Principles of Interaction Design at OCAD

a few pictures from activate the park special thanks toappropiate apparel!

2006-04-22T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from the event
sorry they are late
special thanks to appropiate apparel for the donation to the make a wish foundation of canada!
i hope everyone has a GREAT SUMMER
much love barbie

One Last Award - And it goes to Pimp My Ride!

2006-04-19T13:55:00.000-04:00

Ideas come from life - the first ice cream cone

2006-04-14T02:16:00.000-04:00

It says the first ice cream cone is invented when Charles Menches went out of plates while he was saling ice cream at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. He looked around and saw his friend, Ernest Hamwi, saling the middle-east snack Zalabia and then inspired within. Charles Meches rolled the Zalabia in a cone shape and put the ice cream on top. That's how the first ice cream cone begins =)
Later on, Ernest Hamwi became the owner of Comucopia Waffle.

In my opinion, i truely believe ideas come from life. It is the observations and the anylasis of what's lack and what's needed inspire the most innovative ideas. Ideas do not come from textbooks. Textbooks give you certain amount of knowledge and theory of how to do design, but... that's all. Ideas come from the freedom and the free explorations. It is the process of trying, thinking and more of trying and thinking. It is the long process of keep trying and thinking. It is about breaking the restrictions, in some extent. It is not doing or making the "that's how it should be", "that's what most people do" or "it is save to do this" (or "this is what the prof likes" =P).

i just found that interesting:

i read the content, but it doesn't directly say why "if you don't like lava lamp, you're afraid of sex." It just says if you understand "drugs and sex never separate" you should understand why Edward Craven Walker - the inventor of lava lamp - says "if you don't like lava lamp, you're afraid of sex." I think it is related with the culture at the time being. Lava lamp is invented in the 1960s, it is when drugs and parties are very commoned. Lava lamp is also a common decoration in parties and it helps with the dizzy-effect when a person take drug. on the other hand, the tv show such as The Avengers, The Prisoner and Dr.Who also put the lava lamp in their show. Therefore, lave lamp is possibly influenced the people unconsciously like advertising and become an ideological object associated with the idea of partying and drugs. Moreover, lava lamp is very popular in the 1960s-1970s.

Nike's design process/thinking process

2006-04-13T23:18:00.000-04:00

Please feel free to ask for translation or can anyone help to translate it

I think the most important ideas about design is stated on the first page. "Consider history. Consider present. Consider future." Any design has an audience to address to, therefore it is very important to think of the human factors. On the other hand the history, the present, and the future are also very important. The history tells us what other people have previously done, and therefore we can learn and modify the idea/concept into a better design. The present, and our enviornment or the culture tells us what's needed or the trend for our target audience(s). The future is for us to create from the new, innovative and improved design with the considerations of the total custumer/user's phsyical and emotional experiences and as well as the material - the enviornmental issue. The magazine says "Consider effor. Consider rewards. Consider passion. Consider feeling. Consider consequences. Consider waste. Consider design. Consider innovations. Consider solutions."

A payment system developed with a Octopus Card in HongKong for transportation, shopping, and etc.

2006-04-13T22:12:00.000-04:00

The system only requires 0.3 second from its beginning to its end.

[The interaction begins as the Octopus Card touch the Octopus Card reader] --> [local system receiver] --> [company's master receiver] --> [Octopus's master receiver]

The total interaction is completed within 0.3 second.

The feedback of a success payment is a "beep".

The different Octopus readers at different locations.

The Octopus card is applicable for bus, subway, and other transporations payment.

using Octopus Card to shop in market

Other areas that Octopus card is effective.

Other Services:
- Parking lot
- Retail (eg. convenien store, supermarket, fastfood resturant, etc.)
- Self-serviced facilities (eg. pay phone, etc)
- Entertaining facilities (eg. swimming pool, etc.)
- School
- Security System

Side products of Octopus.

Award to the Big Bang

2006-04-13T10:49:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the Big Bang team...

2006-04-11T21:30:00.000-04:00

The Looper's Website

2006-04-11T16:11:00.000-04:00

Take a look at The Looper's website!

www.student.ocad.on.ca/~ging

We have lots of Activate the Park photos, and will soon be adding video.

Sense and the City website

2006-04-10T23:51:00.000-04:00

check it out!!!

the official Sense and the City website is here!

http://two.fsphost.com/senseandthecity/

yay!

FITC Toronto 2006 (April 21-23)

2006-04-09T00:42:00.000-04:00

"Founded and directed by Shawn Pucknell, FITC has been operating since 2002 to bring you events in the design and technology world.

Now entering its fifth year, FITC is the only Canadian Festival of its kind; combining cutting edge technical speakers with inspirational creative speakers from around the world. Even on the global stage, FITC stands as an original event. Each year, FITC has broadened its programming range to grow with its widening audience and appeal to a larger audience. FITC attracts attendees and award entrees from around the world.

FITC has three goals - to INSPIRE, to EDUCATE, and to CHALLENGE, all within the Design & Technology space. This is accomplished by assembling the leaders and shakers within the industry, and presenting them through presentations, panels, Q&A sessions, workshops, evening mixers, and the FITC Design & Technology award show."

FITC.CA

Photos from Break The Law

2006-04-08T00:56:00.000-04:00

'twas a fabulous day. . . thanks to everyone.

-Jesse

'twas a great day. . .

And the award goes to....

2006-04-07T13:34:00.000-04:00

After much discussion and debate, we, the Graffti class have decided that we are going to award...

THE BIG BANG

with the much coveted but rarley attained...

BEST GANG award!

Congratulations!

Your interaction brought the park to life, and included everyone that heard it.

As your Prize, we as a class have compiled a box of trophies that are available to you in the Interaction Design classroom, underneath the memory map.

Feel free to come by and pick up your awards! Pick one award only!

Congratulations once again,

Bardia, on behalf of

Mike and Jesse’s Principles of Interaction Design class

The Most Eco-UNfriendly award goes to...

2006-04-06T22:01:00.000-04:00

... the Break the Law/Make Art project.
Although it's a really cool project and has a great impact, the Food Fighters have decided to award you "the most eco-unfriendly" award. On your behalf, the food fighters have donated $20 to T.E.A. (Toronto Environmental Association).
Your award certificate is on display in room 1420.

Activate the Park! more pics

2006-04-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

Here are some more. . . .enjoy!

Activate the Park

2006-04-05T00:40:00.000-04:00

Apologies if this is taking up a gigantic space. I'm not sure how to play around with the html to organize it nicely

Activate the Park!

2006-04-03T22:44:00.000-04:00

Here are some highlights from our fantastic day in the Park!

Congratulations everyone - to all classes, students, projects, faculty and class assistants... to everyone who participated and worked so hard on all of the great projects, to create such a fun day.

Check out the postings on the Torontoist blog too - the link is in the title.

Break The Law/ Make Art e-mail

2006-03-30T22:19:00.000-05:00

For those of you who decided to take one of the several panels home, here is the e-mail if it could not be read on its back:

approvedgraf@hotmail.com

Please e-mail an image (or images) of what you did with the panel you took home and a description of what happened to it. It can be as in depth as you wish, as long as you tell us where it ended up (ie. Given to family, sent to another country, etc.)

It is important you send these descriptions so that we can begin to compile a PDF that contains pictures and info on our project and will be concluded with section pertaining to what you have done with the art. The PDF will hopefully be available for download within a week or two.

Also if anyone took pictures of the Graffiti project, please send any extra pictures to the e-mail above.

Thank You

Break The Law / Make Some Art

2006-03-30T12:04:00.000-05:00

activate the park in CA...

2006-03-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

Canadian Architect posted a small article about Activate the Park yesterday on their website. It's just a small article, but on a site that receives thousands of hits daily.

Cheers.

The Looper!

2006-03-28T14:19:00.000-05:00

This is the map of the Park

2006-03-27T16:06:00.000-05:00

This is where your class will be located in the park.

Activate the Park - Poster Template

2006-03-27T15:56:00.000-05:00

You can use this template. If not, this information should be included within your publicity materials.

The BIG BANG

2006-03-26T23:43:00.000-05:00

Kinetics!

2006-03-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

Activate the Park! Invitation - pass it on!

2006-03-24T19:22:00.000-05:00

Activate the Park!

First Year OCAD Interaction Design students create 15 interactive public space projects to be displayed in Butterfield Park (under the OCAD "tabletop") on March 30, 3-6pm

Toronto ON: First year interaction design students at the Ontario College of Art and Design have been charged with the task of "Activating the Park." Nestled underneath architect Will Alsop's now-famous "tabletop" is Butterfield park, a new and beautiful urban park, but one people don't linger in -- it's a space to pass through, not stop and reflect on the space or interact with others.

