, developing toys, plugging kettles on the web (and we actually did that!). The second part is about new ideas, new technologies that are in the lab. It’s about research papers, and software philosophy, and about researchers worldwide. The third part is about end-users and products. You, me, but especially my grand-ma. It’s about products that exist, or at least should exist (or should not!). It’s about marketing and new ideas out there.
Thanks, but it doesn’t help. What is the Web of Things then?
It is an alternative vision to what the Web of tomorrow will look like. It’s about taking the Web as we know it and extending it so that anyone can plug devices to it. It’s basically about giving eyes, ears, and all kinds of sensory appendixes located worldwide to it. It’s about seamlessly connecting the physical world with the virtual.
Why do you want to change the Internet? What’s wrong with it?
Not much really. It’s just a little boring. It only contains data published by other humans, but it’s not enough linked with our physical reality, not real time / real world enough for our taste!
Why should I read this blog?
Well depends how much you care about technology. It’s both for geeks/hackers who need a playground to develop and try ideas. But it’s also for the security expert who wants to take part to make the Web a safer place to hang out. It’s also for people who want to find new ideas.
Cool! SAP has a blog!
Actually, not really. All what we write here is only our own opinions and thoughts, and doesn’t reflect the views of any of our employers. "
"One things that I don’t understand, is that most people in our field do not really like our approach, or maybe they simply don’t get it. Indeed, we’re kind of stuck between several worlds: wireless sensor networks (WSN) people that find our approach too esoteric, and HCI people that find it not enough sexy. It is a bit annoying, as people don’t take us very seriously, especially not WSN researcher. I overheard comments like “What? You want to use the Web to connect devices? hahaha! I can’t stop laughing, haha it hurts me! Come on, be serious dude! Using the Web for that!! Man, you’re great, I gotta call my colleagues to tell them your idea, they’re gonna *love* it“. Jeez! -Vlad Trifa"
"Let’s do something concrete with WSN, that works, and that’s usable, and that people will really need."
Note: When you visit the Web of Things blog, make sure you visit their links!
Why do I think this is important?
First of all, I'm someone who would love to take a class about embedded systems and wireless sensor networks. I got a taste of some of this in a ubiquitous computing class I took a couple of years ago, and I'm still fascinated with these concepts. Imagine a web-browser that could support all sorts of data streaming in from all sorts of things and places, an intelligent web browser that could make perfect sense of he wealth of information that is potentially "out in the wild".
I think that the Web of Things is a concept that will have numerous applications in the very near future. The arena that is foremost in my mind is health care.
Why? I've spent hours hanging around hospitals and health care facilities since my father's health took a down-turn a couple of years ago. If you've been in my shoes, you know what I mean.
I'm writing this from the family waiting room of the cardiac ICU at the Cleveland Clinic, where I've spent the better part of the week with my father, who had surgery and a few complications. I've had plenty of time to spend listening and observing.
Earlier today, as I was visiting my father in the ICU, I had a chance to chat with a nurse who was an IT guy in his previous life. I rarely have a chance to engage in "geek speak" in my day job as a school psychologist, so I welcomed the chance to talk about the concept technology and health care.
I asked the guy if he'd heard of the "Internet of Things", and we discussed how a cross platform web browser, linked to all of the various devices and patient monitors in the ICU could potentially solve many of the problems faced by nurses and related health professionals in their day-to-day tasks. The nurse pointed out that wireless technologies would eliminate the need for a number of the wires connected to my dad's body. That was a good point!
We had a good discussion about how software needs to be user-focused and user-friendly. In health care, as in many domains, it is not. Usable, intuitive software, at least in the health care setting, would decrease medical errors, increase efficiency, save time, save lives, and in the mid-to-long run, save lots of money.
Somewhat Related
(Previous post)
Everyware Health Care: Microsoft Health's Common User Interface, website, usable health care applications, pervasive health games.....
Wireless Sensor Networks for In-Home Healthcare: Potential and Challenges (pdf)
ALARM-Net: Wireless Sensor Networks for Assisted Living and Residential Monitoring
(Crossbow Blog, 9/28/08)
"Wireless Nodes Dynamically Link to Build Intelligent Sensing Networks"
John Suh, RTC 6/2005
Wireless sensor and data transmission needs and technologies for patient monitoring in the operating room and intensive care unit Paksuniemi, M., Sorvaja, H,; Alasaarela, E.' Mylyla, R. Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2005, IEEE-EMBS 2005
Healthcare Service with Ubiquitous Sensor Networks for the Disabled and Elderly People
Yung Bok Kim & Daeyoung Kim, Computers Helping People with Special Needs 7/2006
Conferences:
Malignant Spaghetti: A Symposium on Wireless Technologies in Hospital Health Care
(A must-read if this topic is of interest)
S-CUBE 2009
The first international conference on Sensor System and Software
"The widespread acceptance of these new services can be improved by the definition of frameworks and architectures that have the potential to radically simplify software development for wireless sensor network based applications. The aim of these new architectures is to support flexible, scalable programming of applications based on adaptive middleware. As a consequence, WSNs require novel programming paradigms and technologies. Moreover the design of new complex systems, characterized by the interaction of different and heterogeneous resources, will allow the development of innovative applications that meet high performance goals. Hence, WSNs require contributions from many fields such as embedded systems, distributed systems, data management, system security and applications. The conference places emphasis on layers well above the traditional MAC and routing, and transport layer protocols."
