'Epithetized' phenomena: "e-", "m-", "u-"

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A follow-up on the internet idioms and letter I dealt with the other day. As Steve Woolgar wrote back in 2002 (in Virtual Society?: Technology, Cyberbole, Reality), the "e-" prefix is part of an 'epithetized' phenomena. That is to say, the addition of this letter to almost any activity or institution to signify novelty (beyond electronics):

"While it is often unclear from these labels exactly how the application of the epithet actually modifies the activity/institution in question, a claim to novelty is usually central, especially at the hands of those promoting the new entity (...) The implication is that something new, different and (usually) better is happening"

Why do I blog this? gathering quotes while reading books about the STS... the use of these letters to embed something new is decidedly fascinating. Besides, the "m-" (standing for "mobile") and "u-" (ubiquitous) are of course the followers...

Art and R&D

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In his presentation entitled Is "digital art" Western ? Digital art or the utopia of "world art"? Orange researcher Emmanuel Mahé deals with the relationship between R&D and Art. Some excerpts I found relevant to me:

"The relationship between R&D and Art happens at two levels: LEVEL 1 : Artistic practice and related fields (such as design) as an object of research to find solutions either in terms of uses or technical solutions:

  1. Subject of analysis (measure the effects between IT and uses, understand the social mechanisms, etc)
  2. Innovation method (collaborations between artists and engineers , multidisciplinary cooperation, etc)

LEVEL 2 : Artistic practice and related fields (such as design) as a subject of research to create new problematics, to ask new questions:

  1. hypothesize objects, in the sense of “research hypothesis”
  2. construct new communications hypotheses
  3. use these new hypotheses to create new models which may be used for creating services, fundamental research etc."

He then gives the example of current artistic work about invisibility and shows how artists are "creating new ways (techniques and uses) to make visible what is at the moment invisible and to make audible what is no longer audible. In this way, they are not resisting progress, just modifying it; they are redefining forms. These are the people who are the driving force behind these current developments". Why do I blog this? the issue of art and R&D is a topic I do not work on in my UX research but I tend to follow it carefully, especially for its potential in foresight work. This articles delineates some of the reasons why it's important to understand how artistic projects pave the way for near futures.

Internet icons and idioms

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@ Some interesting internet icons and idioms ("hot hot spot") from Guadeloupe, France. The first one above has been taken on Marie-Galante, a small island south of Guadeloupe. The internet café seems rather old and abandoned.

The "@" is highly common if you already followed past episodes. The "W.W.W." is here followed by dots and doesn't seem to refer to any specific url: it's rather employed as a brand. The fact that the "@" is really bigger may indicate that this sign is a more important metaphor of the information super-highways. And why using both the "@" and "www"? Does that mean that @ is something different, perhaps referring to email? @

The "hot hot spot" below is highly intriguing, perhaps referring to the fact that locals have "le sang chaud" (literally "hot blood"), meaning that they can get emotional easily. Maybe it shows how emotions/sens of relationships can be conveyed through the wires. Or how email/web communication could serve "hot" purposes. @

Fax seems to be still important as attested by the big signage one can see on picture 2 and 3. Sending faxs is as important as dealing with "Photo" and perhaps a bit less than the Web (if I follow the hierarchy of picture 2). On picture 3, you can as well note the arrows on the fax tag which indicates how the device can send and receive information: this part is tremendously interesting since it shows the underlying features of this tool.

Also, the "Gwadaweb" subtitle under the "cyber-espace" ("cyberspace") logo is interesting too. "Gwada" is short for "guadeloupe" in creole, meaning that there seems to be some part of the cyberspace that are explicity from this culture: Gwadaweb

Why do I blog this? fascination towards the representation of "the digital" (i.e. access to the internet, virtual worlds, etc.) and how they are made manifest in the physical environment. Cultures which favor paintings on shops always have curious ways to depict this matter and I try to document it when travelling. There is a lot to draw from this, especially in terms of people's representation of telecommunication devices.

