@_@   Wow!

Questi dell'ECAL (Media & Interaction Design Unit) di Losanna sono dei mostri... Magari avessimo anche noi dello IUAV i mezzi necessari per fare questo genere di progetti!!

Bravi, comunque!

Girando per la rete, oggi ho trovato questo programmino chiamato retrievr, che è in grado di trovare foto dall'archivio di Flickr (di tre anni fa, purtroppo) attraverso uno schizzo molto sommario ed elementare (meglio usare semplici forme geometriche) e la scelta dei colori prevalenti di un'immagine (meglio se uno solo).

Anche se risultati non sono sempre quelli sperati, penso che in ogni caso sia molto interessante e curioso da provare!

During these months (almost a year) I would like to create and design an interctive software that helps people to search images inside big databases and archives. The research will be done not by tags, dates or names, but through elements linked to the perception of an image like colors, shapes, patterns, lights and shadows...

Thus Interaction is mainly concerns with how the system work and responds to the user.

Role of an Interaction Designer:

The Interaction Designer is a story-weaver – scripting the narrative between man and machine – the dialogue of system response to user action. Goals, behavior and flow are significant strategic concerns, but this skill goes beyond making interfaces relevant and usable. IxD marries personality with each interaction story, creating a system with which users make an emotional connection. Interaction Design and Visual Communication work together to breathe life into software UI. IxD defines the way the user manipulates the interface and Visual Communication determines how that looks in concert with all the other visual elements on screen. Blending analysis and creativity – working between artistry and engineering – Interaction Design concepts muster team consensus around what to build via the user interface layer.

Scenarios, flow diagrams, interaction models, prototypes and wireframes are typical deliverables of interaction design. They capture the desired user experience that is translated into a functional specification.

Because interaction design is primarily about creating intuitive interfaces, a measure of empathy produces the best results. This skill is not a precise science, so humility and resilience in the face of criticism (or sometimes failure) is also good.

Nevertheless, in the past few days, I've been thinking about digital history as a practice. Is it really ok to say that by virtue of being a recognized historian, and having created a webpage, does this make one a digital historian? The more I think about it and the more I delve into the entire process behind webpage design, I have to say... I don't really think so.

Let's take the example of the book. Academia has pronounced the manner in which a (or "an" - yes, I've seen it as being acceptable both ways) historian should go about compiling research and writing. If you don't meet a certain level of expectations, you don't get published. However, there are publishers outside the academy who aren't as discriminate (a good thing and a bad thing, in my opinion, but that's content for another post on another day). We realize that a certain level of historiography is expected, proper footnotes and the ability to express oneself clearly... it's all a part of the expectations. The objective of writing an article or a book is to convey one's perspective.

So, why is it any different when it comes time for a historian to create a webpage? Let's think about this a little. As I said above, in writing an article or a book, the point is to convey one's perspective through the work. However, putting something on the Web is not simply a matter of historiography, wordsmithing, and footnotes. There is a lot more to it than that, and, in that sense, I think that some may be missing the point of the ability of the Web when it comes to using it as a vessel for relating history. If the Web is a more effective medium than a book (and I argue that it can be and, in fact is, in some well-designed works), then to be a digital historian entails a lot more than just understanding historiography and the ability to write academically. I argue that to be an effective digital historian, one must be well-grounded in history (an understanding of historiography being a critical element), but have a very good understanding of a great deal more when it comes down to creating a webpage. In consulting or collaborating with a Web professional, I think that some perspective (if not a lot), is or can be lost in the final product. It might be an upgrade from print media, but does it take full advantage of the power of the Web? I don't think it does. I think that being an effective (key word being "effective") digital historian, one must understand some very basic principles of webdesign and some complex principles as well. Some of these principles include an understanding of design theory (including color and typography) and an understanding of cognitive psychology (the Human-Computer Interactive/HCI process, User experience/Ux, and so on). Yet, I'm only naming a little of what it takes to make a truly dynamic website that does justice to both the medium and the content.

Again, the point here is to convey one's perspective.

Articles and books captured one small area of this aspect, while the potential for the Web in conveying perspective entails much more.

This is just a quick reflection, but I will expand on it further... perhaps in an academic article for a print publication.

by Jessica Bozza + Alice Lucchin

The Stone In The Water is an interactive art installation thought for a very narrow venetian calle. It use lights and sounds to make the street communicate with the people from one side to the other.