Each class has created an environment that will change that that will be presented from 3pm - 6pm on Thursday March 30. Projects include:

• Interactive graffiti walls
• Communal music making
• Radio controlled cars
• Human Statues
• A food fight
• A peepshow in the park
• A piñata in the park
• Paint hockey
• Giant movable cubes
• A Toronto memory map
• A race with a "randomizer"
• Giant toys
• And more…

The entire park is the canvas, and passers-by the subject. With the recent interest Toronto's public spaces, these student projects represent what happens when people look at our city's communal spaces and ask; "how can we engage people there?"

Location: Butterfield Park, south end of OCAD building, 100 McCaul Street

What is interaction design?

Interaction design is a sub-discipline of design that examines the role of embedded behaviors and intelligence in physical and virtual spaces as well as the convergence of physical and digital products. Sometimes referred to by the acronyms "IxD" or "iD," interaction design has recently developed as a field of study in a growing number of universities throughout the world. Interactive Design is concerned with a user, customer, audience, or participant's experience with a designed object, system or environment.

ThermoPainter: painting with temperature

2006-03-20T23:19:00.000-05:00

ThermoPainter, developed by Daisuke Iwai and other researchers at Osaka University, is a device that allows people to paint using the thermal vision technology. ThermoPainter can detect temperature change regions on a sensing surface as touch regions when objects hotter or colder than the surface touch it. In the system, users can use a physical paintbrush with hot water and an airbrush with cold water in spite of paint as they use in the real world, and even use their own fingers, hands, and breaths directly because of their own body heat.

The system is designed for painting, but this "input by temperature" approach can of course be used for other kinds of things. So far the researchers also experimented with temperature-based shape deformation, showing the potential of subtle effects that analog temperature fields and digital processing together create. Another interesting example is 3D shape editor -- a user touches part of the 3D object on screen, then the heat from her hand makes the hand-covered part softer, allowing her to deform the softened part using a mouse.

Sculpture garden

2006-03-20T16:19:00.000-05:00

I went to the sculpture garden, located at 115 King Street East, near Church Street and opposite St. James' Cathedral, the Garden is both a civic and a private initiative.
Featuring a bi-annual exhibit created by various Canadian sculptors, this garden offers displays of art in a fresh outdoor setting. A walkway around the garden adds a sensual floral fragrance to experience, surrounding with beautiful flowers and art objects.
As well, the La Marquette restaurant's terrace overlooks the garden.

Stuck in Traffic?

2006-03-12T21:44:00.000-05:00

Here is some work by the Graduates at MIT
I thought it was an interesting way to use sound to create a space. The first one also encourages group interaction over single-user interaction to create a different experience every time.

"Captured Moments"
... is a projection room which responds to people's movements. The (overall)
response will be different depending on how many people are interacting.

Upon entering the imagery, visitors discover paths appearing under their feet at specific locations. If a visitor walks down a path, the night imagery will transform into a new type of imagery. When a single visitor walks off a path, the path and associated imagery will immediately disappear, and the night sky will return until another path is located.

"Intersection"
This exhibit mimicked a road through the use of sound. The car (sounds) respond
as though the gallery visitor is crossing a real street. It is experienced in complete darkness.

'The illusion of traffic is created through digital audio devices and eight audio speakers arranged to create four invisible lanes of traffic. If a visitor stands in the lane of an approaching car, this car will "screech" to a halt and remain "stopped" with its engine idling.'

"Intersection" typically induces a sense of fear or amusement in a visitor. In addition to creating a work involving interactions with machines, the work is intended to confront people with an unknown and uncertain situation within the darkened space. In the past, some visitors to the installation, usually adults, have been so frightened by the work that they were unable to enter or cross through the installation. A previous exhibition of "Intersection" positioned the work at the front of a museum, forcing visitors to walk through the installation in order to view the other exhibits.

The Park in the Biomolecular Research Center on College St.

2006-03-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

I went to the park inside the Geomolecuar lab on College St. Its basically a forest of bamboo trees in the entrance of the building. It has 2 main seating areas that are actually inside this small forest as well as a row of trees and a bench on the other side of the stairs. The way the park is layed out is for someone to follow the stepping stones onto a small deck with a bench to sit down.

The person would then find themselves surrounded by trees and silence, the perfect place to go and reflect. think or just relax. Its really neat because you are in this completely modern building, yet you are inside a little bamboo garden....Its very zen!

The denseness of the garden doesn't afford someone walking through it,only to follow the walkway to the bench. It doesn't afford skateboarders inside the park, but outside the building is another story! The benches are fairly big, but I don't see it holding more then 3 people before it becomes a crowed relaxation spot. It doesn't really afford playing (its a research building after all!) or loudess. I actually found this to be the most quiet place in Toronto by far...The only real noise was a fan, that was pretty quiet. It also doesn't afford any signs at all...the trees are to small..and again its inside a building!

Overall, I think the main purpose of this park is to allow the park-goer to relax and look the trees around and above. Its a very calming place, which in Toronto is most definitely needed!

Gamelan Playtime

2006-03-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

From March/April's issue of Azure (page 50). This interactive wall/border surrounds the Royal Festival Hall in London while it's undergoing renovations.

Yorkville Park

2006-03-10T02:20:00.000-05:00

I visited the park on Wednesday.
location: north of Bloor, west of Bay St.
time: 2:40pm-3:10pm
weather: cloudy
temperature: 1 degree celcius
Lot's of people passed by the park or they cut through it, but very few number of people stayed at the park. Those who did stop by took photos of the ice sculptures, smoked cigarettes, or just a brief stop to have a snack and a coffee. One man was reading news paper though (but I wasn't fast enough to take a photo of him before he put it down). The big rock by the ice sculpture is very interesting. Sadly, I was the only who climbed it while I was there for thirty minutes. I can understand why nobody stays at the park for long: it's freezing to sit on the benches or the rock! However, when I visited the park during the summer, lots of people like to climb and sit on the rock.

Toronto Music Gardens

2006-03-10T01:47:00.000-05:00

Because it's still basically winter, there's not a whole lot going on in the Music Gardens... The vegetation is, actually, still dead or dying or just starting to make a come-back, depending on your point of view. But, just imagining the place full of plants and flowers, I could see a very nicely designed park. In terms of physical interaction there really wasn't much. Instead, the park was designed to be walked through, using movement as the interaction. There are many path ways that curve and curl showing its musical influence. There few designated sitting areas; a circular sitting area, which I dubbed the "chill spot," and the benches along the path ways. If these places are taken various rocks are strategically placed to substitute as sitting arrangements. Like all parks joggers and pets are always present. There are also audio tours that adds additional information about the park itself and those that inspired its design.

This park's main attraction is its plants and flowers and how they are presented to you, thus, making this making this documentation rather dull. The park really comes alive in the spring and summer, late winter just doesn't cut it. Imagining the park full of plants and flowers, I can see that the path ways are designed to give u an adventure through a unique garden. It was rather disappointing to see this park so naked.

Toronto Sculpture Garden

2006-03-10T00:44:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of going to the Toronto Sculpture Garden, on King St. E, one light before Jarvis.

First of all, the visbility is pretty bad. By that I mean, it was impossible to find the place. It is wedged inbetween to historic buildings, and does not strike me as a 'park' at all. It looks like a nicley paved ally to get to the buildings behind it. I had to ask around and attempt to read the different signage near the park to confirm that this was infact it.

Below is a basic layout of how the park looks.

The park is made up of a main greenery area, and the walk way next to it.
I wasnt able to find anyone at the park, except for people who used it to get to King St. (they just walked through) But when you do find the park, it has a very welcoming walk way, with elegant lighting, and its clear to see the 2 entrances and exits.

Also, I found an artist statement (below) but no art! There was a large pillar in the middle, and I assume that might have been it? Or that had been removed.

The park did have realy moody and interesting lighting, but not much of an interaction value in them. The lights were very cool though, some of them even had smoke coming out of them.

The park did however afford certain things. There is an arched 'walkway' type area that you can use to walk around the sculptures to get a bettwer view. Also, there is a brick half wall that you could climb up onto to see the sculptures and the park from a different angle. There is also a grate bench that I assume was for sitting, although it was really uncomfortable (the metal had bent and warped, probably because people walked on it instead of sitting on it)

The Brick Wall you can climb on to see the sculptures at a cool angle.

The Middle Pillar and Walkway, aswell as some of the green

The Main bulk of the park

The Grate Bench (slightly deformed and uncomfortable) you can sit on.

There is also a concrete area, where you can stand and view the sculpture at lower angles (the conrete area is in a depressed part of the ground, making it lower)

Basically, the only thing I found of interest here, was all the different places you were able to move to view the sculptures.

