Sunday, October 11, 2009
Signs, Signs, Everywhere, Signs
"Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?" 1970, Five Man Electrical Band
I like signs, and I appreciate good wayfinding designs. I didn't realize until I explored Flickr the other day that I am not alone!
Here are a couple of interesting "resources" on the topic.
Sander Baumann is a professional wayfinding strategist from Amsterdam. He is interested in art, design, typography, signs, and wayfinding. His company is designworkplan.
EGD is a Flickr group pool, and stands for Environmental Graphic Design. 94 members, and lots of cool pics, if you like signs!
If you REALLY are into signs, there is the 4,590 member S!gns group, and the 7,411-member Sign City group.
Below is a video that I like, it shows how signs can give a "sense of place", and live on in our memories:
Signs of San Francisco
Signs of San Francisco from Lindsay Tabas on Vimeo.
Posted on the Second Thoughts blog
Produced by: Lindsay Tabas
Photos by: Katie Delaney
Song: Signs by Bloc Party (buy on iTunes)
Lindsay Tabas, the producer of the video, does interface design, usability, product management, and user experience research. For a glimpse of what she thinks about, read her post, "The UI/UX Sandwich"
RELATED
Tons of YouTube videos about signs
More thoughts about signs, semiotics, and the interfaced world will be shared in the future!
Somewhat related...
Update:
I just came across the Interfaced World blog. "Place, Time, and Technology". The author of the blog is Mark J. Watts. Interesting pictures, interesting musings.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The World Is My Interface: An Introduction (and some links)
A new name for this blog!
I've changed the name of this blog to reflect the direction of my thinking over the past 2-3 years. At the time this blog was born, I didn't have the words to explain the concept any better! The idea for the new title popped into my head after I wrote the following blog post:
The World Is My Web Browser: Interactive Technology in Public Spaces
This blog was created when I was taking a graduate class, Ubiquitous Computing. I'd been using my TechPsych and Interactive Multimedia Technology blogs as drawers to my "online filing cabinet", and thought I needed another drawer to organize my on-line stuff. At the time, was assigned readings from Adam Greenfield's book, "Everyware: The dawning age of ubiquitous computing". I also was reading Dan Saffer's book, Designing for Interaction, which I selected for use as a reference when I was working on projects for a Human-Computer Interaction class. After the semester ended, I continued with this blog.
(If you are new to this blog, it might be good to know that I'm a school psychologist in my day job, with training in educational and clinical psychology, special education, and social science. During my university days the first time around, I took elective courses in music, dance, and art. I continue to dabble in these areas, focusing on digital photography, videography, playing my electronic keyboard, and sketch-doodling. My journey into technology began in 2003, initially inspired with a desire to create interactive multimedia games for young people for use on mobile devices as well as interactive whiteboards.)
Sample of my related posts:
Touch Screen Interaction in Public Spaces, if "every Surface is to be a computer"
The interaction that had me at "hello world": SixthSense TED presentation by Pattie Maes, of MIT's Fluid Interfaces Group.
Technology-Supported Shopping and Entertainment User Experience at Ballantyne Village: "A" for concept, "D" for touch-screen usability
Interactive Displays in Public Spaces
Urban Screens, Urban Interfaces, Digital Media, and the Arts in Social-Public Spaces
The Internet of Surfaces? Microsoft's Pete Thompson discusses screens and surfaces of all sizes
The Touch Research Project, re/Touch and Near Field Communication Touch Interaction
Urban Screens in Cyberspace and Public Space on 7 Continents
Revisiting Urban Screens: 555 Kubik Facade Projection Video; Info about media facades..
Two more examples of multi-touch and gesture interaction out in public: Accenture at O'Hare Airport; Tac Table
Christopher Baker Revisited: Resident Artist at Kitchen Budapest
For a smile - T-Mobile and Flash Mobs: Dancing and Singing in the UK
LTE vs WiMax: Trying my best to understand emerging technologies
RFID, Mobile Devices, and Museum Interaction
The World Is My Web Browser: Interactive Technology in Public Spaces
Locative Media and the Mobile City Blog
News about Smart Grids and Smart Kitchens
OTHER RESOURCES
Putting People First: Ubiquitous Computing Posts
The Web Outside
(Jayne Karolow, Director of Community at locamoda)
Wayfinding Through Technology Cennydd Bowles, Johnny Holland Magazine 9/15/09
"We are relying ever more on technology to help us out. In this article I am discussing how people form mental models of urban environments, and how technology can augment and even replace our wayfinding skills."
