New Table

This time it runs on a Mac ( nice) . Bendy, makes you wonder what kind of projector they are using.

Lovely bit of work but the plasma/lcd based ones are coming along so well I think we will not be seeing these for long.

Guzumped

A couple of years ago ( really was it that long ?) I worked on trying to unpick the signals from Diamond touch and then spot both fingers. Well I wrote a simple version and got about 80% success rate from it - not bad. I wrote it up but the paper got rejected ( mostly due to poor success rate )

I've thought of a better mechanism one that would handle multiple fingers ( more than two ) but the implement is quite difficult and with the cloud and the table I've never had enough time to really sit down and spend the 5 days it would take to redo.

Well in the mean time someone had managed to do something and get it published! Impressive the paper reads really like the one I wrote but this one managed to get published and it had an 80% success rate.

I'm not that miffed - I had got distracted on other things. But I did feel it was more fundermental - makes implementing 2*1D tables very possible.

I'm more irritated with my self someone else managed to do a multiple mice paper - which was technically much easier but I never managed to think of the useage case ( again side tracked on the table + cloud).

Simon Holland on Direct combination

Its a principle

From a pervasive point of view.

Lots of tiny devices ( ipod/mobile phone).
 Get devices to talk to each other - from an HCI point of view.
Lots of versions of software. Diffrent software

Resource-poor user interfaces
   - Small screens
Minimal attention situations
  - Walking

Standardising protocols - problems with combinatorial explosion.

Principle of direct combination 1999

Use two objects to list common subsets of actions that can be used on them both.
Traditional user interface begins with objects and versbs click on X then select action Y.
User selects N objects - you see list of actions common.

Expand selection out to include remote selection ( say via interface )

Not objects but roles -( is a role like an interface ?)

nasa tlx workload scale
nasa tlx task load scale


previous work


Pick and drop Rekimoto - speical case of DC
InfoStick Kohtake
DataTies Rekimoto

Genius

Just watching Horizon on the BBC. Its a program about genius and it makes me wonder if there is anything you could do with software to make everyone a genius. Perhaps I sound a bit too much like the bad guy from the Incredibles but its a nice idea.
One theory for creative genious was that people's minds spend most of the time 'filtering out irrelevant stimuli' Genii apparently allow the stimuli in but and use it creatively but remain focused on the objective in hand.

How about a word processor that adds in random bits of text while your typing. Perhaps adding in lost of descriptive terms while you type.

Just tried to edit my intranet web page again

Failed dismally.

I do have much more important tasks to get on with. I could spend all day getting technical support but I'm inclined not to as I would loose control of my time ( which I should  really spend on Teaching).

I tried to access Penelope (server) but it was not available. Strange how Apples IDisk and Drop box work so much better than the internal file OU sever ( which should be so much better and is so much more expensive).

More cool stuff to check out

More inspiration for information architecture pieces 

Collage City By Colin Rowe

Digital ground

http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/642611.642652 Design-oriented human-computer interaction

Families and Sense of Community

**** Augmenting refrigerator magnets: why less is sometimes more http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1182475.1182488 


***Promoting awareness of work activities through peripheral displays http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/506443.506527




**HomeNote: supporting situated messaging in the home http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1180875.1180933


Far too many things on my mind.
The whereabouts clock: early testing of a situated awareness device
  http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1125451.1125694


Keywords I like virtual presence and fostering a sense of group belonging. 


***Busy families' awareness needs     10.1016/j.ijhcs.2008.09.006


Resilience in the face of innovation: Household trials with BubbleBoard doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2008.07.008


**Homes that make us smart 10.1007/s00779-006-0076-5


Desiring to be in touch in a changing communications landscape: attitudes of older adults http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1518701.1518962


Nice A comparison of reading paper and on-line documents  http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/258549.258787


The iterative design and study of a large display for shared and sociable spaces
10.1007/s00779-009-0242-7

Not DIST but ubicomp

Paul is back. Had a meeting with Y and R
Looks like we are thinking this is too good a paper for dist. The big observational results make paper worthy of bigger conf. Will work on weekend and meet Monday morning for go/ no go

Good result

I have been processing the log data from the experiments. Looking closely at the data for the front sensor I found a statistically significant differance between before and after the cloud installation.

While most of the result is qualatively based I do fond the log file resul very gratifying.
Cloud off tomorrow for learn about fair.

Sheep

tangibles tangibles

We talked about using mini projectors in the environment. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

Colour tracking is a bit cheap ( very simple to do ) but the HCI is good. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_merrill_demos_siftables_the_smart_blocks.html

is good inspiration for something you could do with tangibles on the MS table. 

sheep

Nifty Tabletop presentation.

Hi - I'm now involved with this podcasting experiment an while doing so I came across this presentation. Quite nice - love to know what was being said. Interactive Tables And Displays, Ubiquitous Computing Lynn Marentette March 26, 2007

View more presentations from Lynn Marentette.

Everything becomes multi touch.

Thin film you can put on anything, Looks like we could turn the plasma screen into a table too. 

But why stop there, why not an ordinary table or a window.

http://www.displax.com/index.php#/en/products/skin.html

A new large-format multi-touch technology launched today by DISPLAX, a developer of interactive technologies, will transform any non-conductive flat or curved surface into a multitouch screen.

 

The DISPLAX Multitouch Technology, believed to be the first of its kind, has been developed based on a transparent thinner-than-paper polymer film. When applied to glass, plastic or wood, the surface becomes interactive. Significantly, this new multitouch technology can be applied to standard LCD screens as well, making it an attractive choice for LCD manufacturers. The new technology will also be available for audiovisual integrators or gaming platforms to develop innovative products.

Also 

http://www.sourcetech.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=746&products_id=2982&gclid=CL3WwNGz1p8CFZEA4wodE3apcw

G2 Multi-Touch Plasma/LCD Overlay (5-Touch)

Starting at: £1,899.00 Ex VAT
£2,231.33 Inc VAT