The park itself allowed you to dynamically move about, without much constraints, to view the peice from many different angles, and viewpoints.

toronto music garden

2006-03-10T00:29:00.000-05:00

Toronto Music Garden
The TMG has winding pathways that lead people into the different parts of the garden. It is non-linear with no specific entrance or exit points. The pathway does lead you through the park breaking off to the various sections. The sections had sign posts explaining what they were showcasing and how some sections could be used. There were benches strategically placed in the park so people could sit and enjoy the scenery. The garden is enclosed by the lake on one side and a major road and condos on the other. You can also see the city (some buildings, the CN tower). These become distractions, taking peoples attention away from the park itself. Sorry I forgot my camera when I visited the park so no photos.

Butterfield + Grange Park

2006-03-09T22:32:00.000-05:00

In the Butterfield Park there wasn't much going on except some people just sitting or standing around smoking either in small groups or by themselves. Other than that many other people just use it as a short cut. Many people also use the Grange Park as a short cut as well. This park is much bigger than the Butterfield Park, but there was more people in this park than the other park. Some people were excercising, some were just sitting around and some were practising martial arts. I suppose if it wasn't as cold as it was that day there would be a little more people at both parks. I remember seeing someone doing tai chi at the Butterfield Park, but that was back during fall, which was much warmer than it is now. For pictures refer to Austin's post.

yorkville park

2006-03-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

The park I was assigned was Yorkville park. One thing I observed while at the park was that many people would stop by to take pictures and interact with the ice sculptures; walk between them and sit on the ice thrones. However no one stayed for a long time because it was freezing. But, because it is an ice sculpture park it can only be sustained by cold temperatures. So as unpleasant as it may feel, the freezing cold is necessary, but it will only allow brief visits. People can climb on the big rock and have a bird's eye view of the park, which I thought was neat. When I sat on the ice throne it took me a while to get a grip of it. It was very slippery, so that was sort of a problem, or physical "constraint". I thought the repetition of squares in that tunnel-like thing....pathway with the christmas lights....was interesting.It just seemed like it transported you somewhere...even though you knew where you were going. The one thing that I didn't like was that even though it was a very sunny day, the park was shadowed by a tall building. Everything was dark and dingy. The ice car parked along real cars was funny. I liked that.

Grange Park

2006-03-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

The Park that I visited was the grange. I finally got to the park today and because it was raining their werent many people around. There were a few people walking along the pathways on their way to somewhere or people walking their dogs. There is a parking space right by the park for wheel chair drop off and the park is wheelchair accessible and so are the washrooms (although they are closed this time of year). The washrooms and water fountains allow for a longer day in the park for families and also fun events. Such as the small fair that is held in grange in July. There is enough room for acitivies, pony rides, and clowns. There is a sign in the park that says skateboarding is allowed yet there are notches along the curbs to prevent the skateboarding. There is also a swing set, slides, and a jungle gym for children to play on. There are also benches and a few picnic tables but on a day like today they werent being used.

On a side note there was a park back home that had a X and O game which is kind of fun.. just something I thought of when we were asked to check out parks.

Rosette Mc Clain Gardens

2006-03-09T07:39:00.000-05:00

Rosette Mc Clain Gardens is located on Kingston Rd, east of Birchmount and next to the edge of the Scarborough Bluffs.

The Gardens, rather than having room for sports or any active recreations, it is a series of pathways with different kinds of gardens for people to stroll around, to relax and be social. It is open all year around, but closes its parking lot and washroom facility in the winter, when the gardens are at low activity. It is used the most during the spring to the autumn times, when the plants grow and shed their foilage to the public's pleasure. I've often went down there to take photos, on my own or with my parents.

What available and happens at the gardens are in large varieties. The main features are the view of Lake Ontario from on top of the Bluffs, A two-boulder Rock Fountain encircle with elevated beds, a rose garden and other features. Lots of individuals and different families young and old come to stroll through the plants. Some takes photos and some run around or try to climb up on the benches, beds, trees, arbors and even the rock fountain. I've even witness some weddings there time to time for photo mementos. There's lots of insects and animals that visit and live the gardens and some people had brought bread and/or peanuts to feed like squirrels.

trinity bell-woods park

2006-03-08T17:29:00.000-05:00

Triniy Bellwoods Park is located on the west side of downtown Toronto, bordered by Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street on the north. Just like any other parks, Trinity Bellwoods has a lot of tables and benches in its vast space and people are seen to have ramdom rest there. The benches along the sidewalk seem a good idea because people can sit at any time, especially for the joggers as well as people who is having snack, or talking to friends, or petting their pets(It looked like Trinity Bellwoods is a favourite place for local residents to walk their pets and a large area of the park is designated leash-free, including the ravine known as 'the dog bowl'. ), and they may be reading books.

Bellwoods is also a good place to hang out for children mainly because of its little play-grounds. Children and their parents spend their time there. It could be said that it is a place where children develop their interaction relationship to the objects.
For example, swings have a good visibility. Because it has a seat we know that its something we sit on. Then here comes the feedback because it swings or moves in some way.

The park also has a community fitness and sports centre with an indoor pool. There are also lighted open air summer tennis courts in summer and an outdoor ice skating rink in winter.
The main area has field space for soccer, football and rugby, and three fields for softball along the east boundary.

Im sure you will find more attractive features when you actually visit this park.

"the Parasite"

2006-03-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

These are tents that are called as “paraSite” for homeless people. It provides heat through apartments’ or buildings’ ventilators. Michael Rakowitz has been working on this project. . This portable shelter attaches to the outtake duct of a building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system. The air leaving the building inflates the Parasite while simultaneously providing heat. And, it is made of polyethylene. It is designed to provide fresh air all the time. I think it is a design that will enhance the living quality in society. Lots of homeless people in Toronto are in suffer or dead from extreme cold weather. I believe that this interesting design has lots of potentials that might change the use of spaces.

"Interactive" Parks and public space examples

2006-03-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

Yorkville Park won some architecture and design awards when it was built. It's the long narrow park behind the Pottery Barn on Bloor. Take a look/virtual tour here:

http://www.crave.com/yorkville/ypark.html

Better yet, go check it out (it's not far away). What's neat about it is that in such a small space, the environment changes dramatically 5 or 6 times. The giant rock invites people to climb and sit on it, while the boardwalks invite people to explore, and the forest is a sort of maze to get lost in.

--

To see more of this sort of thing, go check out our Spacing Wire (www.spacing.ca/wire) -- and look at the categories on the side (scroll down). If you click on things like "Greenspace" or especially "intervention" you'll find many examples of interactive things in public space (many of them in Toronto!). We post daily on the Wire, so there is lots of stuff to look at.

Interesting News Article...

2006-03-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060306/tc_nm/productreturns_dc

Austin, Butterfield and Grange Park

2006-03-07T22:18:00.000-05:00

The park that I have chosen for my research subject is Grange Park and Butterfield Park.
Butterfield Park is a small, circular park that located beside Above Ground. Students usually go there to meet with their friends and have a smoke as it shown in the picture. Not a lot of interactions occur might be as a result of cold temperature. However, during spring time, it attracted many skaters to go there and show off their skills, since the benches in the park formed a circular shape. Some students even sit on the grass to study when the temperature is warm. The Ocad sharp center for design above completely covered the entire Butterfield Park. It lets the students to enjoy the cool summer breeze, because the Sharp Center for Design above cast a huge shadow and block out the blazing hot sunshine in the afternoon during summer. However, the size of Butterfield Park is quite small in comparison to the Toronto Music Garden or Yorkville Park. Therefore, it is impossible to perform big activities. That means if the activities occurred more than 100 people.
Grange Park: the first thing I noticed is the size of this park is MUCH bigger in comparison to the Butterfield Park. As a result, it allows big activities and suitable more than 200 people. There is also a playground which will attract children to come and spent their day. When I arrived at the Grange park, I saw two people around the age 20 to 25 were practicing some kind of “kung Fu stuffs”. They use the enormous space that Grange park provided effectively for practicing. There are also plenty of benches for people sit. Many of the benches are located beside the tall trees. So in the summer, people can rejuvenate their mind and body under the shadow of the tree. Many birds were picking up foods on the ground, since some people like to feed them, that’s why they do not afraid of stranger. However, one issue that I found out about this park is that in winter, this park seem so “dead”. The grass turned brown and yellowish, and all the leaves from the trees are all gone. It looks like a plague had just spread all over in this park.

project 4 - activate the park (some ideas)

2006-03-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

hi all,

here are some very useful and interesting links that greg has been sending around via email and now posted here for everybody's viewing pleasure. hope it helps with ideas for project 4.

wikipedia - internet of things

A related project here in Toronto, encourages cell phone users to
call a specific number to hear a pre-recorded audio story about
a specific "storied" place, for example a famous bar where artists
and musicians traded ideas and hung out. It's centred in on Spadina
Avenue, the Annex and Kensington Market.
It's called the Murmur project

Came across a funky blog from Denmark with a lot of cool
art/ design / technology posts.
For those that know the Beal Centre's work in the emerging field
we call "dataspace," there're a lot of interesting references in here.
walking cartography, etc

Million Dollar Hand

2006-03-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

I had originally planed on posting a blog on hybrid powered cars but when I saw this I had to change my post as this was just too cool to pass up.

