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iWood laptop
2011-11-19 18:31:00
Giving a whole new meaning to screen time! Perfect for all the toddlers I can think of around... via ReCraft
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Quick... while autumn is still here!
2011-11-19 18:09:00
Leaf animals made with glycerin and love.. .
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The next step after Clocky, Catapy!
2011-11-17 07:39:00
Go Catapy, go! Catapy from Yuichiro Katsumoto on Vimeo.

At UIST this Monday: Scopemate, a robotic microscope!
2011-10-17 12:29:00
I am at UIST this Monday to present one of my project along with my mentor Paul Dietz since I joined Microsoft Applied Sciences Group. It is a very quick but efficient solution for the ones who like to solder small components! Summary Scopemate is a robotic microscope that tracks the user for inspection microscopy. In this video, we propose a new interaction mechanism for inspection microscopy. The novel input device combines an optically augmented web-cam with a head tracker. A head tracker controls the inspection angle of a webcam fitted with ap-propriate microscope optics. This allows an operator the full use of their hands while intuitively looking at the work area from different perspectives. This work was done by researchers Cati Boulanger and Paul Dietz in the Applied Sciences Group at Microsoft and will be presented at UIST 2011 this Monday as both a demo and a poster! Video
More About: Robotic , Microscope

The evolution of the architectural medium in engaging digital 3D
2011-08-12 21:33:00
A pretty neat thesis from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, Greg Tran explains that the traditional mode of material production moves forward, but three new forms of design emerge. Digital 3d immersion is the first and is most similar to virtual reality (but has little to nothing to do with architecture.) It is a simulated environment which is entirely digital and relies on material/site specificity as little as possible. Digital 3d renovation is where existing facilities are retrofit with site specific D3d software and environment recognition, but the final condition is Digital 3d architecture. This bridges the design gap between the digital and the material. The purpose of his thesis is not to design an architecture that works perfectly within this new medium, but rather to highlight the medium itself, research potentials, create kernel ideas and discover the implications that this type of reality would hold. Video More versions: Final segment here (2.5 minutes) Medi...
More About: Evolution

The Printing Dress: You are what you tweet!
2011-06-16 16:48:00
Asta Roseway and Sheridan Martin Small , researchers at Microsoft, designed the printing dress!You are probably familiar with the old saying, “You are what you eat” but how about, “You are what you tweet?” What if this concept were incorporated into garments of the future? Would you censor yourself, knowing you would reveal your statements to the world around you? The “Printing Dress ” is an artistic piece that explores the notion of wearable text and its potential impact on the future of fashion, as well as our social identity. Built almost entirely of paper, the dress enables the wearer to enter “thoughts” on to its fabric and wear them as public art. By selecting materials and technologies that draw on the past, present, and future of communication media, we encourage viewers to reflect on the path that has brought us to ubiquitous digital communication and to contemplate its forward evolution.

Draw your music!
2011-05-11 00:26:00
Designed by Jay Silver and Mitchel Resnick Drawdio lets you draw musical instruments on normal paper with any pencil (cheap circuit thumb-tacked on) and then play them with your finger. The Drawdio circuit-craft lets you MacGuyver your everyday objects into musical instruments: paintbrushes, macaroni, trees, grandpa, even the kitchen sink... Video
More About: Music

The next step after Rock Band... a real electric guitar!
2011-05-09 20:52:00
Guitar Games - Revolutionizing How We Learn to Play GuitarAurelius Prochazka created a series of projects to help novice musicians to play the guitar. The brilliant idea here is that the more you train your ear to recognize what you hear, the more you will enjoy playing music. Because you'll understand what you're playing!His most recent work, Guitar Games, allows you to plug in your standard 1/4" plug electric guitar, a Rock Band 3 guitar, or a MIDI guitar and play on your Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Playing the guitar on small devices might not be the way to go, not to worry! If you own Rock Band, you owe it to yourself to take your guitar gaming to the next level and transfer all the experience you've amassed playing Rock Band into learning to play a real guitar!Guitar Games teaches you how to play songs and how to hear better. Beyond that, it also helps you develop your own personal guitar playing style.VideoYou can try it out during Live Product Demo at Maker Faire on...
More About: Guitar , Real , Electric