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Link to "Internet of Surfaces" Photo Examples
Here is a link to a wide assortment of photos that provide examples of what an "Internet of Surfaces" might look like:
INTERNET OF SURFACES: Photo Examples of Screens of All Sizes
Some of the photos are from my team projects. Other photos are from the Microsoft Surface website, NUI-Group members, and odds and ends from other sources.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Interactive Ubiquitous Maps? Not yet.. Charlotte recently spent 3.8 million dollars on STATIC city maps!
Not too long ago, I took this picture of an information and map display in uptown Charlotte, N.C., my home town. This sign is located near the basketball arena, near one of the new light rail stations.
As I approached the display, I was hoping that it was a digitally supported interactive map, since it was so shiny and new. I was disappointed to see that it was static. The display contained information appropriate to the setting, but wasn't nearly what I had expected.
I later learned that the cost of this project was 3.8 million dollars, mostly in the form of a grant from the federal government. Perhaps some of this money could have been spent on a system of interactive wayfinding displays, with multi-touch capabilities. In my dreams....
Designing and implementing this sort of system is complex, but in my opinion, important. If you are interested in this topic, take the time to read The invisible city: Design in the age of intelligent maps. The article, posted in the Think Tank section of the Adobe Design Center website, provides an in-depth exploration of the issues related to ubiquitous, interactive, information-rich maps. The authors, Kazys Varnelis and Leah Meisterline, are from from Netlab, the network architecture lab at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture.
I guess I should be happy that the folks at the Charlotte City Hall understand the need for wayfinding solutions:
From the 7/3/08 Charlotte Observer:
"The pedestrian signs are part of a larger program to increase signage throughout the center city. The bigger chunk of the project is aimed at signs directing motorists to destinations as well as parking. Those signs are projected to go up in 2009 and 2010. Total cost for all: $3.8 million, much of which is paid through a federal grant. The city's portion is $780,000. .... "We wanted to make sure we could direct pedestrians getting off light rail," said Kimbler, the city's project manager for the wayfinding program... The first signs went up on streets, such as College, adjacent to the Lynx Blue line. A second set of signs was placed to direct people to uptown destinations, such as museums, libraries, The Square and the Charlotte Convention Center. Now 51 signs are up." -Amy Baldwin, Charlotte Observer Link
Monday, July 7, 2008
Gas Station TV - I spied this at a suburban Detroit gas station!
While I was visiting relatives in the Metro Detroit area recently, I spied "Gas Station TV" flashing at a service station as I was driving about. Unfortunately, I didn't have my digital equipment nearby.
Here is information from the source:
Gas Station TV:
"GSTV features ESPN sports, CBS News and Entertainment segments, and local market weather. GSTV's 4 1/2 minute lineup is designed to maximize consumer engagement."
"Destination Media (http://www.dmedia.com ), the digital out-of-home marketing leader and parent of Gas Station TV and LG Electronics (http://www.LGcommercial.com ), a leader in digital signage displays, today announced plans for a long-term strategic technology and marketing alliance." link
CBS News on Gas Station TV
Could it be possible to market one's place of worship through Gas Station TV?
I found this picture on Google Images. I don't know Joe Thorn, but it if you are interested, his blog post that accompanied this picture, "Does your church advertise?", sparked a discussion about marketing and churches...
Related article from msnbc.
Previous posts about gas pumps and human-world interaction:
Google Maps at the Gas Pump?! One Small Step Towards Ubiquitous Computing for the Masses
Interesting Technology: InfiniTouch Expands on the Concept of Touch-Screen Interaction
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Interesting Technology: InfiniTouch Expands the Concept of Touch-Screen Interaction
I just learned about an interesting form of touch-technology that works on a variety of surfaces and materials. Someone from the company behind InfinityTouch left a message on one of my blog posts, and thought readers would be interested in learning more about it. I agree. Here is the link the post: Hands On Computing: How Multi-Touch Screens Could Change the Way we Interact with Computers and Each Other (link to Scientific American Article)
Here are a couple of videos about this technology, called InfiniTouch, by QSI Corporation.
Force Panel Touch Screen Gas Pump
In this example, items can be ordered and paid for from the pump, such as a DVD, food, coffee drinks.
InfinitiTouch Music Kiosk
This explains how the technology behind the kiosk works. The material is rugged and weather-proof. The interesting thing with this technology is that the touch-sensitivity is not limited to the screen. The rest of the surface can be touch-enabled, even the frame!
According to an article about InfiniTouch from 2007,on the eMediaWire website, InfiniTouch has many useful features:
- - Capable of dynamic self calibration
- - Scalable to any size, proven up to 1.2 meters
- - Supports two-sided display
- - Usable with various elevations: flat plane, curved surface, 3-D surface,projected surface, or a surface with holes, such as a speaker
- - Highly light transmissive
- - Touchable with a finger, gloved hand, stylus, or other object
- - Operable when covered with ice, water, dust or debris
- - Capable of capturing signatures
InfiniTouch senses force as the z-axis. Items that raise above the frame can also be touch-enabled. It can sense touch on 3D surfaces, as well as curved and irregular surfaces. It is designed to withstand public outdoor use. At the present time, it does not support multi-touch interaction.
Additional Information:
Video: InfiniTouch Introduction (This video demonstration will give you an idea of the tactile "touchy-feely" possibilities of this technology.)
Wall Panels Video (This video provides examples of how the technology can be used in public spaces.)
How It Works
Sensing Touch by Sensing Force pdf