For anyone who's ever wanted to become the next million dollar man you may some day get your chance, we have the technology and can rebuild you. With the help of a new prosthetic designed by a team of European scientist led by Paolo Dario, a professor of biomedical robotics at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy.

This new prosthetic, dubbed the Cyberhand, combines superior mechanical dexterity with a sophisticated computer system designed to translate brain signals from the wearer, allowing him/her to move and feel the hand as though it were their own. Researchers expect to begin testing the Cyberhand on patients this year, during which time they aim to perfect its sensory interface.

In addition to its ability to communicate with the body, the Cyberhand features a number of mechanical advances, including five independently moving fingers. A DC motor in each digit gives the robotic hand 16 degrees of freedom, so it can move in a variety of subtle directions (the human hand has 22 degrees of freedom). Each motor pulls a Teflon-sheathed cable that mimics actual tendons and muscles in the fingers, enabling them to curl around a coffee mug, for instance. With pressure sensors embedded along the surface of the fingers, the hand can pick up even delicate objects without crushing them.

This new technology has taken prosthetics to a whole new level and although it's not a flawless system running in perfect sync with the subjects brain, it will give persons who have lost there limbs a chance at having a more natural looking and feeling replica.

The Corntainer

2006-03-06T10:56:00.000-05:00

The CORNTAINER.

Finally, there is a biodegradable way to store food that looks and works just like plastic.

Most plastic containers are made from petroleum or oil and take centuries to decompose in landfills. They also contain hormones, such as estrogens, that leak into our food, disrupting normal human growth.
Corntainers, manufactured in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, are made from kernels of corn and are 100 percent biodegradable.

Problem: currently, they can only be used in normal - cool temperatures (can't be heated).

Friday's Lecture

2006-03-03T00:31:00.000-05:00

Although I am not exactly sure of the theme of the lecture (I admit, I came in late) Alex seemed to focus on this unique form of art (if we can call it that?) that goes beyond any sort of multi media painting, into an experimental state. I suppose this is what many artists have tried, and strive for, however, I can say that his ideas were quite simple and yet groundbreaking (at least for me).

The idea (although not originally his) of the clock that consist of 3 lines which change colour to indicate the hours, minutes and seconds went to show how such a simple piece of information could be delivered in order ways.

Although interesting, the video game glitches seemed to have little relevance to his lecture (other, than self promotion of course), I did like the way he put it when he said he was looking for a way to “strangle the game/ device”, then pull away and let it breathe rather than purely destroying it.

However, I was quite taken by the frames of colours, which I firs barely paid attention to, but when I learned that they were something (the lightest pixel from consecutive frames of a movie), it became much more interesting.

I am not sure of the exact purpose of the carnivore project, but it did strict me as interesting. Unfortunately, half the terminology he used during this portion of the lecture escaped me and I was left to watch the circles wiggle and contract.

I did like that he took the time to look at the game hackers message’s, and interpreted them as somewhat a form of art/ design. Maybe it was just the videogames that he was interested in, but none the less I was impressed with the fact that our guest speaker took the time to make a DVD of these. (Impressed, a little embarrassed for him… same thing.)

Overall, an interesting and eye opening experience, I can’t say I’m overly interested in computers, or the time he spent talking about them (oh yeah... and video games). I’ll stop writing about this now.

Alex's Lecture on Friday

2006-03-02T23:13:00.000-05:00

Well alright. Friday's presentation was pretty much a good one. It kept me awake, and thats a good thing. I guess the reason with this is because it was things that I've never heard anyone talked about or have done before. It really widened my iris(s). Espeically the "amalgamatmosphere" destop he has on this laptop done by Joshua Davis. It was a really cool destop. I acutally went home to see if I could download it.
In the lecture, Alex gave us a showcase of his work and it was really about decoding and giving meaning to these codes. All of his work has to do the the digital world. I think this is great because most people would only look at paintings and scuplture, but Alex did something different. He was looking into the digital world. I think that there will be more and more artist later on who will be doing what Alex is doing. Using digital codes, encoding, decoding, analysing and giving meaning to create Art. Painting and sculptures might not be the only thing you'll see in art museum and gallerys later on in the years. Our digital art friends might be displaying their piece of super mario codes or getting a -8million on the up coming Tony Hwak Pro Skater 10.

BTW: does anyone have any chance to get that really cool destop? i couldn't find it. = (

Alexander's lecture

2006-03-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

I wasn't really interested in the topic being analysed and the only part that caught my attention was the part about the game with the skating guy. And I found it kind of interesting about how he said he left his computer on for a few days just to earn the points. But I didn't get what's the point of doing that afterall, it's not like it would brings him any benefit. Furthermore, in my opinion, I found the presentation more like a guy's thing.

project 2 process

2006-03-02T22:10:00.000-05:00

AT the begining, i have a brief concept of doing the 'Spinning fork'. After two weeks of work, researching, experimenting, i am not an expert on doing machine works, i cant not make the spinning part. Therefore i think of another new idea. This idea comes while i was playing bingo card, usually people use a coins to scartch it. The comment way to hold the coin tightly is place it between your thumb and forefinger. When you hold it haveing the same actoin again and agin, just for a while, pain will come out of your forefinger. For experimental, few days ago i bought 3 bingo card, i use a dime to scratch the cards in a roll. After 20minutes i finish playing "the games". My forefinger and my thumb are both hurting, my hand feels really tired and paralysis. In order to slove time problem, i designed a set of scratching games' pens. Each pen is design for top famous scatching games, because the area (sizae) of scatching is differnt of each game. The handle design in differnt size,colors or pattern, customer can choose current size that make itselfs comfortable. This kind of product is target to people that over 18 year old, which can be legal to play the scartching card game. Also for lover's of these cards game. These set of product should put in convenience store, right beside those kind of card games. The name of my product will be like " bingo pen" or some similar. It can get customer attention, they know what it is for and there will a nice package and little instruction paper too. There will be a cover of each pen for safety and POST a warning, keep out of children. It can be a weapon too. I can think of there's product like similar to my concept. Something like eraser pen. My design will be similar to that but it has different use.

Analysis of an Object

2006-03-02T16:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's incredibly late, (sorry :( ). But it has arrived! Hazaa!

So here is my object:

It's a 10 in 1 card reader w USB 2.0 (To bad I don't have USB 2.0 ports) The one I have is slightly different, its 21 in 1, and is blue, but is basically the same thing.

Visibility
Although its "21 in 1", there are only 4 slots to put in a card, so one has to assume each slot accomidates more than 1 type of card, the problem is there is nothing indicating which card goes where. Logically, you assume that larger cards like CF (compact flash) would go in the larger slots, of which there are two, and smaller cards like SD cards go in the smaller ones (also 2), the problem is you dont know which card goes in which slot since there is 2 of each. This is potentially dangerous, because these cards have holes for pins in them, if you put it in the wrong slot, and try and jam/force it in, you could potentially ruin your card.

Feedback
There is someonewhat of an indictaion of weather or not its working, there are 2 led lights on it, that flash green or red. The problem is, you have no idea what green or red symbolize. If you were to deduce through common knowledge that red is bad and green is good (related it to street lights) than maybe it makes sense...except even when the red lights are on, it works just fine. Infact I've never seen it with the green light on, except when it is intially plugged into the computer. PC computers make a weird sound when it is plugged in and recognized, and macs just show it as a removable drive on the desktop.

Affordances
Like I said above, its hard to figure out which card goes where, and although its similar to when you plug things into your motherboard from the back of your computer (like monitor cables etc) there is no indicatin of what goes where, and just like monitor cables that have pins, if you attempt to jam it into the wrong slot, you may potentially ruin the reader and the card. An older card reader I had, actually had the lights FLICKER when it was reading/writting data, so you were able to tell something was happening.

Mapping
Mapping? Ha! What mapping, it's non existant in this little doo-dad. Aside from the obvious fact that the power plug goes in the back of the reader (where there is only one slot for something small and box shaped to go into) There is NOTHING on this thing that tells you what kind of card goes in in which of the 4 slots. And nowhere does it indicate what each of the 2 LED lights represnt. Infact I'm a little skeptical it really accepts 21 kinds of cards, and who the hell has 21 devices that use completely different kinds of memory sticks/cards?!

