Touch Interaction

An organisation that goes by the name of Touch which is a research project that investigates near field communication (NFC), a technology which enables a connection between mobile phones and physical things like everyday objects.

The projects which they have been working on are;

1.       Immaterials; ghost in the field – this project explored the spiritual qualities of RFID, visualised through and RFID probe, long exposure photography and animation

2.       Nearness – The film explores interacting without touching. With RFID it proximity that matters, and actual contact isn’t necessary.

3.       Re/Touch – Re/Touch brings together hundreds of cross-cultural examples of social norms and values involving touch – all categorised according to actions related to touching. You can browse the quotes to create design briefs, refine interaction scenarios or otherwise inspire you to think, make or do things touch-related.

4.       Iphone RFID – This is a prototype of an iphone media player that uses physical objects to control media playback. It is based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) that triggers various iphone interactions when in range of a wireless tag embedded inside a physical object.

5.       Skal – (Norwegian for bowl) is a product that has emerged from extensive investigations of token – based media for children. It is a media player designed for the home that acts as the interface between physical objects and related digital media on television.

6.       Sniff – sniff is a tangible, interactive toy dog. He has a large nose and when he ‘sniffs’ objects that are brought close to him, he gives feedback through sound and vibration feedback. Sniff can react to the world in different ways and with different kinds of behaviours.

These are just a few of many projects which I have quoted from their actual website of projects they have been working on so in basic terms they are a research company which looks into how Radio Frequency Identification devices. Being able to control physical objects via your mobile devices revolutionary technology which could be used by less able people to maybe be able to do every day choirs via the touch of a button on their mobiles, maybe to dim lights or turn on the central heating and capability to be able to pick up frequencies and able to control everyday appliance’s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41usVKf0Khg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREECox_O3Q

News should be for free

News should be something that we shouldn’t have to spend money to get; the worlds information should be given to us faster and for cheaper most people are saying. How can this be made possible? Websites like wiki leaks which have proven to be able to cause news to spread at an alarming rate. The internet revolution is forcing more people to get tablets who are getting newspapers straight to their hand held devices as pose to buying hard copy, online readers refusing to pay anything for information forces companies to re think their tactics and come up with other ways to make money off their online users which usually can only mean one thing which is advertising. Way in which Times have come up with offers for subscription may increase the level of readers with promotional 1 pound for 30 days than 2 pound a week from there onwards. This should rocket prices of sales up seeing as usually its 1 pound every day for a 24 hour pass. Other major ideas by the New York Times is to partner up with Microsoft to create a massive touch table which will replace newspapers and giving the readers the opportunity to share stories with friends and interact, even though very exciting this technology shouldn’t come to market for another couple of years.

http://www.simplyzesty.com/viralvideos/the-future-of-newspapers-revealed-stunning-touch-table/

Flip board is also a possible direction where news should be moving towards with use of visuals with the links to be monetised and attract personalised advertising which has been shown to be the most successful form of advertising to go straight to the people that use your products and to show them your new products is the revolution of campaigning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjRXXN7hLPw

Future is looking a little greener in the way we will be using less paper to print out our newspapers however all the electronics we will be going through every time we need an upgrade should be the next global threat that we should be facing in terms of pollution like in China where we was shown images of how E waste is effecting their country already.   

FaceBook Vs Google

Two of the world biggest names ever to come a light with number of users souring through the millions every minute but who would be the winner if these two where to go head to head? With Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s new Google plus could this be the moment in history where Facebook lost the clash of the titans? Can Google really dominate and also clear out a major name in the process? News feeds is the best way to show real time updates which was founded by the notorious Facebook but then the volume of feeds soured right through the roof with friends updating every second which is why ‘EdgeRank’ was developed which is an algorithm that powers the default page on the site putting every status update through three key factors before defining the importance of the post;

1.       Affinity – how friendly you are with someone

2.       Relative weight of content – relationships have a heavy weight

3.       How recent – the most recent posts are prioritised

This system was implemented by Zuckerberg in April 2011 for the Washington Post’s home page where the readers found “network news” at the top right hand corner. “The Washington post links their Facebook friends share. Facebook was editing the paper’s front page”.  Later on the times followed in them footsteps.

Even with the revolutionary way Zuckerberg people to interact is one thing but we cannot cross out the number one search engine who has brought YouTube and is developing media devices and could become a monopoly by making all programs and software’s for their products.

