Again, one of these report that piled up on my desk: the IGDA white paper about Alternate Reality Gaming is a very valuable document that describes ARG (background, relation to MMOG, mechanics, business models, etc). ARGs do not require there be an avatar to build up, grow bored of and cast aside, ...
Aerial shot, skyscrapers and goods
A good story in Metroplis: Searching for the Future by Karrie Jacobs is about "figuring out what the twenty-first century looks like". Some excerpts I liked about this: Some things are obvious (...) The aural landscape—punctuated by all manner of cell-phone rings and BlackBerry buzz—has changed mor...
Elephant paths
Sometimes "elephant paths" do not please people. As I explained here, this terms refers to paths that is formed in space by people making their own paths and shortcuts. Look at what happened in the "Parc des bastions" in Geneva: Why do I blog this? from the user point of view, an elephant is inte...
Shabbat and automation
In the "Home spirituality" track at CHI 2007, there is this paper that I can't wait to read: Sabbath Day Home Automation: "It's Like Mixing Technology and Religion" (Allison Woodruff, Sally Augustin, Brooke Foucault) Presents a qualitative study of the use of home automation by 20 Orthodox Jewish f...
Rudeness in intelligent tutoring systems
Intelligent tutoring system is not a domain that I am interested in but sometimes there are some good elements to draw from other field. Especially, when it's about the behavior artificial agents (like tutors). As opposed to some research that assess the need to have polite intelligent tutor for ef...
Brain Imagery navigation with a wiimote
Navigating in a 3D structure as complex as the brain is always painful. Therefore, some smart researchers chose to use the wiimote to do so. Check this Youtube video: Second example, better quality...wii remote interfaced with glovepie gives to the research community a new type of human interface ...
Prototype combining Wii remote input + physics
A very intriguing amateur game developed for the Wii that combine Wii remote input and physics. The game engage the user in a virtual version of a "devil stick" (a juggling game in which you flick a stick back and forth between other sticks). Loot at the video here (sources available there). ...
More about the failure of location-based applications
Why LBS Applications Fail by David H. Williams is a good overview of issues regarding the problems of location-based applications. The author describes them at the 7 deadly sins... The Seven Deadly Sins of Location-Based Services. Source: E911-LBS Consulting 2006. Regarding my own interests (the u...
Adaptive design and layers
One of the topic that struck me as very compelling in Dan Saffer's "Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices (VOICES)" was the chapter about smart applications and clever devices. In this part, the author describes the different ways to design with that goal in mind...
Entomological typography.
Research about insects and typography seems to be very curious, look at this description by Dexter Sear of how certain cultures (Egyptian and Mayan culture) incorporated many insects as characters of alphabets throughout history: Photographer, Kjell Sandved summed up the motivation behind his life'...