July 31, 2003

BIGGER and BETTER

Keep going to my site to check the bigger and better versions of flash. I also need the Personal ABOUT YOU stuff so I can incorporate it in the About IX portion of the flash.

Post any suggestions or of course e-mail/call me.

Posted by Monica at 02:55 PM | Comments (1)

Rebirth of Flash

Hey!
Go to my site to check out the very brief part of flash that I was able to salvage. It's tiny and on the left side of the screen because the parameters are wrong. I have to fix that but I did want to put something up before I went to grab some lunch.

Hopefully I'll be able to salvage/put together more today for you gals to see. =T

Posted by Monica at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2003

Prototype and Pictures

I made space on our iX webspace for our prototype... hopefully it'll be up and running soon with tons of great multibrowsing javascript features! In the meantime it just has a few pictures, etc. on it for future reference, but hey.

Also, the pictures link finally works on this page! Just click on the tab above, and it should take you to a variety of wonderful illustrations of what the heck we've been talking about for all this time!

Posted by LoraO at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

javascript outline

I've been working on getting our map to work using javascript. The idea is to open the map page to start off with. The map page will open another page (using multibrowse). The page has 2 frames. The top frame displays an intro page, while the bottom frame is just black. If the mouse hovers over a country, the bottom frame displays the country name. If you click on a country, the top frame displays the country's news site. When your mouse leaves the country region, both frames are reset to defaults (if necessary).
My extended entry should have a little bit of code for you to look at. But it is hard to get it to display properly because moveable type accepts HTML commands and thinks my code is for it to follow, which it isn't. If I can figure out how to ftp stuff, I suppose I could stick it all somewhere like my webspace (Lora?! help?)

In maptable4 AREA tag:

shape="poly" coords="870,558,[I am not showing these to save space on the blog]" onClick = "newsview = newcountry(Australia)" onMouseover="rollover('Australia');return true" onMouseout="godefault(newsview); return true"


Here is what I've got so far in declarations.js (I will add a function tomorrow to return multibrowser links given a normal url. Also, rollover() could be made prettier):

// JavaScript Document
//just thinking we may want to switch to that browser that disables popups
var CountryURL = ' ';
var CountryName = ' ';
var defaultpage = "defaultpage.html";
var rolloverdefault = "rolloverdefault.html";
var framespage = "frames.html";
var frames_page; //variable, not name
var newsview = false;

function openframes(){
frames_page = window.open(framespage, 'frames_page','width=1024,location=no,directories=no,left=0,top=0,screenX=0,screenY=0');
}

function newcountry(CountryURL){
//displays news for the country selected (in the top frame)
frames_page[0].location = CountryURL;
return true;
}

function rollover(CountryName){
//displays country name in bottom frame upon rollover
frames_page[1].document.write('<BODY BGCOLOR = "BLACK" TEXT = "WHITE"><CENTER>'+ CountryName +'</CENTER></BODY>');
}

function godefault(newsview){
//sets both the rollover and news frames to their defaults, clearing the frames page of country name and news
//set rollover frame to default
frames_page[1].location = rolloverdefault;
//if the top frame is showing the news, set it to default
if(newsview == true){
frames_page[0].location = defaultpage;
newsview = false;
}
}


In countryurls.js:

var Australia = 'http://www.theage.com.au/';
var Afghanistan = 'http://www.omaid.com/eng_section.htm';
and so on... I haven't done any more than this yet, however.

There's more code, such as initialize.js and frames.html and the default pages, but if you want to see that I can just show you sometime.

Posted by Joanna at 12:21 AM | Comments (1)

July 29, 2003

Highlights from SDK Documentation

It recommends we use Microsoft Visual Studio version 6.0 to develop eBeam compatible applications. Which is something we'd need to acquire/buy.

It looks like this SDK was meant for development using Visual C++... which could be a problem since none of us particularly know Visual C++.

The API part of the documentation gives us the given functions that the eBeam is used to recieving. I'm hoping that they give us a library of stuff that we can then hopefully tweak... since we're only changing the input/output stuff and not trying to create a whole new interface (like those menus on Andy's group boards). These commands pretty much define the basic use of the eBeam (which port it's plugged in to, how large the "whiteboard" is that it's hooked up to (also known as calibration), and yes, I think it also includes what the eBeam input is interpreted as). Hopefully we can figure out/discuss how all this works tomorrow. They use some CS words that sound vaguely familiar from Matlab functions but that I don't particularly understand (like "handle"). It looks like we'll be able to make the eBeam do what we want it to do... but we'll have to probably read through it together, find out what the eBeam is capable of, figure out what we want it to do, and then attempt to implement it. This could be tricky, but I don't think it's impossible.

