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.

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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As someone who prides herself on being a digital nerdstress, I often field questions from folks looking for mobile app developers. It’s very analogous to that moment where someone texts you looking for a good restaurant or bar in their neighborhood. Inevitably, your mind goes blank and the vestiges of cool locations are lost rendering you helpless in directing your friends to that cool bar you always want to refer people to. Eventually, perhaps you muster up the mental energy to pull a few developers out of thin air, developers who most likely have no additional bandwidth to take on new projects. FAIL.

Enter TheyMakeApps, an online directory of iPhone application developers categorized by location and price. iPhone users have so far downloaded over 3 billion applications from the iTunes store. A recent study from Gartner found that users will download, on average, 20.1 apps per smartphone this year. With that much consumption, it’s easy to see why everyone is looking for a good developer.  With over 100K registered iPhone developers, it’s easy to see the need for something which weeds though that much choice.  The challenge in finding the right person is in finding someone who can execute the vision at the right price. They Make Apps helps it all come together in a slick user interface that makes the process a bit more fun.

How to

Currently, users can browse through apps filtering by price (up to $20K) and by location. The site was developed by Kettle, a NYC-based digital consultancy. Olivier Peyre, Creative Director of Kettle, tells me that search will be available soon. Clearly, search is a critical feature allowing users to drill down on exactly what they’re looking for, be it a mobile app developer specifically or a developer who has worked with a brand of interest. I like that the site allows for users to save mobile developers of interest for a comparative look later in the process.  Any developer can easily sign up on the site to be included in the directory.

Currently, the limiting features for me are the lack of search (which is already on its way), the lack of budget options above $20K, and the lack of Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre developers. Some nice-to-have features would be a way to vote up and down certain developers creating a hot list of preferred vendors and a way to email developers of interest to friends.

TheyMakeApps isn’t exclusively for agencies and developers. SPIN magazine used the directory to find the developer for their latest project. Nick Pandolfi, Digital Edition Manager of SPIN describes his experience:

“TheyMakeApps was a huge help with SPIN’s latest development project. Rather then reach out to all our contacts for developer references, it was a quick way to find locally based developers and see exactly what they specialize in. I’m sure we’ll be using it again soon!”

TheyMakeApps is simply the glue connecting need to the solution. And frankly, I love glue.

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Downtown Los Angeles

Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

Over the weekend, the Santas converged, ready to get their drink on. Santacon began in 1994 in San Francisco when a group of 30 Santa’s converged on downtown SF and caused a bit of Kris Kringle mayhem. That spontaneous coordination of Santa fun has progressed into an international phenomenon. Saturday, Santacon dropped in on NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The crowd descended on a Santa-infused pub crawl bringing chaos and fun in its wake. Did you happen to catch the red and white tide? If so, here’s a few pics to catch you up on the fun you missed.

Los Angeles

Mariachi Square, Los Angeles “Sado Masachristmas”

Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

We were in attendance on this one and it was truly an interesting array of creative holiday spirit. Locations were communicated either through traditional means (shouting) or through more digital means (Twitter).   As this is a driving town, I was relieved to find that the flask-bearing crowd took the subway from location to location.

And who knew Santa had beef? In this shot, clowns show up to protest Santa’s progression through the streets. And yes, it rains in LA.

La Perla Los Angeles

Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

Here the singing Santas take over the subway. Yup, I didn’t know LA had one either…

New York City

Washington Square Park, NYC

Photo Credit: Sdavisk

San Francisco

Castro, San Francisco

Photo Credit: Jon Bauer

For more information on Santacon coming to a city near you, check out this calendar of events. Happy Holidays from one Santa to another.

Sunday, December 13^th, 2009. 1:00PM. Times Square. If you happened to be walking through the tourist-infested crowds in Times Square yesterday, you might have caught a red hoodie-wearing Marauder smiling back at you. My inner monologue would be, “I don’t know why you’re braving Times Square at the holidays in the rain either.”

