Towards a Playful User Interface for Home Entertainment Systems by Florian Block is a project that aims at using a tangible cube as an input device for playfully changing between different TV-channels. It's carried out at the Embedded Interaction Research Group in Munich. The basic idea for a new u...
Latour's inscriptions and software development
Following my thoughts about Latour's inscription (see last week's post), I ran across this good paper about distributed software development and the link with 'inscriptions'. Latour's inscriptions are about "social arrangements, debates, divisions of labor, and patterns of work become inscribed int...
Thumb-mounted vibrator for trigger-happy gamers
In the last issue of Wired, there is a short article about Periborg is very intriguing japanese company which does bizarre accessories for video-games. My favorite is "Ore-Commander" targeted for trigger-happy gamers who need a thumb-mounted vibrator that can help pressing buttons 20 times a second...
Temporary architecture in Geneva
For fans of temporary architecture only: this bunch of temporary work capsules had been installed close to my place in Geneva. I like the way it looks - kind of apocalyptic shelter - though: On the same issue, see Alain Bublex's work. ...
Location-Based Marketing Issues
Russell Buckley sunday post is of great interest for people who are wondering whether location-based marketing might work. For him, the most important question (presented after an insightful chain of arguments) is: So, in fact, the really important question when studying LBM, the-answer-to-life-dea...
NYT on location-based services
The NYT features a smart article about location-based services (By ETHAN TODRAS-WHITEHILL). Well-known projects like Dodgeball, Yellow Arrow, Social Light, Rabble, Street Hive or Rave Wireles are presented. Mostly, those systems allow proximity-based interaction (ping registered participants when p...
Curious Handheld Games
Wow, I'd like this device could have a GPS inside so that I can fish on a city plazzas: "The latest introduction to the best-selling "Bass Fishin" series" (made by Radica). They have plenty of intriguing devices like thumb warriors or friendchips: Girls send secret electronic notes using a chip ...
Psychophysiological techniques to measure user experience with entertainment technologies
Using psychophysiological techniques to measure user experience with entertainment technologies by Mandryk R, Inkpen K, Calvert T, Behaviour and Information Technology, Vol. 25, No. 2. (April 2006), pp. 141-158. This seems to be the new trend in 'user experience' analysis: using psychophysiological...
Super Mario Bros Maps
At last! I found the complete maps of Super Mario Bros. Also, read chaotic n-space network for a good analysis of SMB level design: SMB was rather revolutionary in terms of level design. Earlier games had usually only had a few game screens which did not change. Games like Adventure, which had dis...
Web surfers decide the worth of a site in a mere 50 milliseconds.
Attention web designers: You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression! by Gitte Lindgaard, Gary Fernandes, Cathy Dude, J. Browñ, in Behaviour & Information Technology, Volume 25, Number 2 / March-April 2006, pages: 115 - 126. The paper shows how web surfers decide the worth of a site in...