Posted by LoraO at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)

eBeam API

We have acquired an eBeam SDK (Software Develpment Kit) that I applied for. It has an API in it so hopefully we can figure out how to develop the object tracking/rollowver capabilities we need.

eBeam SDK document

Posted by Corina at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2003

The End: J, K, L

That's all folks :)

[J, K, L, and a correction for Taiwan]

CHANGING TAIWAN
Taiwan = 'http://www.chinapost.com.tw/';

J

Jamaica = 'http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/';
Japan = 'http://www.asahi.com/english/english.html';
Jordan = 'http://www.jordantimes.com/';

K

Kazakhstan = 'http://www.times.kg/';
Kenya = 'http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/';
Korea_North = 'http://www.nkoreadaily.com/';
Korea_South = 'http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/';
Kuwait = 'http://www.kuwaittimes.net/today/index.shtml';
Kyrgyzstan = 'http://www.kind.net.kg/';

L

Laos = 'http://www.vientianetimes.com/Headlines.html';
Latvia = 'http://www.leta2000.com/eng/';
Lebanon = 'http://www.dailystar.com.lb/';
Lesotho = 'http://www.publiceye.co.ls/';
Liberia = 'http://www.equitorial.com/news_inquirer.html';
Libya = 'http://www.libya1.com/';
Liechtenstein = 'http://www.news.li/news/index.htm';

Baltic states altogether? = 'http://archives.baltictimes.com/www/';

Lithuania = 'http://www.elta.lt/sablonas1.php?kalba=en';
Luxembourg = 'http://www.news.lu/';

Posted by Corina at 06:42 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2003

HI!

[Countries for H and I]

(H)
Haiti = "http://www.haitiwebs.com/magazine/national.php"
Honduras = "http://www.marrder.com/htw/"
Hungary = "http://www.budapestsun.com/article.asp?Article=News"

(I)
Iceland = I think we've got this one down from before...
India = "http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com"
Indonesia = "http://www.thejakartapost.com"
Iran = "http://www.tehrantimes.com/"
Iraq = "http://www.albawaba.com/news/?countrySel=Iraq&lang=e"
Ireland = "http://www.ireland.com/scripts/tardis.plx?main=newspaper/front"
Israel = "http://www.haaretz.com/"
Italy = "http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl"

Posted by Joanna at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)

'G' is for Good Grief!

Good Grief Charlie Brown!
[The G Countries]

Gabon = "http://www.gabonnews.com/"
Gambia = "http://allafrica.com/gambia/", or the Independent (last published July 7; I'm not sure how frequently it comes out, but at least it's Gambian) "http://www.qanet.gm/Independent/independent.html"
Georgia = "http://www.geotimes.ge/"
Germany = "http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/default.asp"
Ghana = "http://www.graphic.com.gh/"
Greece = "http://www.ekathimerini.com/"
Grenada = "http://www.grenadianvoice.com/" But it's down for now.. Anyway, it's very very small (although I know someone from there!!)
Guatemala = "http://www.guatemaladaily.com/"
Guinea = "http://allafrica.com/guinea/"
Guinea-Bissau = "http://allafrica.com/guineabissau/"
Guyana = "http://www.guyanachronicle.com/"

Posted by Joanna at 03:21 PM | Comments (0)

'F' is for I hope i Finish Fast

The French site is expatica.com, a site for expatriots from lots of different countries. The french newspapers don't seem to have english translations, ever. Silly French. Lora, maybe you know of something better from French classes?

[F Countries]

Fiji = "http://www.fijilive.com/"
Finland = "http://virtual.finland.fi/news/"
France = "http://213.159.10.102/france.asp"

Posted by Joanna at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2003

JavaScript Findings

Okay, I've designated today as "work on web stuff" day, which at this point means reading through JavaScript books. We were going to initially use JavaScript to substitute for a database (which it can do), but after I've read up on it some, it looks like we may be able to use it to do other things to make a cleaner HTML prototype (in theory everything would be hard coded into a program or something instead of posting stuff on the web and using HTML). Similar to the Event Heap, there's also Events in JavaScript that let us control what the browser does depending on what the user does. There's your basic "onMouseOver" (which is the rollover-style feature that we seek), but there's other stuff like "onClick", "onDblClick", "onKeyDown", etc. that we could possibly use for more of the interface sorts of things (such as click once, get the name of the country, click twice, get the news. Although it also noted that "onDblClick" isn't reliable on all platforms). I'm still looking on how to implement all this stuff, but in the meantime, it's looking promising...