Constraints
Constraints are average on this reader. If its not plugged in properly, the lights dont flicker, and it wont make a sound or show up on the desktop on PC's or Macs, respectivly. The larger cards wont fit in the smaller slots, so you can't mistakingly put a CF card in a SM/SD slot. But you could put it in a CF2 slot, and it wouldn't work. If you should put the card in the wrong slot, it wont fit snugly and the computer wont recognize it.

Habituation and Breakdown
Like alot of new technologies, it's really hard to tell if it's not working with this device. Because you interface with it through a computer, it's not easy to determine weather the computer is malfunctioning or the hardware. I assume the red LED lights are some sort of signal for a malfunction, but since it doesn't say weather its a hardware/software malfunction or even what, if anything is wrong, its hard to tell. Like I mentioned earlier, as long as I've had this thing, its been showing me a red light, but has worked fine. So, if the lights dont turn on when you plug it in, or the computer doesn't recognize it, you can tell there is a breakdown somewhere in the system. The problem is, finding out where?

Card readers like these are essential to my computer life, and I cheaped out and bought this thing, because they stopped making the one I had before. That one however, was much better. It also accepted a variety of cards, but all in the SAME slot. It had 1 light, that flickered if it was working, and was solid when it was ready to work. It was much MUCh better than this hunk of junk.

QScript, the revolutionary newsroom product from Autocue

2006-02-28T23:48:00.000-05:00

QScript, the revolutionary newsroom product from Autocue, has been named as the top Innovative Application in the Royal Television Society’s Technical Innovation Awards for 2003.

QScript, initially designed by Autocue for CNN in Atlanta, is a control-room automation system which provides major new benefits to technical staff such as directors and vision-mixers.

In many if not most news broadcasters, control-room staff still work off paper, since it provides what workstation-based systems do not: extremely rapid (and simultaneous) access to multiple script pages without having to manipulate a keyboard or mouse; and the ability to mark up scripts with a pen for emphasis and highlighting. But using paper scripts, although convenient, effectively cuts the control-room off from last-minute script and running-order changes, which must still be processed by hand.

QScript provides the answer. Firstly, it integrates with any of the major newsroom computer systems (including Autocue’s own QNews) and mirrors the creation and updating of scripts and running orders in real time. A simple-to-use touch screen interface shows multiple script pages and provides very rapid navigation. Secondly, annotations can be made to scripts by hand using “digital ink.” These can be shared between users, and also shown on the prompter output. And the system is constantly “in sync” with the editorial decisions being made in the central newsroom system.

"Shoe kick stars active lifestyle"

2006-02-28T12:15:00.000-05:00

This box is part of a system designed to control the amount of time kids spend watching tv. The system uses a shoe called the Square-eyes that records the amount of steps kids take and converts it into time allowed on the tube.

Think of reward miles. The more you purchase the more reward miles you get. In this case, you purchase tv time by walking. Once you start watching television, the system uses up the number of steps taken on tv time. Once that runs out, boom, it doesn't matter if you're at the best part of a show, the tv has been turned off.

The system tries to get girls at 12K steps a day and boys at 15k, recommending a two hour max of tv. Check the rest out, they make a good point, we do watch a hellalot more tv than could possibly be good for us. But most [such as I, represent] would just spend that time online or doing something else that's pretty sedentary. At least it raises awareness.

" I try to take myself out [of my work] as much as possible!" - Alex Galloway

2006-02-28T00:12:00.000-05:00

Alex made this statement in the auditorium on Friday and it really caught my attention. So many creative people - be it painters, actors, musicians, dancers or pastry chefs, generally try to put as much of themselves into their work as they can...it puts a cool spin on things when you literally turn 180^ and try to separate yourself from what you will attempt to create. I interpreted it as a modern way of thinking and being.
(Some "artisits" are overly self indulgent which quickly becomes boring) It was quite refreshing to hear from someone really original,intelligent and modest. I also love when people carry their creative instincts outside of what is considered to be "art"

I liked the "stranglation" metaphor, and the idea of exploring sadistic practices with our computers "in a really pretty way".

Alex quoted Sol Lewitt with something which I think realtes to the project(3) that we're working on now. "The idea becomes a machine that makes the art."
P.s Good luck! Is anyone having as mch of a hard time with it as I am?

Alex's Lecture

2006-02-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

Umm... The whole lecture was... abit weird.

When Alex was talking about carnivore and tcpdump and all that, he was using lots of technical terms.Since I'm not a pro at tech stuff, I had a hard time understanding what he said.

Then he was showing us clips like Blackhawk Down, some of them were pretty interesting.But then Alex showed us the video game loops and bugs he found and working with those,I sort of wondered... what is the point?

well, that's all I got out from the lecture. Interesting overall.

(carnivore website: itserve.cc.ed.nyu.edu/RSG/carnivore)

Preserving Opened Wine

2006-02-26T14:16:00.000-05:00

For all the wine lovers, the wine stopper and pump is an essential tool to have in the kitchen. An opened bottle of wine is vulnerable to oxidization which ruins the aroma and the flavour of the wine in as little time as a single day. Like most perishable foods, storing your opened bottle of wine in the refrigerator will slow that process, yet a more effective way would be to decant the wine (transfer to a smaller 375mL bottle to decrease the amount of oxygen) or to use a wine stopper and pump. This is a fairly inexpensive method which involves closing the wine with a rubber stopper and then simply pumping out the oxygen(there is a special opening to allow the pumping) The wine can then be stored in the fridge for up to three days or so. This process had been said to tamper with the carbon dioxide levels in the wine which can lead to a slightly duller taste, but hey, nothing lasts forever and oxidized wine may taste a slightly different than originally, but it's still great for cooking!(using products to their fullest potential is a great way to save money and resources!)

Class assignment

2006-02-25T23:58:00.000-05:00

I am really struggling in our class with Pauls new assignment. I need help

alex galloway's talk

2006-02-25T01:41:00.000-05:00

I think today's talk was new and different for me. It seems very much what a 21st century art feels like. It may sound narrow minded of me, but I kind of think "Everything's been done before", so now, there's just recollection of things. It's interesting how he was able to take the simplest things ( like tabbing the super mario bro's game) and kind of record it as an archive.

All in all, today's talk was interesting...it explains what this class is all about, interaction and communication.The thing I enjoyed the most was the internet traffic thing he showed that a programmer (i forgot his name) thought of and programmed it into a circular shape to show that the internet is being connected. It was pretty interesting.

--Fern C.

Regarding Alexander Galloway's lecture.

2006-02-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

I was looking forward to this lecture but it was not quite as I had conceived it to be. It was still good, but the approach to the video games was quite fascinatingly different. Having been involved with the video game realm for a quite a while allowed me to relate myself to this lecture fully. Although Alexander Galloway’s material was quite the opposite of what I was expecting, I was still interested in what he had shown.

Issues of feedback, interface and mapping generally sprung up from his various examples, such as the circles being related to internet traffic using the Carnivore application or modifying a Nintendo controller so it can map out the input of the buttons you are pressing. It was easy to see the relationship between the lecture and our interaction project. It was quite a nostalgic feeling to hear the original Super Mario theme again along with the corresponding jump sounds and power-ups….(without ever seeing the screen). Watching this lecture certainly brought up some new ideas for the project.

The fact that data does not have a visual or audible form struck me by surprise, because someone who uses it often would not realize would discover this was true. Now I can understand how artists can take advantages of situations such as this and apply new art forms, such as using remote control cars and patterns to represent internet traffic, or to correspond time with colour.

Finally, you never would have thought that exploiting video game glitches could become an art. Though quite a bizarre concept, you can see where one can go with this. Just having a television set, frozen in a loop of endless tricks can be quite amusing, but is also a good example of feedback. And even though during all the long hours I put into gaming I really overlooked the period when hackers actually enjoyed hacking and tagging games. It is yet another amusement, especially with how far and how serious they actually took it.

Overall, I have learned a lot from this lecture… and got an eye ache as well (after watching all those fluorescent colours and words flashing on the screen…that really hurt =.=) and I hope it will sprout new concepts and ideas that I can apply to my project.

That Lecture

2006-02-24T18:39:00.000-05:00

The lecture about cracking and games was very interesting to me.
It gave me alot of ideas of how you can create an piece of artwork out of another program, or programs. And his examples were very clear to understand. I was inspired by the colour by time piece and found that many other ideas about how to apply art to codes and informartion were bubbling in my thoughts. Overall I enjoyed it :-)
~Emily

My Tea Tech

2006-02-24T17:29:00.000-05:00

This is a teapot that steeps tea to perfection and right into a cup....excellent for tea lovers. Also is fitted with a unique timer that does all the steeping at the right time

Lip Balm with Appetite Suppresant

2006-02-24T14:56:00.000-05:00

Lip Balm with Appetite Suppresant

Omega Tech Labs makes a product called "Promise", a new appetite suppresant in the form of lip balm.By rolling on some lip treatment, you can curb your craving for food. Also, the manufacturer claims it will freshen your breath as well. I suppose that's true, considering it's supposed to stop you from eating.
One container is estimated to last about a month, with a suggested retail price of $4.00 to $5.00.

http://www.strangenewproducts.com/

DMB(Digital Multimedia Broadcasting)

2006-02-23T20:57:00.000-05:00

DMB(Digital Multimedia Broadcasting)

When I'm researching about wireless technology, I found information aboutDMB(Digital Multimedia Broadcasting).

