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szu-chen stan jou of cmu has developed a realtime translator which works via throat-whispering. 11 electrodes attached to the face and neck detect muscle movements to determine what the wearer is saying and then translates from mandarin to english or spanish. cool and freakish :]
[thanks we make money not art]
leonardo amerigo bonanni presented work on ambient displays / augmented reality for the kitchens at interact 2005 so i am obliged to mention it. you can read the paper here. the heatsink, more or less the same as the bathroom fixtures from hansa and to a lesser extent the faucet friend, is the only project in the paper i was really keen on. but you already know i've championed that concept.
according to the author the kitchen is the "epitome of a feed-back less modern space," and goes on to assert that the kitchen has been filled up with ubiquitous computers, sensors and effectors. the proposed solution is... not to go back to the old times just lamented, but rather to install a "system of sensors and projectors specifically for the purpose of overlaying the existing space with sensory feedback to assist and enrich the user's experience."
now let me pause and say that my kitchen is quite the sensory experience. i can hear running water when i've left the tap on, hear the kettle boil, feel the heat from the stove, feel the cold air rush from the freezer, etc. however, if you are one of the inhabitants of these super-subtle kitchens, is what you are dying for the projection of a little tiny fire when your stove is on?
and please, please do not reference the ambient orb. i'm begging you.
[thanks we make money not art]
a masterpiece credited only to "two chinese students". i love the internets.
who wants to buy me one of these sweet wallets made out of gaffers tape from db clay?
you? i thought so.
i've got to mention the growable media project:
From input information, Growable Media gives direct stimulus to plants. Growable Media controls growth of plants by making difference in photosynthesis.using plants in this way is not unique to the project, but i still like it as a concept. however, i haven't seen an execution of the idea that rivals the visualizations of nature...It consists of three parts. The first part is the sensor that mobile phones and RFIDs collect the results of everyday communications. The second part is the MySQL database server, which manages the collected data. The third part is the actuator, which reads data from the database server, and embodies information as growth of plants.
[thanks we make money not art]
besides being really beautiful looking the open street map is a really interesting project. it works by collecting gps data of people walking, driving and cycling around a city. the thicker the lines, the more people travelled them. check out london above.
[thanks boing boing]
the commoncensus map project:
is redrawing the map of the United States based on your voting, to show how the country is organized culturally, as opposed to traditional political boundaries. It shows how the country is divided into 'spheres of influence' between different cities at the national, regional, and local levels.really interesting to see how people are voting, can't wait for round 2.
[thanks information aesthetics]
i want this phone so badly, like the nokia 7280, only more money, and still with no buttons. and bits of cow.
[thanks engadget]
i know you'd rather hear about something not related to me, but i will have to disappoint. i recently moved into my new place in long beach and it is, my friend, teh dopest. im living with meta and sled in the top half of a two family house. one block from 2nd street [the coolest street in town] and two blocks from the beach [yes, the beach]. i finally [after living in cali for what is technically 9 months] bought some furniture and am trying to make this state my home. at least for the time being :] so, there you have it. roxy settles down.
to disturb yourself further read the comments from the original blog post on splitlevel.
[thanks boingboing]
it's a long story. but i'm finally back in cali.
as a brief recap: i have bounced across the globe and back. i left boston on september 1st, almost missing my flight because an mbta bus had exploded into flames on the mass pike grinding the whole of boston to a halt. first stop: scotland. i did a whirlwind tour of the highlands [sandend, inverness, thurso, orkney, black isle] and drove on the wrong side of the road.
then i was in london for a night, and off to tokyo for ubicomp 2005 where i participated in the metapolis and urban life workshop, which was, in fact, awesome. after tokyo back to london for a few days then to paris for ecscw 2005 where we demoed* nimio! then due to typical life complications i got stuck in london for a while which was actually fantastically relaxing and needed because i was fairly ill by that point. then back to boston for a quick and crazy birthday.
and now, boof. new home in long beach.
so as you can see i've uploaded a bunch of photos from the trip to my flickr account for your viewing pleasure. most of you know the stories more or less, but for those of you who don't, these pictures go way beyond the few cracked out words i have to offer.
i'll be taking my phase ii [qualifying exam] next week so don't expect to much from me. but you [unless you are my advisor] never really did anyway, did you? ;]
*where demo indicates frantically finished assembling only minutes before showtime and managing to pull it off successfully nonetheless.
