king talk

Gary Flake from Microsoft research delivered a fascinating demo of »Microsoft Pivot«, an experimental technology which focuses on browsing collections of content and pages, rather than individual pieces of content.  It looks like if the Zooming User Interface (ZUI) is based on the idea of Microsoft‘s Photosynth technology which was presented by Blaise Aguera three years ago. The concept of viewing, filtering and pivoting collections of web pages based on various attributes pulled from the content represents an exciting possible future state for web browsing. I am very curious to see how this technology evolves, and whether this type of application could be used to create views of custom large data sets, spot patterns and identify actions.  I also wonder how long it will be before some of this functionality emerges directly within Bing – exciting times!

Digging in the Crates is an interactive installation which offers possibilities to explore Sampling as a production technology of modern music. While dynamic data visualizations will be navigated using modified turntables, information graphics as well as auditory contributions helping to understand complex contents and relations.

Visitors can choose from 50 old records of the 70s and 80s. All of these records contain one or more samples, which can be analyzed in the following. To analyze the samples to the record must first be placed on the turntable. A projection onto the record itself shows included samples as shaded areas. The old records can either be played or analyzed. To choose between these two modes, the on / off switch of the turntable is pressed. A modified turntable as an tangible interface is used to navigate and anaylze each single sample on the launched record.

Depending on user interests, Digging in the Crates offers different approaches to the topic. The visitor acts in a totally free interaction-space, which allows him to consider sampling from completely different perspectives. The straight interaction with information is just as important as the possibility to deal with “sampling” in a passive way. This means the user can slip into an active role in which he has full control over the visualized information as well as taking a rather passive attitude to get inspired by the interactions of others.

This installation was the Bachelor thesis project of Roland Lösslein from FH Augsburg using different tools like Arduino and Processing. Well done Mister!

It happened yesterday evening. My tummy asked for something to eat and I just wanted to give him a quick and fatty answer. So I just went to one of Munich’s McDonalds at Tal 6. Unfortunately the order point was to crowded, but then I realized these four huge »Easy Order« terminals.

First I didn´t know what to do, but then I realized that this one could be a much quicker way to post a order. I just put in my credit card and the main menu opened up. It´s the same routine like you know it at the standard order point. They even have the same questions like »Do you want it as a take-away or do you want to eat here?« You´ve got the whole card at one touchscreen. It was a nice experience, touching the Big Mac icon and placing your order right there.

I received a little print-out after I finished the order process and received my stuff directly at the vacantly wrapping counter. After all I think that this is a good step in the right direction, the User Interface is much more better than the Deutsche Bahn terminal, but could be improved a little bit in terms of User Experience… continue reading …

Does anyone know about the litl? It´s a so called »Webbook«, a tiny computer without anything, just made for browsing the web and reading RSS-Feeds. This gadget that looks deceptively like a laptop but works nothing like any computer you’ve ever used. The hardware to the user interface to the activities it supports, the new machine created by this Boston-based startup, rejects three decades of convention. But what can you do with it? Just browsing the internet seems to be nice, but the developers should asked theirselfs: What is this stuff for? What value does it add to our lives? (John Thackara)

If you want to buy a litl, you a get a small computer which is radically downsized for about 700 bucks (!!!). It has a 12″ display, an Atom Processor with 1,6 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 2 GB Flash Memory, 1x USB and a 802.11g Wifi chip, that´s it. It even hasn´t enough space for a operating system so they offer you »litl OS« which has two modes. A simple grid view and a 3D view based on the z-axis which reminds me of Apple Time Machine.

In my opinion these product has three main failures. First of all it´s a tool which can only do one thing, browsing the internet and receiving atom feeds. This is a nice idea, but chumby is already doing stuff like that. You can get this small device which is able to play wifi radio, play games and use one of 1500 additional applications for about 100 dollar. And chumby offers you a touch sensitive display,…

which brings me to the next failure. It is the way the user is interacting with the product. You can chosse between a reduced QWERTY keyboard, a touch pad and a remote… Why? What´s about touch? What´s about motion tracking? A radical product like these is screeming for new ways of interaction. The litl offers you a very light weight computer with a small display. A touch interface would be a more direct way of navigating and browsing the content especially in 3D mode. Last but not least…

continue reading …

After weeks of sleep deprivation and a lot of hard work, the ZNT (»Center for New Technologies«) at Deutsches Museum in Munich finally opened its gates to the public today. It’s a fully interactive permanent exhibition about bio- and nanotechnology – with an interaction concept conceived and produced by envis precisely in cooperation Haslbeck Ausstellungsprojekte and other partners – introduces its visitors to the world of very tiny things.

The whole  concept is based on 33 interactive mini laboratories made of steel and glass. They provide the guest with information about the opportunities, risks and the fascination of nanotechnology. The visitors are no longer just spectators – they become explorers in this exhibiton.

The widespread use of digital technology has become commonplace in modern science and is also reflected in the exhibition. The entire front surfaces of the cabinets are actually touch-sensitive panels. By simply pointing to an object, the visitor gets access to additional information on the central information display. This interface then offers further explanatory pictures or short films.

Closing the gap between the visitor and the information as directly as possible was one of our main goals. We created the interfaces, interactions and the media systems for the labs and other special units as well as the motion design of all informal short movies.

A lot of positive press feedback was published just in the last few hours. German TV news show »ZDF heute journal« calls the exhibition a »spectacular, new, interactive show« and the Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer believes it is »the new crown jewel« of the Deutsche Museum. We humbly agree.

You can watch the whole clip of heute journal (Minute: 22:04 – 26:06, German) or visit our ZNT flickr set for some more pictures if you want. Some additional information and an entry at our portfolio will be published asap…