Todays, many people are using cellphones and PDAs. From now on, people can watch TV programs on the cell phonesand its DMB.DMB is a digital transmission system for sending data, radio and TV to mobiledevices such as mobile phones. It can operate via satellite (S-DMB) orterrestrial (T-DMB) transmission.

DMB is based on the Eureka 147 DAB standardand has some similarities with the competing mobile TV standard DVB-H. Currently, DMB is being put into use in a number of countries. South Korea, inparticular, started S-DMB and T-DMB service in May 1 and December 1, 2005respectively.T-DMB use MPEG-4 Part -10 (H264) for the video and MPEG-4 Part 3 BSAC or HE-AACV2 for the audio. The audio and video is encapsulated in MPEG-2 TS. The streamis RS encoding and the parity word is 16 bytes length. There is convolutionalinterleaving made on this stream, then the stream is broadcast in data streammode on DAB.

http://www.sktelecom.com/eng/services/service_inside/dmb/index.html

Space Elevator that will affect no one

2006-02-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

"According to NASA, a space elevator would essentially be a long cable with one end attached to a point on the Earth's equator while the other end remains held by its own outward centripetal force some some 22,187 miles (35,787-kilometers) directly overhead in a geostationary orbit. Magnetically powered vehicles would climb the cable, serving as a mass transportation system for moving people, satellites and other payloads between the Earth and space. [NASA illustrations and details]"
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa041702a.htm

I'm doing my assignment backwards. I learned NASA is developing a space elevator that will hopefully help transport rockets, supplies, shuttles, and one day people to space. For those whose math is a little slow today, the length of this elevator would be about the 11,457,600th floor!! Despite the overwhelming number of websites desisnged to monitor its progress, I don't think this invention will aleviate any commonly functional design problems. Universally, we should understand and practice what it means to take care of our planet Earth before landing and establishing ourselves elsewhere. Possible future outcome: Sending our GARBAGE into space!!! How would that affect the smell of air?

Flexible material(d30) hardens into armour upon impact

2006-02-22T04:05:00.000-05:00

will protect US and Canadian skiers from injury on the slalom runs at this year's Winter Olympic.
d3o Labs says the material is synthesised by mixing together a viscose fluid and a polymer. Following synthesis, liquid d3o is poured into a mould that matches the shape of the body part it will protect.
Under normal conditions the molecules within the material are weakly bound and can move past each with ease, making the material flexible. But the shock of sudden deformation causes the chemical bonds to strengthen and the moving molecules to lock, turning the material into a more solid, protective shield.
New way of protection!

Bluetooth Headset

2006-02-22T03:13:00.000-05:00

Cell phones have become the biggest phenomenon in technology today. They have become more advanced and more useful because Bluetooth wireless headset has arrived. A Bluetooth headset has absolutely no limits and offers a convenience of hand-free communication with freedom of movement. It is advanced as intuitive and simple to use. It is not bulky or heavy; it is light in weight and is comfortable to carry around. It works at the distance up to 10m in open space while you put your cell phone in a pocket, on a table, etc. It is compact, possesses good sound of characteristics and a long battery life. This device will please anyone who uses it.

Park-Zone... Prevents Accidents in your Garage

2006-02-22T01:05:00.000-05:00

The hardest thing about parking in a garage is knowing how much space there is between the hood and the wall as you approach it. Limited house/garage sizes mean that this space has to be used as efficiently as possible. The field of view from a vehicle does not allow an accurate judgement of distance and can result in minor collisions and scratches to your vehicle. The new product called Park-Zone guides you through the process. It uses a dual 'supersonic' technology (a simple modification of patio light sensor technology that takes multiple readings per second and compares them mathematically to determine your distance). Hang the device on your garage wall and calibrate it while your car is in its ideal parking spot, and it will use traffic light colours to guide you through the parking process. (ie. red means stop). Measurements are 6" x 4" x 2" and it uses 4 AA batteries. Available from http://www.hedonics.com/store/prodinfo.asp?number=9918&variation=&aitem=7&mitem=53# for $29.99.

Wave TV

2006-02-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

ever have the urge to nuke some leftovers while you're watching tv but didn't want to miss a thing?? well now you can, with the 'Wave TV'. the 'Wave TV' is a microwave that has an integrated video screen built right into the front door. It also comes with a built in DVD player. it's perfect for people who want a tv in the kitchen or a microwave in the tv room. gives a new meaning to the term tv dinners don't you think?

Paper Thin, Foldable Battery

2006-02-21T21:36:00.000-05:00

NEC has developed a 0.3-millimeter thick, foldable battery that can support tens of thousands of signal transmissions on a single charge and can be recharged in less than 30 seconds.

It "will be used extensively in the future to power all kinds" of gadgets ranging from electronic paper to tags that trace retail goods in real-time, said the Japanese company. It will also "open the way for small wearable computers, such as ticket cards that can be attached to a person's clothes."

A MedBridge Translator

2006-02-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

I found this article “No longer lost in translation” few weeks ago in the Toronto Star by Nicholas Keung. Essentially, the article outlined a new developed technology that will aid those who are unable to speak English that is now being introduced into hospitals around

Canada

. The MedBridge system is able translate a series of questions that would typically be asked by hospital staff. This is accomplished through touch screen technology, a pre-recorded voice automated system, and a motion censor that can detect and understand the nod and shake of a head. I found this to be an interesting read that proves technology has found yet another way to help us communicate saving us time, money, and potentially lives. Here’s a link to the article: http://www.herald.ns.ca/Living/479568.html

Eco-Friendly Plant Fertilizer

2006-02-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

“The Constant Shopper-Recycled bottles are prefect packaging for organic fertilizer” was an article read and saved not to long ago by Daphne Gordon. The article went in to detail about an organic fertilizer made entirely from garbage and worm excrements. Not only does the product help diminish our waste but is more environmentally friendly than most chemical alternatives and costs about the same as the competing synthetic market. The unique packaging consists of recycled bottles, one is able to see that the bottle was used as 7UP or even Dasani varying each package shape and colour. I am a fan and supporter of environmentally friendly alternatives and plan to look for this product this spring in Home Depot.

Reading Pen

2006-02-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

This is an amazing invention...... It's not only a translator, dictionary and a thesaurus. It helps children and adults with dyslexia, some types offering audio components to users. It also aids with increasing vocabulary faster than a computer thesaurus would. In future this could possibly be used for text book applications. Add ins for special fields (medicine, science, etc) could read back the meanings of terms through audio, aiding in the study process for students!

Multi-Touch Interaction Research

2006-02-21T16:41:00.000-05:00

Holy Interaction batman.

"While touch sensing is commonplace for single points of contact, multi-touch sensing enables a user to interact with a system with more than one finger at a time, as in chording and bi-manual operations. Such sensing devices are inherently also able to accommodate multiple users simultaneously, which is especially useful for larger interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops."

Check out the video provided in the link for some stunning Multi-touch-screen action. (Linx in the title)

Intelligent Oven.

2006-02-21T16:32:00.000-05:00

There were MANY features to this extraordinary invention, but I thought the NASA feature proved to be the most advanced. This oven heats and cools from anywhere in the world. It is controlled by internet and cellphone and is targeted towards sophisticated adults. Designed to look like a regular oven/stove appliance, this innovation looks relatively easy to comprehend.

"NASA Advanced Space TechnologyTMIO has partnered with NASA to bring advances in materials for insulation, heating, and cooling. Superior insulation in our products ensures minimum loss of heat and highest cooking efficiency through NASA advanced thermal ceramic space technology. Internet web browser, telephone land line, or cell phone control is also based on NASA's Remote Command and Embedded Web Technology. This is the same remote-access software platform that NASA uses to relay information on a real-time basis to and from the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. TMIO is the first and only to offer such advanced space technology in order to provide unprecedented dynamic appliance control features."
http://www.tmio.com/products/ "Intelligent Oven".

