FastCompany recently posted a insightful analysis, definitely worth a read, of the challenges the auto industry faces as they work to embrace consumer electronics and other ditigal trends. The title begins “Cars Are Horrible Mobile Tech Devices…” and details the root of the problem: “Fast as they they may go, automobiles are some of the slowest-moving mobile devices in the industry, plagued by fragmented software ecosystems, unwelcoming development environments, and old-world product cycles.” Last year,…
 
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I just discovered (via LSD) the metaLAB at Harvard — and it looks fascinating. The lab is “dedicated to exploring the frontiers and overlooked histories of networked culture in the arts and humanities.” And their six research themes are super-cool: the animation of archives, artifactual knowledge, augmented exhibitions, cultural genomics, documentary arts + media innovation, and thick mapping. I’m only just starting to go through the site and all the places it links to. For example,…
 
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A couple months ago, while in Paris, I saw a fascinating exhibition of work by Yayoi Kusama. Much of her work has a hallucinatory quality — of obliteration and making things (especially herself) disappear. And it was her dot-room and light installations that I thought were particularly beautiful and amazing. She recently completed an installation at the Queensland Art Gallery entitled The Obliterated Room. It’s a a very simple interaction (and without any technology —…
 
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I recently posted a link about research leading to creating a real-world holodeck. So it was interesting to discover these three films, created for Sony, which showed another technique for creating immersive experiences. Sony’s “trick” is to use projection mapping — which normally looks best from just a single static view point. They made the environment more flexible by attaching a PlayStation Move to the camera, so that as the camera moved, the projection adjusted…
 
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I love the idea of annotation. To be able to add layers of history and interpretations and notes and all sorts of other layers onto a text (or image, or video, or whatever). It’s a great way show sources to ideas, or links to other thoughts. The challenge, always, is giving access to these annotations in a way that’s natural, doesn’t let you loose your place in the original core, and helps you understand the…
 
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I’ve heard the term digital native a lot, and the idea of them — kids that have grown up with digital technology and for whom it’s a natural part of the world. But there’s a even stronger implication: that they understand it so deeply that they view the world fundamentally different than non-natives. This video (linked in a post full of great links by Chris O’Shea) really brought that idea to life. Fascinating and terrifying….
 
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How do you search for something if you don’t have the words to describe it? What are alternate ways to search besides the ubiquitous text box? There are a variety of tools that let you search based on an image. Google Googles lets you use the camera on your mobile phone to do a search for the object it recognizes in the image. Amazon provides similar search functionality to search through its product inventory. Google…
 
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Two interesting wall-sized interactive experiences… one charming, one kinda terrifying. Night Bright is a new installation by Design I/O. The experience, designed for children, let users explore a nighttime forest, as if moving through it. The system adapts to their movements, and creatures in the forrest hide or come forward in response. It’s charming and engaging — and looks like a great way to help kids understand the unique rhythms of the natural forrest. Boo!…
 
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A couple recent discoveries about teaching programming. First, an [older but still] interesting post on Learning to Think Like A Programmer and why it’s important. Next is Codecademy, a really simple, but engaging site, that introduces basic programming concepts in a step-by-step interactive manner. It’s like having a tutor sit with you as you go through the foundational exercises. And lastly, the nuts, but maybe-it-really-is-important, book HTML for Babies !

Almost five years ago, Stefan Bucher started his Daily Monster project. It was a simple beginning — every day he’d post a video in which he would create a monster based on an ink splot. Since then he’s built a mini-empire out of it (in addition to all the amazing stuff he does). His most recent creation is an iPad and iPhone app that lets users create their own monsters. Stefan started his design career…
 
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