-L.

Posted by LoraO at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2003

Exploring Object Tracking Technology

  • Seiko: Look at the InkLink and SmartPad products that transfer handwritten things to your computer/PDA. At least the InkLink is like the eBeam in that is based on sound. I'm not sure about the SmartPad.
  • Logitech io Personal Digital Pen: Using digital paper with a tiny dot pattern, you can write with the pen normally and an optical sensor (meaning camera?) reads the patters you write, an on board processor digitizes it, and this is stored on a memory chip until you transfer it to your computer.
  • Surface Acoustic Wave technology: A type of touchscreen John mentioned.
Posted by Corina at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

The iPen

This company makes the iPen, which looks pretty cool. But they don't explain themselves too well, so I've written to them asking for more info. Still, the website is definitely worth checking out. These pens have rollover + click capacity.
http://www.fingersystemusa.com/

Posted by Joanna at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

M, N, O, P (begining)

[M, N, O, P Countries]

"M"
Macedonia = "http://www.mpa.gr/index.html?page=english"
Madagascar = "http://www.madagascarnews.com/"
Malawi = "http://www.nationmalawi.com/"
Malaysia = "http://www.sarawaktribune.com.my/publish/index.shtml"
Maldives = "http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/"
Mali = "http://allafrica.com/mali/"
Malta = "http://www.independent.com.mt/daily/"
Marshall_Islands = "http://www.yokwe.net/"
Mauritania = "http://allafrica.com/mauritania/"
Mauritius = "http://mauritius-news.co.uk/"
Mexico = "http://www.mexonline.com/"
Micronesia = "http://www.mymicronesia.com/"
Moldova = "http://www.azi.md/en.html"
Monaco = "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/world/europe/westerneurope/monaco/"
Mongolia = "http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/"
Morocco = "http://www.al-jarida.net/"
Mozambique = "http://allafrica.com/mozambique/"

"N"
Namibia = "http://www.namibian.com.na/"
(Nauru little oceania islands)
Nepal = "http://www.kantipuronline.com/kpost_html/kpost.htm"
Netherlands = "http://www.nrc.nl/inenglish/"
New_Zealand = "http://www.nzherald.co.nz/"
Nicaragua = "http://www.nicaraguanews.com/"
Niger = "http://www.afrol.com/Countries/Niger/msindex.htm"
Nigeria = "http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/"
Norway = "http://www.aftenposten.no/english/"

"O"
Oman = "http://www.omanobserver.com/"

"P"
Pakistan = "http://frontierpost.com.pk/"
(Palau = little dinky oceania)
Panama = "http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/current.html"
Papua_New_Guinea = "http://www.postcourier.com.pg/"
Paraguay = "http://www.paraguay.com/"

Posted by Corina at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

The D's and E's

[D, E Countries]

D!
Denmark = "http://cphpost.sites.itera.dk/"
Djibouti = "http://allafrica.com/djibouti/"
Dominica = "http://www.news-dominica.com/"
Dominican Republic = "http://www.dr1.com/"

E!
East Timor = "http://www.easttimor.com/"
Ecuador = "http://www.quitonews.com/"
Egypt = "http://www.algomhuria.net.eg/gazette/"
El Salvador = "http://www.moreover.com/cgi-local/page?o=portal&feed=361"
Equatorial Guinea = "http://allafrica.com/equatorialguinea/"
Eritrea = "http://www.cyberadalpress.com/"
Estonia = "http://archives.baltictimes.com/www/" ~ Covers Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia.
Ethiopia = "http://www.dekialula.com/"

Posted by Joanna at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

Country "Database" in JavaScript

I'm working on adding Javascript to the Image Map so that the countries/websites are easier to adjust once we have all the initial links made. Just as a note to everyone, if you're looking up Country's News Sites and posting them on the web, be sure to put them in this format (it makes it easier for me to copy-paste into javascript):

(Country Name) = "(URL of Newspaper)"

Thanks!
-L.

Posted by LoraO at 08:20 AM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2003

Absolute Mice and iSpace Yellow

Wendy's going to be gone for the next week, so we're on our own (relatively... I mean we can still call her and email her and stuff, but she won't physically be here in the office). Luckily we talked with her today and figured out a few things. We went to Fry's where we looked at a bunch of mice, but didn't find any absolute mice (ones that know their absolute position on the desktop). We did see a neat chess set, though, that was aware of which pieces were on which squares of the board. Cool stuff. Wish we could take it apart and gut it for pieces, but it was $40.00, and there has to be a better way.