Velo-city

2006-02-21T16:01:00.000-05:00

Cycling the streets of Toronto in winter has it's pitfalls. Ice Stalactites falling and killing you, Blizzards messing with your speed and killing you and the occasional death by grizzly bear. Well the safest and fastest way to get around a cold city is by tube , and we don't mean London's'. Velo-city is an elevated bikeway, enclosed in tubes to provide protection for all season cycling. The tubes create a natural tail wind which reduces air resistance and increases speed. Cyclists can zip through a network of tubes like lab rats and resurface at various exit points in the street. It's all in the development stages but provides a very bright future to freezing cyclists

Robodocs

2006-02-21T15:51:00.000-05:00

Robotic technology is the next step in advancing today's surgeries. Virginia Mason Medical Centre acquired robotic hospital equipment in 2002, contributing to the readily evolving robotics revolution. A machine referred to as the DaVinci Surgical System uses a computer to translate a surgeons finger and hand movements, which are outside of the patients body, to small tools inside the body. This "EndoWhrist" allows surgeons to work more precisely and accurately. With this system they have 3D vision, 3 arms that don't tire, hands that don't tremble and enhanced dexterity. It's also a benefit for patients, as they would have reduced bleeding, less pain, fewer complications, smaller risk of internal scarring and a shorter recovery time. This robotic technology creates small ports rather than large incisions reducing trauma for the patient. I can only see this technology growing in popularity and becoming a large part of our lives.

RFID Tagging

2006-02-21T14:06:00.000-05:00

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is an automatic identification method. RFID tags contain silicon chips and antennas that allow them to respond to radio frequency transmissions from a RFID transceiver. These tags are extremely small, some being only 1/3 of a millimeter long, and cost less than 50 cents. They have been used to tag products and animals. Wal-Mart is a huge initiator for the process and has started asking producers to RFID tag their products for easier inventory. Governments are quickly moving into adapting RFID tagging into identification papers (passports, driver's licenses, etc.) as well as money and it has led to a debate about a citizen's right to privacy. RFID tags can be incorporated right into the product themselves, making separation of product and tag almost impossible. If the money with which you bought your car tires can be tracked as well as where you drive with those tires, how much privacy do we really have?

'Denim' Solar Panels

2006-02-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's about time we give our buildings some clothes, or jeans, or more specifically, Solar Denim. The new innovative flexible material, which isn't actually denim, will be able to generate power from solar energy. Ideally, this material will be incorporated in the design and architecture of future buildings - "greatly expanding the number of places where solar power can be generated". Unlike today's solar panels, this new-age solar denim will be cheap to manufacture, light weight and will also help in recycling waste silicon from the chip-making industry. This new product will undoubtly give new life to the infamous Denim Jacket!

BANG!!!!... and olufsen. beocom2 ringing out!

2006-02-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

Bang and Olufsen, a world famous design firm based in Danmark, has once again blown away the competition in digital sound production and aesthetics. Known for their work in providing the consumer with superior sound quatlity with products from telephones to speakers to cd and record players, B&O has now provided customers with another quality device. The BeoCom2 is a telephone that not only appeals to the aesthetic, but also the senses. The features are truly amazing as well, not only does it have a truly unique design but the base station can be "home" to six handsets. Two lines not only act as a traditional two line system, but can also allow for "inhouse" or handset-to-handset phone calls while another call is put on hold and then transferred to the free line. 8 chargers can be used to best suit the buyer, affording them the choice of either storing and charging the phone on the wall or on a countertop. The charging time of any handset from empty to full power is five hours, however, the batteries within it allow for 150 hours of stanby time and 18 hours of talktime while staying within 50m of the phone indoors and 300 metres outdoors. yet again, B&O has truly outdone themselves... sleek aluminum phone adds a little weight to it no doubt allowing someone to think that this is a quality device, and even without this little tactic, it speaks for itself! It comes in a variation of colours and knowing B&O's ability to bring pleasure to the auditory sense in any living human, the phone is equipped with authentic voice reproduction in accordance with all other B&O products.

Smallest fingerprint sensor for PCs users

2006-02-21T10:41:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Like the Sony Reader, the EntréPad 1610 will help provide security for PC users. The new EntréPad 1610 uses advanced biometric security to ensure the most reliable and secure PC protection, all in the world's smallest fingerprint sensor. The sensor is made out of a tiny, high-quality sliver if silicon, costing under US $5 a piece.

It is now available and has already been designed into notebooks, laptops and tablet PCs set to be introduced in the next few months. The EntréPad 1610 includes a host of industry firsts and features the industry's most comprehensive security solution to protect PC users from security threats such as identity theft, forgotten and burdensome passwords, fake finger spoofing, etc. In addition, the sensor's unique "always authentication" capability greatly reduces the risk of fraud if a laptop is lost or stolen, and allows users to leave their computers unattended without fear that an unauthorized person might tamper with either online or offline files.

Grancrete LLC

2006-02-20T23:59:00.000-05:00

Sprayable "concrete" builds shelters fast November 2005

Spray Grancrete over a frame of Styrofoam, metal, wood—even woven sugarcane stalks—and in 20 minutes you have a waterproof, fire-resistant structure that has more than twice the strength of traditional concrete and can withstand extreme temperatures without cracking. A liquefied concrete-like mixture of sand, ash, magnesium oxide and potassium phosphate, Grancrete descends from a product developed to encase radioactive waste. And since it takes hours instead of weeks to build a home, it’s poised to provide low-cost, high-quality shelter to the estimated one billion people who lack it. $20.50 to coat 15 square feet.

Are you sure this is a Cell phone?! The New Nokia N80!!!

2006-02-20T23:55:00.000-05:00

The brand new Nokia N80 is going to revolute the entire cell phone industry! As a cell phone, it has more than what it needs. It's a perosnal organizer, MP3 player and 3 megapixel camera with the GSM 3G device to check emails! Be sure to check out this amazing new cell phone!

Rubik Cube for the blind

2006-02-20T23:33:00.000-05:00

This Rubiks cube is made for the blind. It has 6 different unique textures; metal, wood, textile, stone, rubber, and plastic.

www.gizmodo.com

Portable Satellite Navigator

2006-02-20T22:01:00.000-05:00

The easy to use portable satellite navigation system promises to offer the most efficient a route to anywhere in the world in any car unit. This hand held device will change the way drivers commute to their chosen destinations through the quickest shortest way possible.

The device carries signals from a global satellite system to find out where you are and where you want to be. Through on screen instructions to computer voice instructions, the user will reach their destination in no time! If the user happens to go of course, the device will redirect the user to a new route.

Pen-top computer

2006-02-20T21:26:00.000-05:00

Pros: lots of features / upgradable / innovative
Cons: bulky

Computer inside a pen. This is a pretty interesting first step for new technology. Deffinetely something to improve on. Check out the site to learn how it works. I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep, but I was very impressed when I found it.

www.flypentop.com

The new concept car from Scion, very sexy.

www.scion.com

does television control your life... not anymore!

2006-02-20T19:00:00.000-05:00

In the year 2006, the modern day adult lives a busy life. Balancing a social, professional, romantic, and of course their personal life. It is in our personal lives where we take the time to relax, read, and watch television, and in eariler years we have had to deal with missing our favourite shows due to work, traffic, etc. Well no longer, TiVo was created to allow for you to control your television and not have the television control you. Using this box we are able to record, fast forward, pause, slo-mo, rewind television. For only $12.95 per month we are now able to stop for the coffee with a friend after work without worrying about missing Brad Pitt and Angelina on Oprah!

Wooden Mirror

2006-02-20T17:36:00.000-05:00

"A panel of tiny wooden squares that individually tilt up or down (rendering each block brighter or darker by adjusting the amount of light it reflects) are controlled by a computer connected to a video camera to create a moving image. You can basically see a mosaic of your face, in 15 frame per second motion, on blocks of wood. There's a Quicktime movie which makes this fascinating device easier to understand."
- From Boing Boing, 2003(ish)

I'm not sure how much further this invention has progressed, but the picture pixels could be a lot clearer if the blocks/tabs were smaller. Mind you, it's not actually a reflection because you're recorded by a camera which somehow gives information to the motors controlling the wooden blocks.

Sometime during the summer it occurred to me that the same effect is closely done in, for example, an elevator which is usually composed of wall to wall mirrors. The funny thing is that if you look in to the corner, your face will always be split in to at the axis of the connecting mirrors (if they're exactly 90 degrees which is usually the case). However it's not an ordinary reflection you're seeing, but a reflection of a reflection because of the two mirrors reflecting each other (see image to the left for a sketchy explanation). I had a hard time conceiving this at first.. anyway, that's that.
Have a marvellous day.

Ads on palms?!