"Think the calle as full of water…
When someone enters into it, the person moves the water inside, like a stone thrown into a pond…"

Download:

Here you can find a detailed description of our project [PDF - 7.6 MB].

If you are interested you can see some photos on my Illuminotecnica Flickr set.

Jessica Bozza and me developed this project for Illuminotecnica course at IUAV (University of Venice) taught by Andy Cameron.

more at IxD website

Sound excerpt from My red hot car by Squarepusher.

This is the video that shows how we bult the final prototype of "Dreamstop".

Scorpio: (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Creative people come together - it's a movement. You're an integral part of this. Your job is to recognize that something important is going on here and see the beauty in this temporal stage.

Q: Could this be about spring or butterflies?

A: No, it's about aesthetic, effective interaction design (IxD) and the web application conference I'm attending. So check back to my blog to read about important ways to make your web applications beautiful.

*

Here's John's horoscope:

Gemini(May 21-June21). You're exempt from modern problems, like identity theft or slow Internet connections.

Q: Is this true?

A: Yes. Sharing John's fast internet connection is just one of the amazing benefits of being Mrs. John Smith.  :)

Heres some projection attempts that, me and my team (Dreamstop), did last week, to set up an early prototype of our installation.

The code captures a video from a camera (in this case it's the webcam), posterizes it in black and white giving to white pixels the highest transparency. Then copies every frame on an array which overalys (acting as a mask) a pre-recorded video. There's also a version with a selectable threshold.
Durrell Bishop re-wrote completely the Processing code for us. Thank you so much Durrell!
Me and my team weren't able to find what was going wrong with our initial version of the code. Durrell fixed up everything.

Durrell Bishop and Tom Hulbert are from Luckybite

[This post will be updated soon]

Introducing Arduino:

Analog I/O:

How does it work:

Why Programming:

Intro music: "Chocolate lemon and lime" by Muscles

Video di Andrea Collet

Cosa?

Questo è un semplice programma: ogni volta che premo l'interruttore si accende il LED.

Materiale

1 scheda Arduino
1 LED (uso quello verde)
1 interruttore (uso quello azzurro)
1 resistenza da 2K ohm circa (nel mio caso ho usato 2 resistenze da 1K in serie)
fili di rame (per collegare)

Come?
Fase 1: interrutore

Collego un capo dell'interruttore [68] ad un capo della resistenza [18] (la resistenza serve a creare una differenza di potenziale, e ad impedire al circuito di andare in corto), e l'altro capo della resistenza [16] al pin (di Arduino) 5V.

Collego lo stesso capo dell'interruttore [68] con il pin digitale n. 2 (ho scelto un pin a caso); collego l'altro capo dell'interruttore [69] con il pin Gnd (è la messa a terra).

Fase 2: LED (opzionale)

Collego un capo del LED [53] al pin digitale n. 13 (anche qui il numero è casuale), e l'altro capo del LED [54] al pin Gnd.

Fase 3: software Arduino

Avvio il software di Arduino. Copio all'interno della finestra il seguente codice:

int ledPin = 13; // scelgo il pin per il LED
int inPin = 2;   //  scelgo il pin per l'interruttore
int val = 0;     // variabile per leggere lo stato del pin

void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  // dichiaro il LED un output
pinMode(inPin, INPUT);    // dichiaro l'interruttore un input
}

void loop(){
   val = digitalRead(inPin);  // legge il valore dell'input
   if (val == HIGH) {         // se il valore dell'input è 5V (interruttore spento)
   digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);  // spegne il LED
   } else {                    // altrimenti (interruttore premuto)
   digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);  // accende il LED
   }
}

facendo attenzione a dichiarare i pin dell'interruttore e del LED con i numeri esatti (in questo caso rispettivamente il n. 2 e il n. 13).

Prima di mandare il programma alla scheda Arduino devo controllare se ci sono errori nel programma cliccando il tasto di VERIFICA.

Fase 4: scheda Arduino

Collego con un cavo USB (tipo quello che si usa per collegare il computer ad una stampante o ad un HD esterno); se è tutto giusto dovrebbe accendersi il LEDdino verde in alto a destra.

Premo il tasto RESET sulla scheda Arduino e subito dopo (nel giro di qualche secondo), clicco il tasto di UPLOAD sul software.