Our inspiration, always.
2011-04-22 07:37:00
Max Mathews, the father of computer music.
More About: Inspiration

Pulp-Based Computing: Building Computers Out of Paper
2011-04-18 16:26:00
Marelo Coelho, Lyndl Hall and Joanna Berzowska have developed a series of techniques for building sensors, actuators and circuit boards that behave, look, and feel like paper.By embedding electro-active inks, conductive threads and smart materials directly into paper during the papermaking process, they have created seamless composites that are capable of supporting new and unexpected application domains in ubiquitous and pervasive computing at affordable costs.Pulp-Based Computing : A Framework for Building Computers Out of Paper from Marcelo Coelho on Vimeo.

A nice 4$ (or less) touchpad!
2011-04-15 04:15:00
Matthew Blackshaw created a nice 4$ (or less) touchpad with a copper-based matrix!Video
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Gestural manipulation of an actuated surface
2011-04-15 04:09:00
Relief, created by Daniel Leithinger, Adam Kumpf and Hiroshi Ishii is an actuated tabletop display which is able to render and animate three-dimensional shapes with a malleable surface. A direct extension of this work, Recompose created by Matthew Blackshaw, Anthony DeVincenzi, Dávid Lakatos, Daniel Leithinger and Hiroshi Ishii, is the gesture control of such actuated surface.By collectively utilizing the body as a tool for direct manipulation alongside gestural input for functional manipulation, we show how a user is afforded unprecedented control over an actuated surface. We describe a number of interaction techniques exploring the shared space of direct and gestural input, demonstrating how their combined use can greatly enhance creation and manipulation beyond unaided human capability.Video
More About: Surface

DIY combining random displays into a single, large virtual display.
2011-04-12 16:42:00
The Junkyard Jumbotron lets you take a bunch of random displays and instantly stitch them together into a large, virtual display, simply by taking a photograph of them. It works with laptops, smartphones, tablets --- anything that runs a web browser. It also highlights a new way of connecting a large number of heterogenous devices to each other in the field, on an ad-hoc basis.The Junkyard Jumbotron is designed by Rick Borovoy, Ph.D. and Brian Knep at MIT's Center for Future Civic Media.VideoGet the code to install it on your displays, here.
More About: Random , Display , Virtual , Single , Displays

CATRA: Cataract Maps with Snap-on Eyepiece for Mobile Phones
2011-04-11 04:12:00
Can we create a device that makes people aware of their early cataract condition? Using a light-field display, the researchers' method projects time-dependent patterns onto the fovea. Interactive software measures the visibility and point spread function across subapertures of the crystallin lens. By repeating this procedure for several light-paths, the cataracts size, position, density, and scattering profile are estimated.Created by the MIT Media Lab, Camera Culture's research group with Vitor Pamplona, Erick Passos, Jan Zizka, Manuel M. Oliveira, Everett Lawson, Esteban Clua and Ramesh Raskar, CATRA utilizes a forward scattering technique, which allows the user to respond to what they visually experience.Their device scans the lens section by section. The user sees their projected patterns and presses a few buttons to map the light attenuation in each section of the eye. This information is collected by the device creating an attenuation map of the entire lens. This allows in...
More About: Mobile , Mobile Phones , Phones , Snap , Maps

BodyNotes: a mobile tool to enhance the interaction between patients and he
2011-04-11 04:02:00
BodyNotes was created by the MIT Media Lab. It contributes to a series of projects that enhance the interaction between patients and healthcare practitioners. BodyNotes is a mobile tool that combines anatomical landmarks to physical objects as a mean for a patient to discuss body pain with her doctor.VideoThe video introduces Anna, an amputee who uses BodyNotes to track the pain and comfort she feels throughout the day when wearing her prosthetic limb. Anna can view visualizations and summaries of her reported pain by location, intensity, time, duration and activity.This data is also accessible to Anna’s prosthetist. BodyNotes also allows remote, real-time collaboration.During their session, Anna uses a photo to indicate the exact points where she feels pain. Since this screen is simultaneously seen by the prosthetist, and the interaction is synchronized, he can show what modifications Anna could do on her own.BodyNotes enables advanced logging and telemedicine functionality on ma...
More About: Mobile , Tool , Patients