R-O-B mobile robotic fabrication unit

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Not exactly the type of self-constructed architecture described by Bruce Sterling in "Distraction" but very close: R-O-B by Gramazio and Kohler from ETH Zürich:

"R-O-B extends the traditional prefabrication process of construction: the robot leaves the protected environment of the production hall and ventures out to the building site. Housed in a modified freight container, the R-O-B mobile fabrication unit can be used anywhere in the world. It combines the advantages of prefabrication – precision and consistent high quality – with the advantages of short transport routes and just-in-time production on the building site. Furthermore, the mobile fabrication unit is not restricted to a predefined manufacturing process or a particular building material. Making use of computer methodologies in the design and fabrication process allows for manufacturing building elements with highly specific forms, which could not be build manually."

Why do I blog this? curiosity towards the application of robotics in architecture. The thing recently participated in the construction of this Wall presented at the Venice Biennale

"in", not "on" the network

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It's 2009 and we have to make choices, as proposed by Julian Bleecker in A Manifesto for Networked Objects — Cohabiting with Pigeons, Arphids and Aibos in the Internet of Things few years ago:

"we'll have to begin choosing our prepositions with care — we are now in an era of pervasive networks and are thus more properly "in", not "on" the network. Careful choice of prepositions that help us orient matters deeply, and it helps think more clearly about not only the stakes of cohabiting with Things within the networked world, but also for thinking about how to design experiences for this very different mode of occupancy"

Why do I blog this? writing a chapter this morning about blogjects, I am digging stuff from relevant reports about the topic. This quote struck me as highly relevant for the new year.

I am often fascinated by the use of prepositions to refer to artefacts and services. The Internet is certainly an intriguing context to observe how people refer to accessing/going on/surfing on the network. Besides, are you on Facebook or "in" Facebook?

Beach computing

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Beach computing Seen this afternoon in Marie-Galante (a french island in the Caribbean sea), a desktop PC screen that someone tossed 2 meters from the sea. Computing is reaching the very end, isn't it?

Last post for 2008.

Protected device

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Protection Interestingly, this radio has been protected by a ziploc because of its context of use (the bathroom). Sometimes, the context dictates a necessary protection to the owner... who reported me how she ingeniuously had to use it as the room can be highly humid.

Lovegety: proximity-based matchmaking

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Doing some research for my book project about locative media, i was curious about early version of proximity-based interactions. The Lovegety was an interesting primer, especially given that it was a real product. They actually shipped more than 350,000 of them in two and half months after the release in 1998.

For those who do not remember it, the Lovegetty was a japanese wireless-based matchmaking device made of three buttons that users could set according to their activity (talk/karaoke/get2, a sort of wildcard). Yukari Iwatani describes the matchmaking system as follows:

"Once the holder selects a mode, the device searches for Lovegety holders of the opposite sex in a five meter radius. If it locates a holder with the same mode, the "get" light flashes and the device beeps, so the pair can find each other. If there is a holder in the vicinity with a different mode, then the "find" light flashes and a different sound goes off, alerting the user of a near get."

Why do I blog this? not sure if the thing is still available but it's interesting to see some primary forms of technology-based matchmaking device (that was followed by the toothing hoax). Of course I am skeptical by the usage as well as the weird matchmaking algorithm, but the device is curious enough to be mentioned.

Wembley moustraps as blogjects

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It seems that mousetraps too can become blogjects:

"[Rentokil] added a small sensor and a wireless module to its traps so that they notify the building staff when a rodent is caught. This is a big improvement on traps that need to be regularly inspected. A large building might contain hundreds of them, and a few are bound to be forgotten.

Since June 2006 thousands of digital mousetraps have been put in big buildings and venues such as London's new Wembley Stadium. The traps communicate with central hubs that connect to the internet via the mobile network to alert staff if a creature is caught. The system provides a wealth of information. The data it collects and analyses on when and where rodents are caught enable building managers to place traps more effectively and alert them to a new outbreak. "

Why do I blog this? a basic example of a curious machine-to-machine communication involving animals.