I'm currently sitting with Wendy as she's fixing iSpace-Yellow (the evil computer that always asks you what country you're from every time you boot up) so hopefully we can use it as a permanent computer for all our eBeam and Event Heap needs. Yay!

I'll be looking up JavaScript stuff tonight, hopefully we'll get the Event Heap cookin' sometime tomorrow. Good stuff.

Posted by LoraO at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2003

A Suggestion from CanSar

An Austrian friend suggested we use Die Presse, http://diepresse.at/ta/reee.htm
Yeah Can Sar!

Posted by Joanna at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)

'C' is for "Country"

The WorldNews Network, http://www.wn.com, seems to allow searching for country news as reported in any of the newspapers in its database.

[C Countries]

Posted by Joanna at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2003

Prototype No. 4

Here's a link to the latest and greatest prototype yet!

I'll add more links as I get them... so far I'm having quite a bit of trouble with the smaller countries, so we may want to focus our efforts on the ones that we'll be able to access with an eBeam pen.

-L.

Posted by LoraO at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)

More News

[From the bottom, Z through P]

Posted by Corina at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)

Country-Specific Links

Countries, from A to B. (-Lora, 12/9/03)

And that's it for the A's!!! Wahoo!
Now for the B's..

Done with the B's... Sweet!!

Useful Links:

Posted by Joanna at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2003

The Americas

1. Canada
2. USA
3. Central America
4. Brazil
5. South South America
6. North South America

Posted by Monica at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

News sites

Posted by Corina at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)

I'm not sure how detailed we want the news for each country. In any case, I thought these were information connections we could possibly look into since getting news with the ability to check out geography, history, and random bits of info could be pretty awesome.

Hey they say global economy, we can create the table for globalization. j/k...
1. http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/rci00.00.00/

2. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
and how cool would a neat introduction page be? Something along the lines of this: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/covers/cover2001front.html. We can use flash for such workings...

3. Okay, cool maps from the CIA. Although too many links to the CIA scare me a little. It reminds me of mind control...http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/refmaps.html

4. http://www.countryreports.org/

5. The CIA again? The guy who designed the DAML has a Stanford link...
http://www.daml.org/2001/12/factbook/countries.html

6. http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/health/data/

7. And oh the IMF...http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/health/data/

We can do more research if we want to go down this path.
=)

Posted by Monica at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2003

More Object Tracking

Sensor Systems for Interactive Surfaces: A paper from MIT media lab that goes through four different types of motion/object sensors. They include: Laser, acoustic sensors (eBeam), a "sensate carpet", and RFID.

The "Sensate Carpet" looks kind of cool, and we may be able to shrink down the idea so that instead of a carpet for a floor it's covering or part of the tabletop surface. Another application of this sort of things are Z-Tiles. It's pressure sensitive rubber, or "Plubber", if you will. It basically uses pressure to figure out where "things" are (and since we only have one 'thing', locating where the pressure is can thus locate where the object is located).

I printed out and read through a paper on RFID, and one option we may have in working with them would be to put the tiny ID tags behind the map in specific geographic locations and then have the object be the tag reader (so we're tracking the identity of the map location, not the location of the object since there's no need to ID what it is... there's only one).

Still looking...

Posted by LoraO at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

A little more to consider

For the XY location to content problem...

  • Wherehoo (Jim Youll, MIT Media Lab): An "interactive location service for software agents" which acts like a "search engine optimized for location-specefic searches." It is a reference source or catalog that binds a binary data block to precise coordinates of some locations on Earth. I think someone with more CS knowledge than I (meaning Lora I suppose) should look at this because the site has a lot of specific technical details that could help us.

Another existing technology we could use for object tracking...

  • Wacom: The "leading manufacturer of pen tablets and pens." It might be easier than the eBeam stuff.

    The SenseTable (mentioned in my previous entry about object tracking) used two Wacom Intuos tablets to track objects on their table. The paper said it worked well because it sensed the position of objects with 1000 dpi resolution (I'm guessing this is pretty accurate then) and with a very low latency (i.e. delay between movement and the tablet sensing it) compared to computer vision.

    Along those lines, because I know we were talking about using camera vision, the paper said that computer vision has problems because of occlusion, susceptibility to variation in lighting, and higher latency. For this reason, using existing technology might be better.

