A lack of think tank in France

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A paper in the Le Journal du Net deals with the lack of think tank in France. According to them, here are the figures:

Region Number of think tank Number of think tank employees
Europe 149 4950
France 7 145

7 is not a lot and it's less than Germany (23), the UK, (16), Belgium (12) and Austria (11). Apart from the classical critique (french think tank lacks of visibility since they just publish in french), the article explains that France has not a big "thing tank" culture and the activities carried out by those structures elsewhere (like... in the US) are undertaken by other institutions/groups of people (minister cabinet, political club, research institute...).

Johnny jetpack

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Do you know Johnny jetpack?

Johnny Jetpack is a 7 and a half foot tall puppet/dummy attached to a giant water rocket backpack. When launched, he obtains heights of 70-90 feet and speeds of 50+ miles per hour in about one second. He then plummets earthward in a dramatic fashion. This plummet includes a complex system of "parachute for Jetpack", pilot ejection, screams and flailing limbs, and on-board explosion with head detachment. The crowd is then welcomed forward to the safety line to inspect the wreckage.

They also did an Air Witch and a Johnny Non Ambulatory which seems interesting. Besides, the way the jetpack works is amazing:

CatchBob map in terms of \"Places\"

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Here is an attempt of the CatchBob map where I just left the "Places", that is to say, zones that are meaningfull in terms of socio-cultural interactions in the CatchBob context like buildings, corridors... Of course I did not took into account lots of factors (like rooms) because of the low accuracy of our location tool. I am going to use this to analyse my data and observe the errors in path drawn by the participants.

Virtual World Pictures

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A Flickr for vitual worlds (allowing you to share picture/snapshots taken in virtual environment(games) seems to be a trend recently. For instance, Snapzilla allows everyone in the virtual world Second Life to share their snapshots with the world, directly through SL. In the same line, Phil Torrone proposes in-game moblogging, a Flickr from Inside Virtual Worlds! This is an interesting trend. One the one hand, we can order real pizza in Everquest. On the other hand we can take picture in a virtualk world and share them with others living in the real world. Both worlds seems to be more and more intricated!

Estimating Interrater Reliability

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I am into estimating interrater reliability lately. Here is a good summary :A Comparison of Consensus, Consistency, and Measurement Approaches to Estimating Interrater Reliability by Steven E. Stemler

This article argues that the general practice of describing interrater reliability as a single, unified concept is at best imprecise, and at worst potentially misleading. Rather than representing a single concept, different statistical methods for computing interrater reliability can be more accurately classified into one of three categories based upon the underlying goals of analysis. The three general categories introduced and described in this paper are: 1) consensus estimates, 2) consistency estimates, and 3) measurement estimates. The assumptions, interpretation, advantages, and disadvantages of estimates from each of these three categories are discussed, along with several popular methods of computing interrater reliability coefficients that fall under the umbrella of consensus, consistency, and measurement estimates. Researchers and practitioners should be aware that different approaches to estimating interrater reliability carry with them different implications for how ratings across multiple judges should be summarized, which may impact the validity of subsequent study results.

A step toward crossplatform ubiquitous computing

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(via),

Nokia announced a new game at GDC called HinterWars: The Aterian Invasion, notable for being a title on both PC and their mobile N-Gage platform that supports cross-platform play between the two. The game, available as a download from its website, casts the players as one of four races fending off the Aterians.

Why do I blog this? I really like the concept of cross-platform play: you can use various platforms to keep achieving the goals of the game, it's amazing.

GPS Treasure Game

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(via) Play Treasure Hunt is "a location based pervasive game for handheld devices, combining a clue driven Treasure Hunt with an action strategy Mech battle game.". It's based on GPS.

Treasure Hunt is a location based mobile phone game that uses GPS and internet enabled handhelds. We have hidden an imaginary treasure somewhere in your game zone and you must attempt using the clues we give you to try and find it. All players begin the game with one video or picture clue, and a number of multiple-choice answers, only one of which is the correct answer. Be careful when answering the clues, if you answer the clue incorrectly your next clue won’t be so helpful in your quest for the treasure, instead you might find yourself going in circles. (...) To find the treasure you must answer the clues. Use the clues you have received over time to piece together the puzzle, use these clues as a road map to find the location of the treasure. Its not that hard, we want you to win, just try and figure it out.

A space for shelter from mobile phones

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(via), DIGITAL SHELTER KIT is a space for shelter from mobile phones.

DIGITAL SHELTER KIT focused in developed a shelter from scanscapes that provided not only a technical but also an aesthetic view to this mode of inhabitation in the context of the city. This proposal also provides a visual aid for inhabiting this new urban condition: a shelter that reveals the surveillance nature of our environment.

The proposal began during a visit to New York City, where a small 'safety zone' is marked on the platform as part of that city's subway security system. Whenever people stand inside this 'safety zone' they are monitored and 'protected' by CCTV cameras. A simple yellow line painted on the floor of each platform marks the boundaries of the electronic space that provides shelter to the user.

Blue Force Tracking

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An example of locative media used by the US Army: Blue Force Tracking (Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade and Below System (FBCB2).)

Blue-force tracking — technologies that tell U.S. military units where friendly forces are — has come of age in Iraq operations. (...) it gives combat vehicles a dashboard-mounted laptop and a roof-mounted transponder/receiver to beam information via satellite to headquarters and other vehicles. The result is an all-weather, always-on, near-real time picture of the battlefield that answers the questions: Where am I — and where are my friends? This helps coordinate a force’s striking punch and reduce friendly fire. (...) Using lessons learned in Iraq, the Army and industry are working to improve blue-force tracking, adding bandwidth to transmit more data on friendly and enemy units, support three-dimensional imaging, and allow expanded text messaging. In development is a hand-held electronic version of blue-force tracking that will allow dismounted ground forces to maintain situational awareness.

Echo Chamber

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I forgot to mention Chris O'Shea's new project: echo chamber. It is basically an interactive environment in the form of a 3D navigable soundscape that persuades people to make noises into the space and encourages the act of listening.

Echo Chamber is a world in which sound is trapped in an infinite echo. Participants can make a sound into the environment via a microphone, where the sound is then re-synthesised to amplify the intent of their actions. These sounds then travel around, leaving a trace of history from each participant. The installation becomes a more personal experience to that user as a part of them is left behind.

The sounds in Echo Chamber take on a life of their own, each sound being visualised in the form of a 3D object. Each object is known as a boid, a term for artificial intelligence algorithms that are used to describe the flocking behaviour of birds and swarming of fishes. Each boid or sound in the chamber is aware of where it is, to avoid the walls, to chase other sounds of the same species and avoid other boids

Farming out R&D?

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A great issue of Business Review about how western companies are more and more outsourcing R&D, creating a new model of innovation.

CEOs are asking tough questions about their once-cloistered R&D operations: Why are so few hit products making it out of the labs into the market? How many of those pricey engineers are really creating game-changing products or technology breakthroughs? "R&D is the biggest single remaining controllable expense to work on," says Allen J. Delattre, head of Accenture Ltd.'s (ACN ) high-tech consulting practice. "Companies either will have to cut costs or increase R&D productivity."

The result is a rethinking of the structure of the modern corporation. What, specifically, has to be done in-house anymore? At a minimum, most leading Western companies are turning toward a new model of innovation, one that employs global networks of partners. These can include U.S. chipmakers, Taiwanese engineers, Indian software developers, and Chinese factories. IBM (IBM ) is even offering the smarts of its famed research labs and a new global team of 1,200 engineers to help customers develop future products using next-generation technologies. (...) HTC? Flextronics? Cellon?...Quanta Computer, Premier Imaging, Wipro Technologies (WIT ), and Compal Electronics, are fast emerging as hidden powers of the technology industry. (...) Motorola hired Taiwan's BenQ Corp. to design and manufacture millions of mobile phones. But then BenQ began selling phones last year in the prized China market under its own brand. That prompted Motorola to pull its contract. Another risk is that brand-name companies will lose the incentive to keep investing in new technology. (...) Still, most companies insist they will continue to do most of the critical design work -- and have no plans to take a meat ax to R&D. (...) . "Companies realize if they want a sustainable competitive advantage, they will not get it from outsourcing," says President Frank M. Armbrecht of the Industrial Research Institute, which tracks corporate R&D spending. (...) Companies also worry about the message they send investors. Outsourcing manufacturing, tech support, and back-office work makes clear financial sense. But ownership of design strikes close to the heart of a corporation's intrinsic value

The paper adresses the risk and the future of this kind of practices. It's full of examples and very relevant.

La Jetée

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I watched La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962) for the 4th time. This "photo-roman" is always a pleasure to watch. For people unaware of this chef d'oeuvre, it inspired the 1995 Terry Gilliam feature Tweleve Monkey. It's the story of a man, time traveling back before a nuclear war, attempting to secure sustenance, and a solution, to the Apocalypse. It's a micture of a human story and a science fiction film focused on the very topic of memory. I am a great fan of Marker's aesthetics (I think Gilliam respected it): the pictures, the music as well as the rythm and the editing is perfect. Each time I watch it, I discover new details.

A blurry distinction between the virtual and the real world

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Greg Lastowka posted a great reflections on Terra Nova:

I think it's clear that the future heralds an increasing collapse of any easy lines drawn between physical and virtual spaces. The collapse is well underway, and I'm not talking metaphorically about eBay economies here. When I see things like Google Maps, A9's Block View, RFID, geocaching, Bluejacking, and Catch Bob, it isn't too hard to spot the fact that there can be, will be, and are currently increasing synergies between real space and virtual information spaces.

If you think about alternate reality gaming (the blending of "real-life treasure hunting, interactive storytelling, video games and online community ") it's definetely true! Greg goes on weondering about relevant issues:

I think we can safely predict that the importance of the tangible information in real space will continue to diminish -- posting a virtual signpoint or advertisement will be as effective as -- perhaps better than -- creating a real signpost. One question to ask is how we'll all feel about this creep away from the physically visible and toward the virtually important.  People seem already annoyed enough about how those talking into tiny cell-phones disrupt standard social expectations. What will they think of people playing pervasive games in real spac?

Another question would be: what will people out of the game/experience will think? Will we encounter another level of digital divide? I can see that since our CatchBob! game is played in public space, there are both lurkers (future catchbob testers) and people reluctant to try this experience.

Impromptu meeting with stefano

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I had a very enthusiastic meeting with stefano (impromptu and 300Mb worth I would say). Apart from updating me on his future projects, we had a look at some of my data. The most interesting thing (so far) is that the absence of the location awareness tool enhances the number of messages the participants sent (the total number of messages, the position/direction/strategical messages). What is striking: with a less informative media (without the awareness tool), they sent more messages (coordination keys would say Herbert Clark): they not only sent messages about their position but also about their direction as well as strategical information. That means that the users anticipated something: they had to send more information otherwise the space of interpretation for the others would be too small. That's why they sent messages about their direction + strategy: the others can then better decice what to do. From Sperber and Wilson points of view, it's all about relevance: participans picked up and sent facts that they perceived as relevant for the task/their purposes!

And Samsung became Sony

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IHT:In 1997, Japan's premium electronics company took little notice of Samsung Electronics, a South Korean television maker fighting a life or death battle to survive the Asian currency crisis. Less than a decade later, Samsung has twice the market capitalization of Sony. (...) Samsung also has a huge capacity to build raw components like memory chips and display panels, lowering production costs. Samsung was once a back-of-the-store brand with bulky televisions and boom boxes. After the Asian currency crisis, Samsung upgraded its product lines to compete directly with Sony for the premium market, leaving cheaper electronic goods to new companies in China. (...) "Samsung is like the old Sony," said Gilder, who edits the Gilder Technology Report. "Samsung has much of the spirit of Sony 10 years ago."

Vindigo LBS

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I am skimming a case-study about the usage of Vindigo, a company that publishes and develops information and entertainment applications for mobile phones. Basically, they turned the Palm into a “lifestyle device.” :“Eat, Shop and Play” was the first application that combined restaurant, store, and bar information. They now focus on wireless content delivery, a.k.a. location-based services such as the ability for mobile content providers to drive traffic to nearby physical stores. It's not only a matter of storing stuff about café and bars in a database. What is interesting, is that Vindigo users are an important source of content generation.

The company cites this feature as one of the reasons why Zagat’s found the Vindigo platform so attractive. Zagat’s model is based on user surveys that are sent out annually to between 5,000-10,000 reviewers in New York. With Vindigo’s platform, Zagat’s now has 100,000 reviewers rating local restaurants for their publications. Vindigo collects this information during the hotsync process. The company co-owns the content and shares it with Zagat’s. According to Edelmann, Vindigo is grabbing all of the data from the sync process but has not yet determined how to monetize the information.

Why do I blog this? It's an interesting example of how a company let users creating/modifying the content though the use of lcoation-based services.