What would it mean if the two giants where to merge? Or even to be brought out by the other becoming a single named company which dominated the world what would become of other small online websites if the major ones where to be owned by one organization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9MtttXI2q8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHNi5OIx-lE

Clay Shirky’s Story

The story of Ivanna leaving her ‘sidekick’ mobile phone in the new York cab is one which got me to thinking if the response was so great in 2006 what would happen if people united and demanded there stolen goods in 2012? Would this be the era of naming and shaming thefts? A digital judgment day whereby the citizens are in charge? The future looks to be a very hard one especially if you’re struggling to meet payments. This brings us to morals is it really wrong to be stealing to feed you and your family? Jobless? Homeless? Would it be right to then name and shame these people even though they already have nothing to call their own? Should we not be helping these very people to bring them up to our own level instead of further secluding and isolating them? The story we was told basically goes that Ivanna’s friend Guttman sets up a website for the stolen phone and the website ends up having millions of views with people helping her find the person that found and stole the phone. Now the question is how to me measure success, that’s simple all we need to do is take a look at how long it took for Ivanna to be reunited with her ‘sidekick’ mobile which was two weeks which is more successful than any police force I have seen and dealt with in my life time. Seven years on from this story we have all become more internet friendly and records show that more people spending time online than ever before, so how would a similar case be resolved in London if I was to lose my mobile on the tube for example? And I made a website to find it again; would I see any help from fellow Londoners? Is the real success in the story the American people’s attitude? Is this a cultural issue? Or can this online story become the new craze worldwide like the internet was designed to be.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=769txj9gfxM

Robotics, cyborg exoskeletons.

The topic which was of my personal interests is robotic prosthetics. The capability of being able to lose a limb and having the opportunity to get a prosthetic which is able to pick up signals and move to yours demand is something that most paraplegics would give anything to obtain and be put on the course to getting a limb tested for them. Now the technology which was shown to us in lecture today was breath-taking to see and very comforting to know that if a freak accident was to god forbid happen we are finally getting to the stage of evolution whereby we are not just left to deal with our mishaps instead we can stand up and take charge. The question always floats about in relation to morals on if it is right to have a robotic limb such as the 2006 creation ‘bionic devices’ which are controlled by the mind. Can the piece of technology go wrong and end up ripping other limps off? Can we trust computers and robots? Half man half cyborg, could this be the direction our race is moving towards? Would people go to such lengths to take a limb away to add a more enhanced and more powerful robotic limb which would be able to learn new motion as you work with it and while mastered be able to exceed human limb capability.

Now with so much warfare we are seeing more and more war veterans coming home to a life changing consequences after losing limbs which they would need to use on day to day activities. With new technology they are treated with more success rate and it becomes less of a drag when you have a super bionic arm which can punch through wall I guess? But on a serious note these type of technologies in my opinion are life changing to so many people and we would need to start mass producing them so that everyone on a limb transplant in entitled to have that type of movement and the right not to be paralyzed.

The topic which was of my personal interests is robotic prosthetics. The capability of being able to lose a limb and having the opportunity to get a prosthetic which is able to pick up signals and move to yours demand is something that most paraplegics would give anything to obtain and be put on the course to getting a limb tested for them. Now the technology which was shown to us in lecture today was breath-taking to see and very comforting to know that if a freak accident was to god forbid happen we are finally getting to the stage of evolution whereby we are not just left to deal with our mishaps instead we can stand up and take charge. The question always floats about in relation to morals on if it is right to have a robotic limb such as the 2006 creation ‘bionic devices’ which are controlled by the mind. Can the piece of technology go wrong and end up ripping other limps off? Can we trust computers and robots? Half man half cyborg, could this be the direction our race is moving towards? Would people go to such lengths to take a limb away to add a more enhanced and more powerful robotic limb which would be able to learn new motion as you work with it and while mastered be able to exceed human limb capability.

Now with so much warfare we are seeing more and more war veterans coming home to a life changing consequences after losing limbs which they would need to use on day to day activities. With new technology they are treated with more success rate and it becomes less of a drag when you have a super bionic arm which can punch through wall I guess? But on a serious note these type of technologies in my opinion are life changing to so many people and we would need to start mass producing them so that everyone on a limb transplant in entitled to have that type of movement and the right not to be paralyzed. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xnguXB6PBg

holographics

1.       After the first lecture and the start of my blogging entry I feel good about this module and excited to document my days like a new age diary because looking back at this at a later date will bring back memories of the lecture itself. So we was shown a holographic image of a what appeared to be a little girl dancing, this is the next evolution for holographic photography this could be the next big thing to change the face of the world as we know it in terms of our personal entertainment. This lecture got me thinking about the future of this type of technology being put to production and what type of product would be the most beneficial to the consumer and also a mass market. Sex  is the something we all want need and love so why not bring in a product of holographic exotic dancers? Which leads us to our next question of how far realism should be pushed too? Is it wrong to watch holographic images to get thrills instead of watching videos online? Would the technology be further developed to a holographic image that can touch you? If able to touch can it potentially all go horribly wrong and have the hologram to turn on its master as so to speak. In my opinion I think there is a place in the market to bring in such products in the future and for them to have potential to make a large amount of money for the person that brings them into the market. Is it wrong? Properly; but then again what is right these days? Less headache to get quick pleasure than to have a long term relationship to get pleasure I am sure young bachelor men are thinking. In this day and age the modern young women would like to have tons of pleasure with no strings attached with this technology to be aimed at both sex’s they won’t be needing men.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzLO84SUxWE