Posted by Corina at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2003

World News Links

Here's a list/record of some of the world news sources we found today...

  • NewspaperLinks.com: Has links to international media, as well as a rather familiar-looking map-setup of finding things.
  • Newslinks.com: a rather odd collection of links to news sites, from more serious things like Reuters to the "Snow Plow News" for the snow removal industry.
  • 1st Headlines: Lists headlines from all sorts of (English-speaking) newspapers, categorized based on region of the world.
  • FirstHeadlines.com: Lists a variety of news links on the web, part of the FirstSites.com network. A bit generic.
  • News Museum... Newseum!: A News Museum, kind of cool. "Today's front page" feature is super cool.

(This is Corina but I'm adding two links. I would write a comment but I have a feeling people don't look at them... )

  • NewsLink.org: A great website because it is organized by country (which is possibly how we will organize our news stories). Also it has a number of possible newspaper websites for each country.

  • Stanford News Sources Links: A lot of the links don't work, but the site lists the international newspapers Green recieves. It is a manageable compilation of reputable newspapers.

Posted by LoraO at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

Position --> Location?

Mimio Xi: I thought it was funny how it's "Xi" instead of "iX". Ah, the irony. This is Mimio's version of eBeam trackers. It's mildly different, but both use the same ultrasonic position capture system.

Electronic Tags : Here's a paper from citeseer on the electronic tags, used in Wendy's Oragami table... if we want to use these at some point, we should ask her about them (ease of use, how they actually work/interface with the computer, etc.)

LeapFrog: I talked to John after iX today and he suggested looking into this... it's a toy for kids that helps them learn how to read, but it's "interactive books" with a pen that lets kids hear stories read to them out loud, hear specific characters, etc. They sell them at Target and Walmart, perhaps we should take a field trip sometime...

Posted by LoraO at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

Object Tracking

So there is a lot of complicated stuff out there about object tracking. I think, however, that our object tracking is much simpler in a few ways. On the list of things to consider:

  • We are only traking one specefic object

  • The object is travelling in a specified not very large area

  • We want to know where it rests, i.e. we don't need to track its movements or any gesturing necessarily

I have yet to find something ideal but I've noted things I've looked at and tried to understand. (Will continue to update my understanding as it increases)

  • E-Beam: We have them... so we could use them.

  • metaDesk (Tangible Media at MIT Media Lab): This is a very intersting interactive table and I suggest looking at it because it uses objects on a map as well as the magnifying/ different display function we were envisioning for the glasses table. It mentioned several types of sensors and I haven't figured it all out but there is a computer-vision system, magnetic-field positon sensors and electrical-contact sensors. And apparently a Flock of Birds sensor (no idea)?

    Computer vision: the display is like a light box in terms of mirrors and things so there is a camera inside the desk that can track the objects on the desk surface without hand/body obstructions. There is visible-light object tracking and identification which is akin to a "flatbed scanner" where the objects on the surface of the desk were "illuminated with pixels from the back-projected desk display" but there was a problem with this because the digital image of the map got in the way. So then they used an infared optical regime where they would illuminate objects on the desk's surface with security-camera IR LED-arrays mounted within desk and monitor result with another camera with infraed filter and they filled the objects with "hot mirrors".

    They also mentioned to monitor the contents of the tray where the objects were stored when not on the display they could use a resistor tag electricially identified by LEGO Dacta Control Lab or scan with electrical switches. This was intersting because it's the idea of tracking what isn't moving.

  • Radio Frequency Identification (RIFD): Place tag on object and it works with a reciever and an antanne to enable the identificaiton of objects and their locations. It seems to have replaced bar codes in some situations and are used to track things like cars, clothing, animals, etc. Because emphasis is on identification, we need to learn more about the type of location information they give and how accurate/specefic is it (since most of the applications mentioned are good for large rather than small areas).

  • Visual Tags (MERL): They are working on visual tags like be badges you stick on your shirt to track people.

  • Zowie Intertainment: Still trying to find info on this one. Its a kids' toy company (now part of LEGO) that incorporated sensing and recognition technology. Good because is supposedly simple and cheap. There is a little play set with like a house and some animals. When you add characters to the set, they appear on your computer and their movements are mirrored on screen and when two characters approach each other they converse. It was mentioned in another paper as having fast, high resolution tracking and its limitation being that the hardware only provides info about identity and positon of objects in the sensing space, but we need even less than that so this could be good simple technology.