As part of Toshiba’s countdown to New Year’s Eve, the company is launching a marketing campaign dubbed “I’m on TV.” Eighteen videos will be selected a day to air up to three times on Toshiba’s LED screen in Times Square. Participants are asked for their vision for the next decade to be recorded in 8 seconds of silent video. In addition, several videos will be selected to air on New Year’s Eve in the countdown festivities from 6PM to midnight.

The social marketer in me would have loved to see them post the videos immediately to Twitter or Facebook to make the campaign a bit more viral. As exciting as it is to know that your silly face was on a screen in Time Square, it would have been that much more exciting if those videos could travel the internet to all corners of the world. Toshiba, that is my vision for you.

So go, wax poetic about the New Year. I’ll see you in Times Square.

“Bisexuality doubles your chances of a date on a Saturday night.” –Woody Allen

Blackbox Republic, a private network for dating and friendships, launched today with a focus on “keepin’ it real” with regards to sexual orientation and relationship style. With hundreds of online dating sites, I hardly saw the need for yet another. I sat down, via phone, with CEO Sam Lawrence to try and figure out what this new site brings to the dating table.

About a year and a half ago, co-founders April Donato and Sam Lawrence packed an RV for a 17-hour drive from Portland, OR to Burning Man in the Nevada desert. That’s one hell of a long time in a vehicle with someone. Left without their digital devices to distract them, they resolved to participate in that time-honored tradition of speaking to each other. They began to chat about relationships from friendships to dating. From mass-market social networks like Facebook, to straight up online dating sites like Match.com, they didn’t feel like there was an outlet that represented what they were looking for in an online meeting place.

Hence, Blackbox Republic came to fruition, aided by $1M in angel funding. In essence, the site allows users to prescribe who they are and what they are looking for with a degree of gay [cough] [cough]…gray. Common American perception leads us to believe that each of us is either gay or straight. Delve a little deeper and you will find that sexual orientation comes in all sorts of flavors. Sam exploded my brain a bit trying to break this all down for me.

From hetero to gay, there are 5 different possibilities. Users provide their selections using Kayak-like sliders on their profile pages. Sam and I discussed one particular example, which clarified the situation for me.

While testing the product out in focus groups across the country, he met a man who, for the most part, identified himself as gay. That said, he did like to have a relationship with a woman from time to time. Typically, this is a choice that is not respected within the gay community and therefore was something that he did not share with most people. On the flip side of the orientation equation, if he were to mention the possibility of dating women to his parents, they would have him mentally married with children in minutes.

His slider would therefore be somewhere between gay and bi. Frankly, these identifications of orientation, status, partners, etc fuel my entire interest in the site. Sam adds, “The only choices before now were advertising-focused public spotlights like Facebook, or online personals sites built around chemistry tests and splintered by race, sexual orientation or religion. We are aiming for something radically different. If Facebook and Match.com had a hot love child it would be Blackbox Republic.” A hot love child that could potentially be halfway between hetero and bi.

Not only does Blackbox allow you the tools to more accurately identify yourself, it provides a walled-in garden so that you could hopefully feel more comfortable sharing these things. The site is subscription-based, intended to weed out the riff raff. A basic subscription starts at $5/month and travels up the scale to $49 depending on features and the number of people joining together. I mean, what better way to get your threesome all using the same social network? In addition, users are verified by the community using a voucher system.

Here’s where I am a bit confused. When I asked Sam the purpose of Blackbox from friendship-based to dating, he responded that the site is intended to provide a place for people to be real with each other. Conversations on the site range from friendship to dating with leads to some confusion on what I would be using the site for. While I may share what orientation I am to potential partners, I wouldn’t necessarily want all friends to know. In addition, the prioritization of orientation on the site leads me to believe that the site is focused on the LGBT community, which after speaking with Sam is certainly not the case. It is true that online dating sites are somewhat splintered by race, religion, etc but that is because those individuals choose to associate with their particular groups, be it the Jewish community on J-date or the black community on blacksingles.com. The site is well designed and easy to use but I still don’t need another online dating site…and that in my mind, is exactly what this is.

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Guest Writer: Martha Rivera

A sold out crowd gathered at the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn, NY last night for the unveiling of the Boxee beta as well as to catch a glimpse of the highly anticipated Beta Box.

