Looking Out
1. The Bay Bridge: A project I condone
Another Creator’s Project: This particular project earns the second-place medal for my all-time favorite project of its kind. This giant light sculpture features 25’000 LEDS which will light up the Bay Bridge in California to put on a spectacular light show. This show will be free to the public, undeniably beautiful in a large city, and features a custom-built software with an algorithm which ensures that no pattern displayed will be repeated. The beauty of this project will therefore last longer than any singular person could ever witness if they just sat down and watched.
I also appreciate the project designers’ choice to use only a single, warm color of LED lamp.
2. .fluid: A project that could have been great, but disappointed me.
The reason I was disappointed with this project is simple. Although the idea is very innovative and interesting, all the possible practical applications listed on their website:
Your mobile gets goose skin when your lover texts you. Your WiFi controller changes the look and feel of it’s surface according to different game situations. Your sofa gives you a short massage as a warm welcome when you return home from a hard day of work. Your laptop feels dried out when battery status is getting low.
Are either already possible with current technology (e.g. massaging sofas — we have a massage chair in Hunt Library) or a nice addition which does not add an enormous new dimension to your current situation (e.g. the WiFi controller which changes surface according to different game situations. This particular piece of hardware is only a controller and shouldn’t have much to do with the interaction of the game. If anything, technology such as the LeapMotion controller should eventually replace physical controllers to fully immerse the user in the game experience.)
This piece of technology was the result of a two week collaboration between students at the KISD (Köln International School of Design) and supervised by Professor Andreas Muxel.
3. A technology that surprised me: The LeapMotion controller
https://www.leapmotion.com/product
The official website is beautiful. The product seems flawless. Tiny, fast, light, effective, inexpensive. What surprised me about this particular piece of technology is that it should be possible. Watching the demonstrations, the software seems to work flawlessly, and will be useful for almost any user, be that the gamer, the artist, the average user, or any other. The system is designed to interact with humans, but one may also use a pencil or paintbrush to make drawing or painting motions. I can only imagine the practical applications for 3D sculpting and modelling!
See this diagram by David Cohn, about Graphic Design, but applicable to other situations.
The company, LeapMotion Inc. has already been met with considerable success and signed deals with HP regarding imbedding their technology into HP laptops. This is HCI at its best.