[Last year, I wrote a paper for a workshop at a human-computer interaction conference about the user experience of video games, actually it briefly presents the work I am doing with game companies. The paper was not accepted and I thought it would be pertinent to leave it online anyway] Introductio...
Pedometer with digital map
Via Michael Keferl @CScout Japan, this Lap Around Japan Pedometer is a more complex version of a pedometer: the device counts your steps and also map out your virtual trip around the coast of Japan. As described by CScout: "The tiny (14×42×78mm) pedometer counts the total distance around Japan fro...
Wizkid: a computer with a neck
Morning partner in commuting Frederic Kaplan finally revealed his latest project called wizkid (conducted with his team). In his words: "Wizkid is a novel kind of computer permitting easy multi-user standing interactions in various contexts of use. The interaction system does not make use of classi...
Motivations for defensive space
See below, three very relevant occurrences of how space is transformed in the 21st century. These are 3 examples of "defensive space" (aka "defensible space": architectural and environmental design used to reduce criminality by increasing field of observation and ownership) can be found next to whe...
About tracking pizza's location
(via)Read in Information Week: "At an 11-store chain of Papa John's restaurants in north Alabama, location data is being pushed directly to customers. Using an online-tracking system developed by startup TrackMyPizza, customers can watch online as their deliveries move street by street toward their...
Sparko: the robotic Scottish Terrier
Back in the 20s, when electricity (lighting, appliances) was less common, the american company Westinghouse tried to create early robots. One of the goal was to stimulate demand and interest in their electrical products. They indeed showed at the 1939 World's Fair a prototype of two curious charact...
Integration of ethnography in R&D
In the last few weeks, there has been an interesting discussion on the the anthrodesign Yahoo! group concerning "Integration of ethnography in R&D". It basically addressed the link between ethnography and “action” (e.g. implementation) in a client-vendor research relationship, a somewhat controvers...
Notes about foresight/environmental scanning
Some notes from Michele Bowman's podcast entitled "The Role of Ethnofutures and Environmental Scanning": "2 things to keep in mind: "Any truly useful idea about the futures should first seem to be ridiculous.": The idea that airplanes would carry people, the fall of the berlin wall, paying bottled ...
Sliding Friction: The Harmonious Jungle of Contemporary Cities
Fabien and I finally manage to release a near future laboratory project: Sliding Friction: The Harmonious Jungle of Contemporary Cities, a booklet that assembles photos and annotations we took here and there along our dérive through the many cities we lived in and visited. Sliding Friction is an a...
User Experience session at LIFT08
Tried to gather my notes from the User Experience session from LIFT08. When I started on the program back in spring 2007, this topic was really the one where I had not doubts about its relevance to the LIFT community and I had already in mind the 3 speakers I wanted to have for that. Younghee Jung ...