  • Sensor Systems for Interactive Surfaces (MIT Media Lab): Provides much more high tech ideas about sensing than we need but also evaluated other more simple tracking. For example, pens (I think eBeams) that have acoustic time-of-flight to a fixed reciever from active sonar pingers. Also SoftBoard by Microfield Graphics that use "simple, passive reflecting targets on the drawing objects to be detected by a scanning fan-collimated light source, such as genterated by a scanned diode laser". (I don't understand that). And they get planar positon from triangulating two angular measurements.

  • SenseTable (Tangible Media at MIT Media): Need to look at more. They use writing tablets though (Wacom good company to look into for that). So touch sensitive?

  • InfoTable (Sony): Back to this great table that uses a video camera as an object recognition sensor. There is one motor-controlled video camera on command of computer that scan over the entire surface (called Desksat a la Landsat, i.e. land sattelite). Second camera is fixed and looks at the entire table and analyzes changes on table and sends the other camera over. They said that the response time is not satisfactory for continuous/realtime object traking.

  • Ping Pong Plus: Back to this interactive table, it has a sound-based ball tracking system. Microphones surround the table and time values are assigned when they pick up the sound of the ball hitting and these are evaluated by an algorithm to determine location. Not so helpful probably because our object won't make any sound hitting.

Okay that's it for me. I'm exhausted. Still need to find a really simple way to do this.


Posted by Corina at 01:23 AM | Comments (0)

Online iMaps

Interactive Maps
Analog Devices, Inc. : Click on a continent-sized region to get info.


Deutche World : Click on color-coded continents. Then click on regions
within continent. There are clearly marked boundaries between regions.


Interactive World Map : An interesting interactive map using a pushpin idea. Areas with significant news get pushpins to attract your attention. Regions with a lot of news can be zoomed in, and then pushpins indicate smaller areas from which you select the news you want.


DEMIS World Map Server: Map with crazy zoom-in capacity. They let you download the
basic stuff, too.


Gazza's Interactive World Map : Totally Sweet. It knows the latitude & longitude of the point the mouse is at.


Where Are We? : Map with crazy zoom. Calculates distance between locations. Knows the latitude and longitude of the point the mouse is hovering over. Sweet.


Xtramap:VERY NICE maps. I like the world map because of the little thumbnails on the side. The thumbnails show different levels of detail, making navigation easy. The kompass.com map is wonderful. The map can zoom in and out. It allows you to select by country, highlighting whatever your mouse is on. Once you select, info is displayed next to the map.


Small Luxury Hotels of the World: Another interactive map. Go by region, then click circles (like the pushpin idea) for specific info.



National Geographic Xpeditions: Click on map region to zoom in, then click on a country to zoom some more. Easy to grasp black & white map.


Random Thoughts
If we have a problem with viewer angle, so that I think the magnifying glass or paperweight is centered at point X-1 instead of at X, the magnifying glass/weight could shine a beam of light on the map to point out the
specific location being chosen.


If we wanted, the beam of light could be detected in some
way, indicating the position to the news kiosk.


I used Word to make it easier to type in the links, but it added all kinds of useless garbage. Is space tight enough that I should go through and get rid of it?

Posted by Joanna at 12:07 AM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2003

Cool Link & Rough Prototype

NetWorldMap.com: The title is "A Geographical Map of the Internet", it may be helpful in figuring out how to translate physical location information into digital coordinates (or whatever).

I also posted a temporary rough prototype of the map thing here .

Yay News Table!

Lora

Posted by LoraO at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

The "Spirited" Inanimates

I've been looking at cool designers for some inspiration about making spirited tables. We've noticed the best/cutest designs are the ones that the design is a natural extention of the functionality. For example, the Mandarin citrus-squeezer that is put in the shape of a Chinaman and the table lighter that looks like a dragon where the flame comes out of his mouth. That, and I like the colorful, happy, fun-filled objects :)

  • Chiasso: Mix of interesting furniture and cute accessories.

  • Alessi: Look particularly at Stefano Giovannoni, Stefano Pirovano, and Guido Venturini.

  • Limn: Modern furniture with some cool designs like lift out table tops.

  • Design Noir: The creators of the GPS table that says it's "lost" when it can't get a signal. However, there is suprisingly little at this website about that particular project, called Placebo furniture and which was documented in The Secret Life of Electronic Objectsbut here is a little blurb from the designer...

