Filed under: Feature, TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Social network, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Online Communities, Foursquare, Dennis Crowley, Meetup, Venture capital, Socialdrinkster, Hangalong, ITP, Show, Digital Terrarium, Augtopia
Got Tech?: The Spring ITP Show Does
Guest Writer: Erin Hauswirth
While many prodigal sons and daughters visited their mothers this past Sunday, nerd-do-well students, bloggers and window-shopping venture capitalists flocked to ITP’s Annual Spring Show.
The Interactive Telecommunications Program, an alternate media school in New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, is one part entrepreneurial think tank, one part guerilla hacker collective, creating new platforms across tech disciplines.
Geo-Social Frenzy
Given the recent success of alumnae like Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley and blogs a-twitter with big bets on New York City start-up culture, it’s no surprise that there were a number of event-based geo-social solutions at this year’s geek chic show and tell:
Hangalong.com
Oscar von Hauske and Vitaliy Dikker’s less-committal Meetup cousin, Hangalong.com, invites users to post activities that they want to do today and allows friends or strangers to join suggested “hangs” (e.g. “let’s go get a beer”). Rather than being venue driven, the site/mobile app is activity driven, tapping into the world of “what are you up to tonight.” While that eliminates the age-old problem of having more than one friend respond to the same invite, Hangalong’s success relies on the notion that sites like Hot Potato or Meetup are not being used for the same immediate gratification.
SocialDrinkster.com
Wallet friendly insta-Groupon from Brian Jones and Cindy Wong, Socialdrinkster.comcrowd-sources frugalistas to unlock freebies at local haunts. The SocialDrinkster network alerts members when there is a deal, at which point users can accept or reject the invite. If accepted, the invite unlocks a QR-friendly mobile coupon redeemable in-venue and starts a digital countdown clock that generates timely foot traffic for business owners. In other words, friends can stop warring over mayorships and enjoy cheap margaritas in peace.
A Bigger Trend in Augmented Reality
The explosion of interest in geo-social only points to a larger trend in augmented reality demonstrated by other innovations in the off-Broadway workspace — merging actual and virtual environments in order to make interactions with technology more tactile.
Michael Kneupefel and Noah Waxman’s Digital Terrarium displays images of ants on a wooden table that re-direct their path or cluster together when objects on the table are adjusted.
Nien Lam and Scott Wayne Indiana’s next-gen AugTopia superhero toys contain cubes in their tummies that can be adjusted to simulate different QR codes, generating new on-screen super powers with each combo when held up to a webcam.
ITP has always been internationally recognized for producing idea-led inventions that make tech ergonomic and accessible. And it seems simplifying science to the level of child’s play uncovers the most creative implementations of new tech.
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Filed under: Feature, TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Winter Olympic Games, Neurosky, Mattel, Star Wars, Mouse Trap, Mind Flex, Electroencephalography, Brain, Emotiv, IPG Lab
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU: MOVE IT WITH YOUR MIND
Scott Susskind from the IPG Lab using the Neurosky headset while playing Neuroboy
A few days ago, I was introduced to Neurosky’s brain-computer interface technology. In essence, Neurosky’s unit senses brain activity noting general levels of attention and meditation. The unit then translates this activity to move objects in the real world or in a game on a computer screen. Yes, that’s right. You can finally move things just by thinking about it.
Here’s the long and short of it. The user wears a headset that looks very similar to a common pair of headphones. The technology uses what’s called electroencephalography to record brain signals. In the common medical sort, a conductive gel is used to facilitate the collection of these signals. In Neurosky’s case, they use one patented dry-active sensor for getting the job done.
Most recently, this technology was showcased at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, allowing users to control the intensity of a light installation just by focusing their attention.
Neurosky’s technology has also been successfully implemented in a variety of other successful applications including games like the Star Wars Force Trainer in Summer ‘09 and Mattel’s Mind Flex which launched over the holidays.
Star Wars Force Trainer
The Star Wars Force Trainer allows the user to lift a ball using the “force” otherwise known as attention in this case.
Mind Flex
The Mind Flex upped the complexity a bit by allowing the user to move a ball through a maze very reminiscent of the game Mouse Trap. Both games quickly sold out.
Neurosky’s main competitor is another northern California company named Emotiv. Neurosky seems to have the head start in the product launch department with their two best-selling games. They also sell their headset with a few software applications at $199. Emotiv, by comparison, offers their product at $299. Their headset alternatively features 14 wet sensors that require the application of a saline solution.
