king talk

As the year marking the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Bauhaus, 2009 is an appropriate year for an exhibition dedicated to the examination of the social networks of the Bauhaus movement.
In preparation for this project, biographical details of all of the members of the Bauhaus, as well as their individual personal relationships with other members, will be systematically structured and entered into an online research database.
The impressive volume of information resulting from this effort will then be presented in three dimensions within this illuminated 4×4 meter cube at the Bauhaus University in Weimar.

The exhibition then becomes an immersive yet highly-structured digital archive rich with historical details. Complex interrelationships will be made more accessible through the implementation of an innovative graphical interface. All visualizations of the complex network are drawn directly from the research database and presented in an intuitive computer-generated form. At an interactive digital tabletop, spectators can furthermore examine individual parts of the greater network in more detail.

more information at Impuls-Bauhaus

Gestures are common place in multi touch application development. Interaction Designers need icons for wireframing or just for documentation of the work. Ryan Lee released a vector based icon set for gesture under Creative Commons Licence. You don´t need to reinvent the wheel again. This so called Gesturecons include 42 icons for the most popular gesture like panning, flickering etc. You can download it the zip with .ai, .pdf and .eps files here…

via UX Strategie

I think nearly everybody has noticed the release of Apple’s magic mouse, a pimped out mouse featuring multi touch technology. After three years of hype around that technology it finds its way at mobile phones and newly on this over 40 year old input device. What would Mr Engelbart would have thought about it?

Nearly as long as we are using the mouse, Apple and Microsoft are fighting one another. After the first rumours about a new multi touch mouse came up earlier this month, Microsoft released some ideas for a multi touch mouse. Just watch and enjoy… the FTIR mouse is weird, the »Side Mouse« could be a complety new experience (I´m not sure if it’s positive or negative). At the end I like the mechanical solution of the »Arty Mouse« somehow. Could probably work for 5 fingers?

The Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost is a new theme attraction which was opened for public last weekend in Bremerhaven (Germany). Some current videos about it can be found at german news channels ZDF mediathek and ntv online.

This unique new theme attraction will give answers to these questions while sending its visitors on a memorable journey around the world. The Klimahaus with its authentically simulated climate zones, multimedia-staging, interactive exhibits, large aquariums costed about 11 million Euros and is a »theme attraction« for the new generation.

envis precisely developed the multitouch application running on three seperate media tables at Klimahaus for mehr:wert. Three different virtual books, from munich based company gameworker, filled with informations about the sponsors can be paged through and dragged around the surface. Additional features like zooming and painting were added to the application just to improve joy of use. Some additional media content will be published at our official portfolio the next weeks. So stay tuned and subscribe our RSS feed.

Having a big ass multitouch table at home might be cool. But while you are developing the awesome apps you gonna run on it, it´s quite annoying to test them on that big thing. Basically there are 3 alternative ways to more or less »simulate« the multitouch behaviour:

1. iPhone/iPod Touch > OSCemote > flosc > Flash

My favourite one is using the multitouch ability of my iPod Touch. Running OSCemote (iTunes) on your iPod you can send the multitouch input via WiFi to your MacBook Pro. There you just need to forward the data via FLOSC (Flash Open Sound Control) to use it in Flash. This setup provides the best multitouch feeling for the least effort.

Alternate tools, but more or less complex to handle: TouchOSC, MRMR or SWAP.

2. cardboard prototype > CCV > Flash

Before using my iPod as tracking device I used »NHALT«, a Cheap Multitouch Pad we built in about 30min. using a white paper, some slices of a packing case and a 3-year-old Webcam (Logitech Quickcam) for about 30 EUR. Since the NUI Group upgraded their Tracking Software from »tbeta« to »CCV« it is the only step you need between the pad and Flash. This solution is real fun if you like a little DIY and is the one closest to a real table.

3. SimTouch > SocketServer > Flash

You don’t have an iPod Touch, DIY is not your thing or you don’t want to relay on good lighting for testing your awesome app then SimTouch might be the solution for you. This multitouch simulator  is an elegant semi-transparent window you can lay over your flash application. Via SocketServer the signal gets relayed to Flash and off you go!

If you know a possible fourth solution. Feel free to comment it…

Sorry, there was to much SPAM to leave the comments open.