While reading "Richard Hamming: You and Your Research" (a tremendously interesting talk at Bellcore in 1986, found on Paul Graham's website), I ran across this excerpts I fully concur with: I noticed the following facts about people who work with the door open or the door closed. I notice that if y...
Locatis: swiss company / dog tracker
Locatis is an interesting swiss company working in the field of geolocation and mobile devices. Locatis SA, which was founded in 2005, is a company active in geo-localisation technologies. We can help you to develop the specifications manual of the product you wish to put on the market. In work of ...
3D Tractus: a three-dimensional drawing board
This paper describes an impressive three-dimensional drawing board: 3D Tractus: a simple and inexpensive system for interaction and exploration of three-dimensional (3D) data. The device is based on a traditional drawing board-like mechanical structure that can be easily moved up and down while i...
Some thoughts about eye tracking (+collaborative or mobile settings)
At the lab we've been discussing how we can use eye tracking methodologies for our research projcts about 'mutual modeling'. This lead me to a quick web of science/google scholar scan of what is available concerning the use of this technique to study collaborative interfaces usage. I went forward b...
High Def pictures that fool pets
Via the Presence-L mailing list, many High-Definition TV owners report that their pets are having trouble distinguishing the realistic picture from reality itself. I first noticed this phenomenon in 2001 when I brought home my first high-def set. Surfing the dial, I stumbled upon a HDTV channel tha...
Qualitative analysis representation
Yesterday I attended Jean-Baptiste's lecture about qualitative analysis of human-computer ineraction in the CSCW course. His slides are available here. What I really appreciated is the way JB visually represents the data collected to bring forward relevant information or patterns. For instance, in ...
Rubber-Bands Interactions
People interested in physical interaction MUST check this incredible resource: the Ultimate Guide to Shooting Rubber Bands by Tim Morgan. we will discuss the many methods of arming and firing a rubber band. Proper mounting and delivery is critical towards making the rubber band go where you want it...
A butterfly-watching system with WiFi PDAs
Chen, Y-S, Kao, T-C, Yu, G-J and Sheu, J-P (2004). A mobile butterfly-watching learning system for supporting independent learning. Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education. JungLi, Taiwan: IEEE Computer Society, 11-18 It's a butterfly-watching ...
Social Bluetooth Games
While surfing the web, trying to find some good bluetooth games, I ran across this nice text by Daniel Blackburn (manager of Carbon Based Games) about social bluetooth games. It explores some of the possible social gaming opportunities that now exist due to the recent proliferation of Bluetooth ena...
Yet Another Cool Gum Removal Machine
I think gum-removal technology is one my new favorite weird-tech-focus (after street cleaning vehicles and bathroom tech). The Gum Wizard is interesting for that matter: there is a vacuum to evacuate residues. It falls in the category of the "LIQUID gum remover". The Gum Wizard - simultaneousl...