FOR DEEP THINKERS AND KNOWLEDGE JUNKIES
PurseLips Square Jaw (Ann Galloway's in-depth blog)
"Drawing from a background in the social sciences, I am interested in connections between material, spatial and cultural practices. My current research critically investigates new technologies in terms of embodied practice and material culture."
Ann Galloway's on-line Ph.D. Dissertation
"The dissertation builds on available sociological approaches to understanding everyday life in the networked city to show that emergent technologies reshape our experiences of spatiality, temporality and embodiment. It contributes to methodological innovation through the use of data bricolage and research blogging, which are presented through experimental and recombinant textual strategies; and it contributes to the field of science and technology studies by bringing together actor-network theory with the sociology of expectations in order to empirically evaluate an area of cutting-edge design."
Space and Culture Journal
Space and Culture Bloggers
Worldchanging Interview, Vinay Venkatraman on Interaction Design Julia Levitt, 9/17/09
"Vinay Venkatraman, an interaction designer, is one of a rapidly expanding group of scholars and professionals around the world working to define the way our stuff behaves. Although it's natural for most people to understand the need for interaction with gadgets like software and mobile devices, the field is actually remarkably broad. In an increasingly interactive age, the success of systems, services and even whole corporations and organizations often comes down to an effective interface, created with human behavior in mind."
Ubiquitous Communication in an Intelligent World
Workshop, Sept. 18–19, 2009, Budapest
"In the coming years communication chips will routinely be embedded in a great number and variety of everyday objects. Also, ever more segments in the world surrounding us become tagged with digital information. In what ways, from the point of view of the social sciences and philosophy, will the pattern of life change when ubiquitous communication extends to our inanimate environment, when information exchange, and the coordination of activities, involves not only person-to-person connections, but also person-to-object, object-to-person, and indeed object-to-object ones? It is to be expected that philosophical notions like tool, agent, and even consciousness, will undergo radical changes. On a more pedestrian level, looking at current technological possibilities and their effects, we can assume that when tools and objects hold enough processing power to assist their human counterpart with "behaviour prediction" and have ubiquitous communication capabilities, our coexistence with devices will become smoother, more efficient, and indeed more intimate. Artificial intelligence in cars, homes, and offices may be completely redefined if the devices in those environments can freely communicate with each other."
(The above workshop is part of the Communications in the 21st Century: The Mobile Information Society, a multi-year series of conferences, publications, and research co-sponsored by T-Mobile and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Airport Technology: Interactive Information Touch-Screens at the Edinburgh Airport (Scotland)
Seven of these wall-mounted interactive displays were installed at the Edinburgh airport in ScotlandThis interactive kiosk doesn't look cutting edge, as has the look of a pleasant, familiar ATM. It looks easy-to-use, for both the adult and child. This is important for rushed travelers in airports. by Scrimsign Microelectronics, LTD.
According to the company's website, options include a sunlight readable LDC, a thermal ticket or A4 printer, choice of cases, and a rugged keyboard.
I'm still looking for interactive displays in airports and other public spaces that are easy-to-use, yet also possess the "Wow!" factor.
Related:
Edinburgh Airport Buys Pods to Drive Public Transport Use
"Interactive access to Traveline Scotland from the arrivals hall is seen as a key element in encouraging a modal shift. By presenting passengers with practical public transport options the service is expected to influence both visitors’ choice of transport mode and destination, helping tourists to explore the historic city." -Transport Briefing
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
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Virtual Visitor Concierge via Large Touch Screen Display: Kern County, California
This video is a news clip about interactive visitor kiosks in Kern County, California, designed to promote tourism in the region. Using a large touch-screen display, people have access to a wide range of information, displayed in a multi-media format. One of the featured displays is NextWindow's 2800 "Rugged Integrated Touch Panel", developed to withstand environmental wear and tear, with software developed by JupiterBay.
How it works:
Related Link:
Outdoor Interactive Displays Highlight Technology Collaboration
My HCI project prototype would be something fun to interact with on one of these kiosks!
