Nintendo releases Wii Fit May 23, 2008
Posted by designando in innovative interfaces.add a comment
Nintendo releases the “Wii Fit” device for the Nintendo Wii this week. The device has already been in store shelves in Japan for several weeks, selling over 2 million units in that country alone.
The system works by incorporating a balance board, which also measures each player’s weight body mass index. The accompanying software lets users ride a virtual snowboard, do yoga, twirl hula hoops, and perform other virtual exercises. An on-screen trainer also guides users, and allows them to chart their performance and goals. As players do better and improve with their workouts, new games and activities are unlocked for them to try.
Wii Fit website:
http://www.nintendo.com/wiifit/
Demo video:
Interview with Paola Antonelli May 19, 2008
Posted by designando in interviews.add a comment
Here is an interesting interview with the MoMA curator for design Paola Antonelli about the exhibition Design and the Elastic Mind.
She starts with a nice introduction to the idea of science and design as a collaborative endevour. The exhibition explores the interface between science and design as well as the possibilities of design using technology.
Exhibition’s website:
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/elasticmind/
Exertion Interfaces May 15, 2008
Posted by designando in innovative interfaces.add a comment
An Exertion Interface is an interface that deliberately requires intense physical effort. Games and sports have been helpful in facilitating social introductions. An Exertion Interface combines the ability of sports to connect people socially, and the ability of telecommunications to connect people over a distance.
More information: http://exertioninterfaces.com/
BumpTop May 15, 2008
Posted by designando in innovative interfaces.add a comment
BumpTop is a User Interface that extends the metaphor of the desktop. Even though it still resides on a screen, it has a more physical feel to it.
View a TED presentation of BumpTop
Photosynth May 7, 2008
Posted by designando in innovative displays, visualization.1 comment so far
Photosynth is a software that takes a large collection of photos of a place or an object, analyzes them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed three-dimensional space. With photosynth you can see where pictures were taken in relation to one another and find similar photos to the one you’re currently viewing.
A Photosynth experience begins with nothing more than a bunch of digital photos. They might all have been taken by one person, or they might be a mixture of images from many different cameras, shooting conditions, dates, times of day, resolutions, and so on.
Each photo is processed by computer vision algorithms to extract hundreds of distinctive features, like the corner of a window frame or a door handle. Photos that share features are then linked together in a web. When the same feature is found in multiple images, its 3D position can be calculated. It’s similar to depth perception – what your brain does to perceive the 3D positions of things in your field of view based on their images in both of your eyes. Photosynth’s 3D model is just the cloud of points showing where those features are in space.
Here is a demo of both photosynth and seadragon:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/129
Seadragon May 7, 2008
Posted by designando in innovative displays, visualization.add a comment
Seadragon is a software recently acquired by Microsoft Live Labs for visualization, browsing and rearranging of visual material. In Seadragon, visual information can be smoothly browsed regardless of the amount of data involved or the bandwidth of the network since it just downloads what’s currently being displayed on screen (but for the user it feels that he/she is navigating an enormous canvas). This is an alternative for doing away with screen real estate. No more pop-ups, just zooming in and out a big canvas.
Here’s a demo:
