Archive for June, 2009
“How tightly can a product’s lifecycle be compressed… and what are the ramifications of doing this?”
These are the questions Elliott Montgomery asks with his MicroCycle project–a mini manufacturing station-turned-public outreach kiosk that recently appeared on the south end of Union Square in New York City. Here, he and his posse created fabric shopping bags (made from salvaged materials, natch) but doesn’t sell them. Instead, you can buy one by providing “an idea” for localized manufacture, materials sourcing, or the like. He designed and built the solar units for Solar1′s outreach project I Heart PV.
@Jennifer van der Meer‘s a fan: “What’s so fun about Elliott’s installations is that he gets people to think in the immediate, about the waste streams available in their neighborhood, today, that can be recommissioned into something useful. He also thinks in terms of future reuse, plotting identified waste streams on a map, and posted online as an open source database.
Learn more about this project and Elliott’s other work at epmid.com.
Original link from Core77
Microsoft has found another customer, and the first carmaker, for its Surface tabletop computer: BMW. The two companies have been working together to develop software for the Surface that makes it easy for car buyers to customize their cars. The German company is hoping to get potential customers excited by putting them in complete control of the features of their future vehicle.
The BMW Product Navigator lets users hand-pick various options using the Surface and then watch a computer-generated video of the inside and outside of their future car on a separate screen. Once a customer is satisfied, he or she can print, e-mail, or save to a USB drive the configuration of their future car. It’s not yet clear when the BMW Product Navigator will be widely available, but so far the product looks promising, according to a video that demonstrates the product in action:
The application was written for BMW by VectorForm
The prototype PS3 controller is able to track precise movements, and even recognise the speed and power of gestures.
Sony’s controller uses a PlayStation Eye camera to communicate with the controller, which has a glowing sphere on the end that the camera uses to triangulate the position and movement of the wand. The controller was demonstrated as Sony unveiled its forthcoming line-up of video games at E3 2009.
It also features buttons which can double as a trigger, to turn the wand in to a virtual weapon, and internal motion sensors which give it the ability to track movements to an accuracy of within 7mm.
“Motion-control gaming has been a phenomenon over the last few years,” said Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America. “This technology will continue to grow in many ways. We’re trying to create an experience which is much closer to real life than anything you’ve ever seen.”
The engineers behind the motion-control project said they had been working on the interface technology for several years, and hoped the device would bring a new set of experience to PlayStation 3 games.
In a demonstration of the prototype wand, an engineer was able to wield a sword, shoot a gun and fire arrows at enemies. Sony emphasised that the wand wouldn’t just be useful for more fun, casual games, but would also provide a “fantastic” experience for hardcore gamers who enjoy first-person shooters or driving games.
Sony gave no indication of when the wand would be commercially available, but the demonstration comes just a day after Microsoft revealed its own motion-control technology, codenamed Project Natal.
Microsoft’s system requires no controller at all, and instead uses a camera to map the movements of players on-screen.
Both Sony and Microsoft are keen to appeal to a more casual audience of gamers, who have previously been attracted to Nintendo’s Wii console, which uses a motion-sensitive controller. Nintendo said it had sold more than 50 million Wiis worldwide since its launch in 2006.
LONDON – Consumers will be given the chance to control and change the advertising display on digital LCD screens via their iPhones.
CBS Outdoor has partnered with Clusta, the digital creative agency, to develop a new advertising platform, launched yesterday, which connects a consumer’s iPhone to the display via WiFi or 3G.
By swiping in either direction on the iPhone’s touchscreen, users can make the object in the digital poster spin to the left or right, and users can also make the display change colour.
Also by using the “pinch” and “stretch” finger gestures on the iPhone, consumers will be able to zoom in or out of the object displayed on the screen.
The platform was showcased at the Media Playground conference and exhibition in London yesterday, and CBS plans to roll it out on LCD screens in Westfield shopping centre, depending on advertiser take-up.
The technology can also be developed for other smart phones and can include SMS interactivity to receive more information about the product.
Russell Townsend, the managing director at Clusta, said: “This revolutionary platform showcases the huge potential that exists for digital outdoor to use emerging technologies to captivate consumers in its unique environments – digital outdoor is an incredibly innovative medium and as an industry we are really just scratching the surface of the weird and wonderful ways it can engage.”
Lee Cutter, the head of retail sales at CBS Outdoor, said: “With the flexibility of our digital portfolio in terms of day-part and location-based targeting, we’ve delivered some excellent strategic solutions for our clients.”
link via Campaign
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