    " Yet even though industrial design plays a part in the design of extreme pain (eg weapons) and pleasure (eg sex aids) the range of emotions offered through most electronic products is pathetically narrow...What I'm proposing, is that product designers could become more like authors. They could draw from the narrative potential of electronic product misuse and abuse to create alternative notions of use and need, rather than the official images of how people live with technology. Instead of thinking about appearance, user friendliness or corporate identity, industrial designers could propose new products which are more challenging. "

Posted by Corina at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

Museum Tables

I thought I'd research tables at museums because they can be crazy and high tech and interactive all at the same time. I have pictures on my computer from these websites, but I thought I'd leave them off the blog to save space.


California ScienCenter
They have a giant model of a person called Tess. She has some moving parts and parts that light up. They also project down onto her. Tess

They also have fun panels that you walk on as you enter. They have pictures and little observations/comments to amuse you or get you thinking.
Panels

A bench in the shape of California
Bench

TheTech museum of Innovation (San Jose)
201 South Marketg Street. San Jose, CA 95113
TheTech

The Tech Exhibits
Earthquake Platform
Stand on an authentic research shake platform to experience and compare different magnitude and motion earthquakes. Real data from recent quakes around the world are fed into a computer program that is connected to the shake platform. Can you build a foam block structure that withstands the quake?
Make It, Shake It Lab
Experiment with how adding braces to buildings reinforces structural integrity. Reinforcements lessen the quake's effect by making the building less flexible. Adjust the quake intensity controls, a building may respond with some parts staying still while others move. This is called resonance. Add braces to the front of the building. Crossbraces help support the building so it won't shake as much. Watch the monitor to see how braces help. The monitor shows the shaking of the table and the building. Compare the line before and after you add the braces.

Tech-related Play Resources

Toys of Tomorrow

Lifelong Kindergarten

High-Tech, Interactive Museum Exhibit Table

More museum stuff

Nifty Maritime Museum

City of News 3D web-browsing room

Posted by Joanna at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

More Thoughts/Links

I Googled "Talking Furniture" and came up with a link related to "Beauty and the Beast". We may want to do some "research" and watch the movie again, since it's a pretty good example of furniture with personality (hey, they used to be people), and also on how Belle was freaked out by the furniture but with time got used to it... a bit of a stretch, but hey.

I also found a Missile Table from this retro site... it's kind of creepy since it's made out of the tail end of a 1950s missle retarder, but at the same time you've got to admit it's makes a bit of a statement.

Lots more retro links at RetroCulture.com

***
I'm still trying to figure out what's holding me back on the spirit tables... to a certain extent it almost seems more like industrial design than product design, since most existing tables with "spirit" have a physical "look" to them that give them spirit. Granted, we'd be going more on the technological side, but most of the precedents out there have been tables or furniture that speak from a certain perspective or attitude. Part of what I'm not sure about is exactly what attitude we're working with... do we want a nature table? a retro table? a kid table? a high-tech table? a soft/cozy table? a garbage-table? Also, I'm not sure where to place this table (setting-wise), and what its functional purpose will be (since we'll want people to use this table, too).

Hmm.....

Posted by LoraO at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2003

Cute Links

"Friendly Footstools":... if you're looking for something along the lines of a spirited stuffed animal, but also a functional ottoman...

"Animal Table Chess Set": It's like Spirit and Games in one... sort of odd looking, but it starts to grow on you with time...

Stefano Giovannoni: The guy who did all the cute anthropomorphic kitchen items (the chinaman-orange squeezer, along with a pinnochio funnel and a hot water bottle with legs)

More later...

-L.

Posted by LoraO at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)

Lora's Brainstorm for Top Three Tables

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I can't be there this morning (I get to stand in line at the DMV instead... trust me, I'd rather just pick up my permit at the DMV and be back at CDR), but hopefully you guys can get the "where do we want to go" conversation started.

Get ready for some long lists...