Stevie B Microsoft Research demo!
2011-02-26 20:42:00
A bit of insight on what the research group I have recently joined at Microsoft , the Applied Sciences Group, is devoted to. Amazing display technologies coupled to novel interaction paradigms. Enjoy!
More About: Research , Microsoft Research , Demo

The secrets of a pop-up book!
2011-02-20 07:14:00
My current favorite pop up book for the iPad, the Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Pop-Up Book . Almost as interactive as a real pop up book! Thank you Sumit!Of course, my favorite tech-pop up book for the iPad comes from les éditions volumiques!You can find it -> here

Solar Music
2011-02-17 05:25:00
Sculpture at Maudslay, Newburyport, MA September 2010 by Kevin Belli.Sun Boxes by Craig Colorusso are an environment to enter and exit at will. It's comprised of twenty speakers operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. There is a different loop set to play a guitar note in each box continuously. These guitar notes collectively make a Bb chord. Because the loops are different in length, once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time.Here is a video, Sun Boxes at the 12th annual Sculpture at Maudslay. Filmed by Kevin Belli on September 18, 2010.
More About: Music , Solar

Nokia C7 as remote control for BMW car
2011-01-24 18:55:00
Now we are talking!
More About: Nokia , Remote Control , Control

Microsoft for the win!
2011-01-18 08:11:00
Today was my first day at Microsoft . I am officially a researcher in the Applied Sciences Group!The coolest research group in industry: "The interdisciplinary group focuses on the synergy between optics, electronics and software to create novel human computer interfaces. The ASG mainly supports projects for next generation computing and interface hardware for Mobile, Xbox, and Microsoft Surface. It also works closely with Microsoft Research."I had visited Microsoft Research back in February, met fantastic researchers including Paul Dietz (the man behind DiamondTouch, the multi-user touch screen table) and Steven Bathiche (the man behind Mothmobile, a hybrid robot that uses an insect as its control system via a neural electrical interface).I fell in love with their work, their vibe, their philosophy. I am so fortunate to join this team, and will be updating with cool techy projects very soon!

Reclaim Vacant Lot with What City’s Got
2011-01-10 07:36:00
Photo by Recetas Urbanas.A proposal made to the city of Seville for legislation to assist in the temporary transformation of public and private solares – vacant lots walled off for security – into public spaces for at least six months. Wall rubble is incorporated into the design, and elements of car and pedestrian barriers are used to construct benches, see-saws, swings, and bike racks with readily available plastic materials like concrete. Instruction sheets were produced to allow residents to construct their own furniture.The project is designed to minimize material movement, cost, and other barriers to change.Santiago Cirugeda is an architect based in Seville who has proposed semi-legal strategies for housing and urban renovation under the name Recetas Urbanas, or “urban prescriptions,” since 1996. He inhabits gaps between laws, exploiting overlap and oversight to practice autonomous architecture.More info
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New year 2011 resolution…
2011-01-01 23:39:00
New year 2011 resolution: watch TRON, again and again!I've watched TRON: Legacy at an IMAX, and this is the best movie I have seen in years. The French duo Daft Punk made a soundtrack so perfect that it makes you cry as you watch light, motions, decors, crazy ideas combine with the nostalgia of the old computer dream.Back in time...... And now ... the new trailer. Well I don't think the new trailer is any good. And also it is a spoiler. So just go see the movie, in a IMAX preferably.And go see it again and again in 2011!Happy new year!
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Let’s get Soft Wear for the Holidays!
2010-12-14 21:02:00
PC nostalgia anyone?!Microsoft "Soft Wear" has created a new line of closing all soft and cozy. A perfect gift for the holidays! Or you can download the .pdf of your best logos/artwork and DIY!
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220 petites Pixel-tiles
2010-11-02 16:40:00
It's really nice to see friends and co-workers from the MIT Media Lab making their ways to the contemporary art scene. Zigelbaum and Coelho keeps winning awards! After celebrating their Design Miami/Basel Designers of the Future award, they are now exhibiting in New York, you can see their work at the Johnson Trading Gallery.They will show their computational light installation which steals the pixel from the screen and re-introduces it to the physical world. An ambitious, pulsating LED installation completes itself only when touched by the visitor, each movement modifying and transforming the work itself.The gun-testing vault at Riflemaker will house 220 luminescent pixel-tiles. Visitors to the gallery will be able to change the colours of the tiles, create a rhythmic pulse and re-arrange the overall form of the square, magnetic blocks.Zigelbaum & Coelho is a design studio founded by Jamie Zigelbaum and Marcelo Coelho. Their work utilises physical, computational, and cultural ...
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PUYO-CON: the soft controller!
2009-09-10 22:50:00
This new controller technology goes far beyond traditional button-type devices. It enables input based on direct touch, force, and shape transformation. Because the soft material is "crash-worthy", the controller can even be thrown.Human beings use many different types of sensory information to perform a broad range of activities. But most conventional game controllers limit sensory input to a small, fixed portion of the sensorial spectrum. Players can press or release buttons or move the controller in space, but the controller must always be held in the user's hand. With PUYO-CON, sensory input is far more flexible because players can control activities by applying force to soft material, grasping the controller, and transorming its shape. The goal of this project is to enhance entertainment experiences for millions of game players around the world.
More About: Soft , Controller