The applications of this technology could be endless. In addition to sensing attention and meditation, the headset can also sense blinks. Imagine controlling the lights in a home with a blink of an eye. If they can just figure out how to sense a nose wrinkle, I can finally get my I Dream of Jeannie on.
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- Brain Control Technology – A New Olympic Sport? (eon.businesswire.com)
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- Nokia N97′s Brain Maze requires steady hand, typical mind-control equipment (engadget.com)
- Winter Olympics To Demo Thought-Controlled Lighting (wired.com)
- Winter Olympics to demo lighting controlled by thoughts (cnn.com)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
Amazon is offering the Kindle for PC application in an attempt to attract and retain customers as pressure from other e-readers builds. The software allows consumers to purchase and read e-books on their PCs, Apple iPhones or iPods as well as the various versions of Kindle. Amazon soon will roll out a version for Macs. InformationWeek(11/10)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Blu-ray Disc, Christmas Carol, Disney Digital 3D, DVD, Jim Carrey, Netflix, Reed Hastings, Sony
Theatres equipped with RealD’s 3D cinema technology brought in over half of the total box office or nearly $16 million for “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” shot in Disney Digital 3D, according to the company. The movie, which stars Jim Carrey as Scrooge, earned an estimated $31 million during its opening weekend. (Cynopsis 11/9)
In a bid to sell living room electronics and spur buzz for “Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs,” Sony Corp. is offering the movie for free to U.S. buyers of its Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players starting Monday. (AP11/8)
The studios have put the screws to Redbox and Netflix in order to get them to take new releases at a later date. Redbox has sued many of the big studios but Netflix is taking a different tack. During the company’s most recent earnings call, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged the impact that cheap rentals were having on DVD sales and said that “if we can agree on low enough pricing for delayed rental, it could potentially increase profits for everyone.” (Paidcontent11/6)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: iPhone, Microsoft Windows, NPD Group, Operating system, San Francisco, Wall Street Journal, Windows 7, Windows Vista
Yesterday in San Francisco, AT&T held a Tech Showcase to show off some of the new innovations they are working on in their labs. One such thing I got a demo of was a way to use your iPhone to search television content simply by using your voice. (Techcrunch11/5)
U.S. unit sales of boxed copies of Windows 7 were 234% higher during the new operating system’s first few days on store shelves than the comparable period two years ago for Windows Vista, according to research firm NPD Group. But one analyst quoted in this report said the Windows 7 effect so far on the PC market as a whole had been “mixed.” The Wall Street Journal (11/6)
Redbox, operator of the $1-a-night DVD kiosks that are controversial among Hollywood studios, is reporting that revenue grew 90% in the third quarter and operating income nearly doubled. The company says it could “easily grow” its current 20,600 kiosks to nearly 60,000. (Iwantmedia11/6, LA Times 11/6)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Apple, Best Buy, Blu-ray Disc, Consumer electronics, DVD, Microsoft, Microsoft Courier, User interface
Two still mythical tablet devices, the Microsoft Courier and the Apple Tablet, are probably the hottest and most coveted devices that do not yet officially exist. To further fuel the anticipatory gadget lust, Gizmodo has scored an in-depth look at the former’s user interface and overall design. (Mashable 11/4)
While DVD sales and rentals have slowed, entertainment-industry executives are turning to the Blu-ray format as the saving grace for home entertainment in the near-term. Sales of Blu-ray players have spiked 112% this year, and consumer-electronics giant Best Buy expects to sell 18.6 million Blu-ray players next year. Variety (11/3)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
Is the DVD really on its way out? Following a partnership announced earlier this year which made CinemaNow downloads available on Best Buy’s retail site, the electronics chain announced plans to license and deploy Sonic’s Roxio CinemaNow technology and services platform to make on-demand digital content delivery a standard feature on connected consumer electronics devices sold throughout its U.S. stores, including PCs, connected TVs, set top DVRs, Blu-ray Disc and mobile media players. Sonic licenses new movies, TV shows, indie films and catalog titles, often day-in-date with their DVD release. Best Buy will be paying CinemaNow a fee along with a percentage of the service’s revenue for powering the service. CinemaNow also handles the back-end support for Blockbuster’s streaming video rental service. (Cynopsis 11/4)