Launched in 2008, Boxee is software that aggregates media content from the web and your personal computer and streams it on your HD television. It searches web based content providers like YouTube, Netflix, MySpaceTV, Blip.TV, CBS.com, Revision3, flickr, and Pandora, among others and brings the content straight to your living room television. Missing still from the list of content providers is the online video site, Hulu. In addition to streaming web content, it also pulls media content from your own personal computer including your ITunes, personal videos and pictures. Boxee is an open source platform allowing users to create their own apps. To date, there are over 300.

“Our biggest challenge is distribution,” said Boxee CEO Avner Ronen.   The hurdle is getting cable affiliates and major content providers, like Hulu on board. At the core of the problem is fear of piracy and concern that the advertising is stripped from the content. However, Boxee pulls online content as is, which includes the advertising that is attached to it. Boxee also has the ability to track a host of analytics far outweighing television’s usage reporting. Ronen is hoping media companies and cable providers will become comfortable once they understand usage.

Four weeks ahead of its wide release at CES, Ronen introduced the beta software and Boxee Box, as well as announced the launch of 3 new apps: the hipster soft-core site Suicide Girls, the online gamer e-zine The Escapist and Clicker, TV guide, entertainment search engine and DVR all rolled into one.

Boxee Beta

Overall, Boxee Beta looks great and is much more user-friendly. The UI has been streamlined with a new layout. The menu, previously hidden, is now front and center. The home screen has been redesigned to feature the main menu, featured content, personal queue and the friend feed.

My favorite social networking feature is the ability to connect to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Any media that your friends or followers share with you will automatically populate on your queue. Too busy to watch videos at work? Don’t have the ability to watch video because you don’t have an office or are on the go? Another feature allows a viewer to send media assets to your queue so you can watch when you get home.

The search function has also been streamlined. Now users can search for movies, TV shows as well as local and online content at once. Boxee Beta populates all content from your computer as well as from any web source that works with Boxee. Of note, you can now mark content as “watched.” Better yet, the search function lets you omit “watched” content from the results.

Boxee focused specifically on TV shows in the Beta redesign. TV shows are now organized by season and episode. You can follow your favorite TV shows, and like Hulu, it will automatically populate your queue with new episodes.

Another new feature is the Global Menu. This menu is essentially the shortcuts screen. It provides quick access to predetermined shortcuts, favorite apps, history, and settings.

Other features include allowing users to interact with the apps without having to download them, a now playing button on every screen allowing easier navigation back to the player, a new Last.fm and flickr interface as well as a main background that changes based on the time of day.

As of this writing, 85% of Boxee’s 700,000 users use a Mac. However, Boxee Beta has not forgotten about its Windows’ friends. It will now run on Direct X, which will mean a better experience for the PC user.

Boxee Box by D-Link

The night also included the highly anticipated unveiling of the Boxee Box. Boxee partnered with D-Link, better known as the makers of wireless routers, to create the hardware. Astro Studios, the cutting edge designers behind products like the X-Box 360 and Nike, designed the sleek cube. This small black submerged cube will sit on top of the many boxes taking up space near your TV. The guys at Boxee hope that eventually you’ll do away with all those boxes and just use the Boxee Box.

The Boxee Box will retail at $200 and will be available for distribution sometime in 2Q10.

Why Boxee?

I’m a three-screen user. I watch TV, while surfing on my laptop, with my phone not far away. Having used the Alpha, I don’t know if I can give up my computer that easily. As I was navigating the web content on Boxee, I found my multi-tasking self wanting to toggle out of the screen to search the web while the video played. Because I was unfamiliar with the navigation, or more like because I’m a specific type of navigator, all of a sudden I felt trapped. According to Andrew Kippen, VP of Marketing, “Boxee is about fighting tradition. It’s streamlining your viewing experience by consolidating it all into one. Boxee is the tip of the iceberg for what’s possible.”

The Boxee Beta version seems much more straightforward. It’s easy-to-use features will allow users to not feel so (excuse the pun) boxed in. Then again, in this case, that’s what the creators of Boxee want you to do. Engage with the content within the box.

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