Technical objects make music
2009-08-29 17:30:00
Yuri Suzuki and Naoki Kawamoto want to contribute to the design of daily domestic noises. alarms, mobile phones, a doorbell; They reexplore their sounds. The musical kettle is a part of series 're-design soundscape'. As the kettle boils it whistles your favorite tunes.I particularly love the way the kettle is outfitted, but I also love the idea of reinventing the sound of objects!
More About: Music , Technical , Make , Objects

K-12 Embodied and Mediated Learning
2009-08-19 21:45:00
SMALLab @ Arizona State University - 2009 from aisling kelliher on Vimeo.
More About: Learning

What can you make with your USB key?
2009-08-12 22:38:00
USB is used as a synonym for a universal connection, so designers envisioned rings to know if people are suited to each other, if they are really compatible, or to know how long it will last! Synchronizing via USB, transforming the shape of the device can lead to a multitude of concepts. Customized USB devices have gone beyond imagination, such as the USB pregnancy test that combines both your digital data to your bio data, a very sexy trend, however it was only an April fool… People also flirt with the idea of a USB key which size changes depending on the data it contains. Pretty neat! Will it ever blow up when it reaches its limits? How to represent the type of data it contains? Does it complain when it is out of data? However all these neat design sketches are exclusively at the level of concepts.It is still possible to customize your device in any ways you want. There is a company that offers Personalized jump drive: to create your USB sketches in any color or material you can...
More About: Make

The IT Crowd
2009-07-20 20:33:00
The IT crowd is a splendid British TV show for the geek in each of us. I watched it on Netflix and can't wait for season 3! It is written by Graham Linehan and produced by Ash Atalla for Channel 4. The series has won BAFTA and International Emmy awards. Also, according to Wikipedia: "The show tries to add a large number of references to geek culture, mostly in set dressing and props. Dialogue (both technical and cultural) is usually authentic and any technobabble used often contains in-jokes for viewers knowledgeable in such subjects." Time is money friend :D Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure.......................... ......................................... ..........................Blog Jouons Blog Maison Blog Passion
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Play-it-by-eye! Collect movies and improvise perspectives with tangible vid
2009-06-24 03:49:00
My journal paper Play -it-by-eye! Collect movies and improvise perspectives with tangible video objects is now published at Cambridge University Press! The paper in .pdf ->hereWe present an alternative video-making framework for children with tools that integrate video capture with movie production. We propose different forms of interaction with physical artifacts to capture storytelling. Play interactions as input to video editing systems assuage the interface complexities of film construction in commercial software. We aim to motivate young users in telling their stories, extracting meaning from their experiences by capturing supporting video to accompany their stories, and driving reflection on the outcomes of their movies. We report on our design process over the course of four research projects that span from a graphical user interface to a physical instantiation of video. We interface the digital and physical realms using tangible metaphors for digital data, providing a sponta...
More About: Movies