Virtual/Physical touch interface

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Touch interface in GTA 4 Same interface for metro tickets vending machine in GTA 4 (above) and in Paris (below).

Touch the screen

Why do I blog this? this is an interesting connection between the digital and the physical: this a digital interface found in the physical environment which found its way in a digital environment. Quite recursive right? What's ironic though is that it's not possible to touch the in-game screen.

See also Dan Hill's perspectives on this issue in 2004. He interestingly compared pictures he did in Santa Monica to photos from GTA's fictional LA (in an earlier version of GTA). Dan highlighted the detailed sense of location in video games such as this one.

Urban honey

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Certainly one of the most intriguing urban project I've encountered lately: miel béton (which means "concrete honey" in french): the production of honey on urban roofs in the northern Parisian suburb of Saint Denis. According to new paris bohemian:

"A graphic designer and visual artist by trade, Olivier Darné began his investigation of bees in 2000, when he first placed a single beehive on his house in Saint Denis. Following that experiment with the installation of a dozen hives on the roof of city hall, Olivier was fascinated by the idea of sending bees out into the city as "prospectors" of the urban environment. What, exactly, could bees tell us about our city, about the relationships between wild and urban, between humans and their surroundings, between space and time? What Olivier found was more than gratifying: bees reproduce, in liquid form, the density, changes, and social organization of our city. If you consider that 3000 hectares (or 5000 acres) of city are concentrated into a single pot of honey, the resulting flavors are a gauge of how we urbanites live. (...) By consuming honey produced in and from their own city, urbanites connect themselves intimately to their land, even if it happens to be one that’s filled with concrete, high-rise housing blocks, and if they’re lucky, bees."

Why do I blog this? definitely not related to technology, I found this project amazingly curious as it shows how cities can be curious places for new forms of design. The intersection between nature and the urban environment is surely a relevant topic for design.

From our desktop to our mobiles

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James A. Landay and Todd R. Kaufmann in 1993 ("User Interface Issues in Mobile Computing"):

"A theme common to much of the past work on mobile computing devices is the desire to run similar computing environments on the mobile machines and on the user’s office workstation. Although running many of the same applications may be useful and desirable, running the same environment may be both undesirable and, for many mobile devices, impossible."

Why do I blog this? surely this quote is deja vu here for people who reads this blog, but I wanted to have a reference about this important topic.

Interface and process

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Complex interface A superb example of interface that maps the process and the buttons to be employed. Although the affordance is complex (a button used to move parts), the signage is relevant to understand the possibilities.

Stickers

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Signs Beaming alien? Wifi and space invaders around? An intriguing combination. Especially this amazing number of barcodes meant to be used by the facility management company in Paris Gare de Lyon.

The minimal b&w sticker is quite well integrated with the seriousness of the barcodes.

Lift 09 poster

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Snowed under work lately (foresight project about the future of the web, gestural controllers research, lift, writing a book about locative media), I have less time to blog but it's worth having a look at the new Lift poster:

Explained by Bread and Butter themselves:

A city by night, an impressive landscape of anonymous buildings. Could be anywhere. A luminous meteor carves the darkness, rustling the anarchy of the city, of our memories. LIFT 09 emerging with new energy, lights and colors.

A feeling of perspective, of vertigo. An image inspired by the covers of sci-fi novels of the 70-80's. This is a typical LIFT poster, 1:1 hand-made, with enough feather strokes to confuse the pixels, impactful.

Carving into the past, LIFT lights up the future that never was. The journey starts now…

You can see the archive of Lift posters here, and download highres versions for printing if you wish.

Pavement life

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Pavement enigma Seen in Paris (I spent half of my time in this city lately)

Ouch!

Tent in Paris

Signage on the sidewalk, dead birds and homeless people living in tents. Or, on other words: designed artifacts for city-dwellers, animal partners which accidently did not manage to live in good terms with (driving) humans, and people left-aside from society.

The urban environment per se, a certainly gloomy winter.