Aspetto qualche secondo che si carichi il programma.

Fase 5: verifica

Ok, ora dovrebbe essere tutto pronto.
Provo a premere l'interruttore (chiudendo il circuito): se il LED si accende...

BEN FATTO!!!

A few attempts we did to determine the camera angle for tracking.

During last days, at Laboratori Ligabue, while testing frontal and retro-projection on a plexiglass surface, me and my teammates have found many interesting things:

1. You can't get a good projection on pure glass because its low reflecting coefficient and high refractive index just make the incoming light beams deviate and not coming back. So you must use some kind of translucent layer to fix an image on the surface, that's why we tested it on glossy paper and on vynil acetate to see where we had the best result;
2. Glossy paper is good, has slightly more brightness and it's far more available and economic than acetate;
3. Glossy paper gives a frosty-glass look, and its a bit less bright than glossy paper, but it's far more resistant.

Also we've made some attemps to understand how to place the projector: too close to the surface will result as a unfocused image, and if it is rotated, the output needs to be deformed with the trapezoidal rule.

A less economic solution is the SGG-Priva-Lite Technology glass. It' s a patent of Saint Gobain Glass which consists in a layer of liquid crystals (connected to an electric source) within the middle of two glass surfaces. Depending of the orientation and disposition of crystals, glass become clear or translucent simply by hitting a switch. You can find a brief explaination looking at the skecthes below or visiting http://www.sggprivalite.com/.

The sketch above shows, on the left, a total cross-section (glass + liquid crystal films) then, on the right, the section of the sandwich in the middle consisting in many liquid crystal films overlapped and alternated with condictive coatings.

These last two sketches show (on the left) how the glass becomes translucent without electrical current by deviating light beams thanks to a random disposition and orientation of the crystal; then (on the right) how, instead, thanks to a passage of current, the crystal have a regular disposition and the same orientation, letting the light to pass through the glass without deviations and giving a clear view.

The primarly use of these special product is to mantain temporary privacy on particular places, as Rem Koolhaas and AMO (a division of OMA-Office for Metropolitan Architecture) did in 2001 for the dressing rooms of the Prada store in Soho, New York.

Image by Gizmag

Other solution consist are less expensive but not within everyone's budgets (expecially universitary students: the Claro Holographic TV or the Wohenburk CrystalLine.

Image by Gizmag

This post will be constantly updated in future

Both websites (Brent Library and Haringey Town Planning) are almost impossible to successfully use, display information you don't want/ need and confuse even experienced users to no end. They are certainly not examples of perfection in Interaction Design.

Then, I stumbled upon the UKGovWeb BarCamp, and had a look through the list of suggested talking points, lots and lots on Web 2.0 (eughh),  Strategy (eughh) and Social Networking (this seems interesting atleast),  but what shocked me was that not a single person had indicated they wanted to talk about the Interaction Design of Government websites, or even the Usability. So I resolved to do a talk on this (as an outside observer) and proclaim the IxD banner out loud.

Great, so I signed up to the growing list (80 odd people already) and started nosing around the associated documentation, when it hit me. BUREAUCRACY. It was everywhere, three way collaboration on sessions, peer review, schedule shaping. They wanted people to sign up into sessions (having collaborated with others to share the 1 hour slots) weeks in advance, so that attendees could "review" the sessions in case they wanted something different!

Im really happy that UKGov Web Types want to hold a barcamp to do the stuff we do at barcamps, but don't have a conference and call it a barcamp for the sakes of pretending you are doing something different, make sure almost everyone speaks, in their own session, about a subject area they are passionate about (even if it is one of those areas that bores me, there will be others who are interested)

Anyway, I will be going, I will be presenting on "IxD, Usability and Government Websites" or something aproaching that, and I certinaly wont be publishing my slides for peer review before hand, that takes then fun out of it.

Hope to see some of you there.

Basta inserire una tag e appare il sistema solare corrispondente. Ogni pianeta, che ruota attorno alla stella centrale, contiene le immagini di una certa tag, e quando clicchi su uno di questi, le immagini ricoprono il globo formando una sfera che ruota. Cliccando l'immagine desiderata, questa si ingrandisce e appare il link di dove è situata la foto in Flickr.

Questo progetto è stato creato e sviluppato da Steven Wood come tesi di laurea.