2006-02-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

Many corporations have been trying very hard to mass mediate their products and tried many different ways to reach their targeted audiences and it seems harder each passing year. From Adbusters, I found an article about a new innovation of advertising. It is Japan’s big telephone company NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) that developed it and they took the idea of the human palm as the information tool closest to humans as their main focus to create their ads. By doing so, NTT’s Cyber Solution Laboratories, have developed a machine that has a camera to track human movements and a projector to show round-shaped images. At first the round shaped beam will project real-time raindrops on the ground, which people will get curious and touch it. Once the beam/ camera detects movement it’ll track the human part and transform into an ad message. The creator of the projector said that an advertisement on the body helps to convince consumer that “the message is really meant for them”. I believe it is a brilliant idea to use such method to get people’ attention, which might replace billboards and become big in the next 6 to 10 years.

-Simon L

The Oral B Pulsar

2006-02-20T12:36:00.000-05:00

People take pride in their appearance. That's human nature. We are also self-conscious about our mouths and how they appear to others. From plaque to bad breath to tooth decay, dental care is a worry for most. Allow me to introduce the ORAL B PULSAR! Uninteresting? Not so. I have found that the yellow bristles are the first of their kind to have "micropulse action!" They pulsate as they stimulate your gums and remove the gunk while you manually use the brush in your typical teeth brushing motion. The brush also takes to the contour of your teeth with the "split head" movement and is powered by one AAA Duracell battery. I think we underestimate how unique and useful a special little brush is…

Nanotechnology and MEMS

2006-02-20T11:38:00.000-05:00

Nanotechnology is commonly referred to as general-purpose technology. That is because it impacts and deals with all industries and all areas of society. It is engineering of small machines at dimensions of 1 to 100 nanometers. Molecular manufacturing or nanotechnology does imaging, modeling, manufacturing, and manipulating matter at those dimensions. It is basically building of machines molecule-by-molecule, atom-by-atom. Nanotechnology not only provides better and more efficient products, but it is a great improvement of production. Micro-electromechanical Systems or MEMS are integrated micro devices with combination of electrical and mechanical components using molecular manufacturing. The use of MEM devices is becoming widespread in several different fields such as automotives, integrated circuits, optical devices and especially in the medical profession. Blood flow regulation, gene and cell manipulation and muscle stimulation are some of the major applications of MEM tweezers.

Tweezer gripping an object.The object is a nickel gear 100 micron OD, and 100 microns tall

Peabutter replaces Peanutbutter

2006-02-20T02:20:00.000-05:00

Peanuts are among the top 9 “priority food allergies” according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Peanut butter presents an obvious problem. Parents are inclined to feel that their allergic children are unfairly denied a favourite that other children enjoy.

Allergy-reducing vaccines have been used successfully in both mice and dogs, but a human version does not yet exist.

Mountain Meadow Food Processing Ltd. has developed a practical solution in the meantime. Peabutter is made from brown peas, tastes like peanut butter, and contains no peanuts, tree nuts or soy products (also “priority food allergies”).

Drawback: May be confused with peanut butter. As a result, it has also been banned from elementary schools.

Peabutter-
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/health/article.jsp?content=20060220_121661_121661
http://www.peabutter.ca/
Vaccine-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4007805.stm
Photo-
thejewelsoffood.com

Forecasting Umbrella

2006-02-20T01:14:00.000-05:00

Ambient Devices Forecasting Umbrella has a handle that pulses blue light when there's a good chance of rain. The device is connected to Ambient's proprietary network which allows it to know where it is and then download the local weather report. Next time you head out the door just glance at the umbrella and it will let you know if you should bring it along.

Nanobots

2006-02-19T23:54:00.000-05:00

Nano sized robots... ahhh!

This doesn't yet exist, it's still in research stage, but if it comes to fruition (which is probably only a matter of time) they are thinking of using Nanobots as tools to help in medicine, where they would be injected into a patient and the illness would be treated on nano-scale. As much good as it could do, I think it's potentially the most dangerous invention that mankind could explore in developing... but I think I'm just a bit cynical!
Either way a very interesting concept!

Check out the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanobots

not your ordinary pill

2006-02-19T20:33:00.000-05:00

This is the Capsule Endoscope or "intestinal submarine" developed by Olympus. It's a remote-controlled capsule equipped with a high-speed camera, an ultrasound scanner, a suction device to collect suspicious-looking cells, and a balloon that squirts medication onto tumors or infections.
It's about the size of a jelly bean, and slips passively through the gastrointestinal tract, snapping pictures at random along the way. It beats the alternative long fiber-optic cable with a camera at the end that snakes down your throat.

to find out more, check out the link here

i scanned in an image from a magazine i found that has the call-out and such. Page42 from September issue of Popular Science magazine.

Boezels- Neo Human Toys

2006-02-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

The Boezels are a range of animal friends designed by Twan Verdonck from Neo Human Toys. They are used for sensorial stimulation therapy (Boezels Snoezelen) AND as ueber-trendy artificial pets (Boezels Interior).
Each Boezel friend has unique characteristics and applies in a specific way to the four senses (touching, smelling, hearing, seeing):
a monkey with a belly which can be warmed up in the microwave,
a snake with a relaxing smell,
a bird which sings songs,
a kangaroo where you can lay in,
a frog which blows its cheeks when you sit on him.

Some Boezels can be cuddled on the lap, others will cuddle YOU. Due to a perfectly balanced combination of material, weight and size they provoke a strong feeling of physical contact.
Making this a safe and solid program to play with. Many research has been done on the tactile qualities of the Boezels. That's why they are made of quality (fake) furs and special textiles.

The Boezels have often been used for multisensorial therapy with mentally challenged people, elderly with Alzheimer’s or small children.
The Boezels and the Boezels-project are initiated and designed by Twan Verdonck. It started in 2001 as his graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven. Now Verdonck is working under the name of Neo Human Toys where he also develops other concepts for the industry, community and art world.
The first edition of the Boezels was produced for mentally challenged people in daycare center, "De Wisselstroom" in Hapert, the Netherlands. "My project is a metaphor and example for how we could deal with social care, industry, design and art" says Verdonck.

visit the site: http://boezels.com/indxsn.htm

Random International

2006-02-19T00:44:00.000-05:00

Pixel Roller Prototype One, Light Roller, by Random International (Stuart Wood and Florian Ortkrass)

The "PixelRoller" project is a collaborative investigation into a new creative tool between Stuart Wood MA (RCA) Interaction Design and Florian Orktrass MA (RCA) Design Products.

The Pixel roller does exactly what it says it is, rolls pixels. It can be viewed like a hand printer, the pixel roller can roll out any image, video, or text manually at any speed or direction round corners and over surfaces.

In the frist protoype, 'Light Roller,' the pixels are in the form of a series of 12 ultra bright UV LEDs situated along its axis. These UV LEDs excite photophescent ink and leave trails of pixels that fade with time.

http://random-international.squaresapce.com/pixelroller-overview/

i can't wait to pee on a tree

2006-02-17T16:26:00.000-05:00

this is a tree you pee on. what else do you need to know?

also, check out this program called Chatsum.

this is basically an add-on to Firefox that allows you to chat and leave messages while surfing any website. others can chat with you as well as long as they have the program and are on the same site. it's an interesting idea. it kind of creates a blogging atmostphere on every website you go to, which could be either great or incredibly annoying, depending on your stance on blogging. it's a shame though for mac users that you're forced to use it with firefox... not my first choice to say the least.

MIT Media Laboratory : One Laptop Per Child

2006-02-17T15:51:00.000-05:00

Nicholas Negroponte and his people at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.) have been developing a laptop cheap enough (their goal is $100) for governments afford for the children around the world to connect to the Internet.

Many developing nations have taken interest, as it will be a good tool to educate the youth. The laptops will be in "full-color, capable of wireless connection to the Internet, and rugged enough to survive getting dropped in the mud." It is run either on an AC adaptar, or a windup crank that can be easily winded by a child (a minute will give 10 minutes of power).

For more info, try these links.

Have a good weekend and such everyone :]

Online Office

2006-02-16T02:36:00.000-05:00

I believe companies like Microsoft and Web-ex, have brought the concept of "Web-camming" to a whole new level. As a result of these programs, companies are now able to have conferences online. Groups or individuals can now save on costly travel expenses, and instead meet quickly and efficiently over the internet. Additionally, this system allows business partners to exchange important information to one another almost instantly. This technological innovation will likely have a beneficial effect on companies because it will allow these organizations to minimize on their amount of expense, and improve corporate communication from one region of the world to another.

GE Reveal Light

2006-02-15T14:35:00.000-05:00

The white light of GE Reveal bulbs are specially made to filter out the dull yellow rays produced by standard bulbs.

The element neodymium that is in the glass (this is what gives these bulbs their distinctive blue color when unlit) provides a pure, clean light by filtering out the dulling yellow cast from ordinary light bulbs.

These Neodymium light bulbs (sometimes called daylight or full-spectrum) generate light as it is perceived from natural sunlight.