SPIRIT TABLE:
1. Greeting Table (it greets you)
2. Reminder Table (it reminds you)
3. Amuse me! Table (it amuses you)
4. Command-Table (talk to the table, operates other appliances)
5. Aquarium Table... appears like the Fish are talking back!
6. Plants Table... the more you talk to the table, the more the plants get watered.
7. More stuff on the table, the louder the table gets (or the more it changes colors, as though it doesn't like being cluttered or weighted down)
8. The louder the conversation in the room, the brighter the colors the table turns (avoids conflict in meetings since everyone is afraid of "hurting" the table)
9. "I want" table: tel it your wants/ needs, and it tries to accomodate them for you (Controlling Household items, bringing up google, etc.)
10. "Pet Table" -- a small end table that greets you, keeps you company by having specific tastes in music or colors or books, plays games with you (fetch?)
11. A set of lap desks each with its own personality
12. A table that "eats trash", almost like Oscar the Grouch
13. A table that reacts to different people in different ways.
14. An obsessed table (obsession depends on the table use: food, tv, etc.)
15. Combo Table-Tivo! (random, but my brother wanted me to design a computer case)
16. Animal-shaped table (well sculptured) which tries to recreate natural invironment, displays information about the animal.
17. Physically-interactive table (waves, hugs, shakes hands, gestures)
18. Retro-style table that speaks with retro-style vocabulary.
19. Instead of talking, the table lights up with different phrases and questions (it has subtitles, instead)
20. A table that speaks in different languages
21. Karaoke table; "sing along" with the table's song
22. Chameleon Table: changes color/pattern based on season, person, time of day, contents of table, contents of room...
23. Table that projects its identity out on to the walls, ceiling, floor
24. Animal-Tables that illustrate the creature's natural motion (either with an animatronic table or by projecting the motion on to the table from the ceiling or whatnot)
25. "Waterlily" tables that "grow" out of the floor to accomodate height of different users.
27. Tables that "breathe"-- they perform some soothing, repeated motion, giving it a strt of life.
28. A table with "glasses" that magnifies its contents for others
29. Mechanical Table-clock (mechanical simulates breath, clock adds functionality)
30. Table with a giant bell inside; move the table, the bell rings
31. Create a touch-friendly tactile table that sooths the users (like petting a cat, or a soothing, repeated physical action for its users like the Chinese Exercise Balls)
32. Table is composed of an isolated body part (instead of a full person, a part of a person) like a ear, eye, hand, foot. Perhaps also similar function with the body part (ear table listens, foot table moves, eye table displays, etc.)
33. Candy Table: table is made of candy, dispenses candy, kid-friendly
34. Pirate Themed Table (my brother likes pirates, too)
35. Table that spins internally (like a top)... perhaps also a "simulated breathing"?

**I was surprised by the number of ideas for the Spirit Table, especially since it was the one I was formerly least comfortable with earlier. After going through them again, I've noticed some of its purpose is:

  • to make the users feel more comfortable, either physically or emotionally (the tactile-comfort table or the greeting table)

  • to project anthropomorphic identity on the table (Animal-Tables, Pet-Tables, table that wears "Glasses").

Of all those ideas, I like the breathing tables best since they seem to both relax people (it's a soothing-breathing, not like a huff-puff breathing table) and it would probably make them feel like the table is a little more alive. Also, the Engineer in me likes the mechanical aspect (what can I say).
**

GAME TABLE:
1. Keeps track of ultimate score/status during the game
2. Objectively "teaches" a new player the game, shows how it works
3. Shows whose turn it is, reminds people to move
4. Keep Versatility and Permanence; "save game" and be able to put table to new use without disturbing the saved game
5. Stay solid despite any bumps to the table (no shifting pieces)
6. Monopoly: color-code board to show who owns what
7. Chess/Checkers: show all combinations/ possible moves when user lifts a piece (depending on whose turn, what the board setup is)
8. Chess: number each square on chessboard to find easily, also turn of thisfunction (perhaps also a tool for remote/ corresponding games)
9. Sorry: Pieces "slide" on their own along the board (you've got to move 'em, but you can watch 'em slide)
10. Clue: Have cards, choose to show whichever "card" you want, enter and upload card to other player's list (no paper, automatically tracks for you?)
11. Scrabble: Dictionary (or spellcheck) to compare or challenge questionable words
12. Scrabble: Automatically keeps score (with all the double-word, triple-letter squares on the board, gets to be a pain)
13. Risk: Tint Countries based on who occupies them
14. Game table should have enough personal space for each player to also accomodate food/drink
15. Provide stoarage of Games, game pieces, etc. while not in use.
16. Table helps sort out card game winnings (those colored chips) into each denomonation (as well as track winnings and losses, see 1)
17. Game Table adds music, visuals to the environment to enhance the particular "tone" of the game (Risk: War, Clue: Mystery, Sorry: Bright Playful colors and the occasional slide whistle).
18. (along with 8) Allow for remote multiplayer: 2 non-co-located game tables to all play the same round of a game.
19. Game table accomodates for people with disabilities (example: Monopoly for the blind reads off where you've landed.
20. Taboo: When a person says a "taboo" word, the whole table buzzes
21. "Spin" table allows all sdes of the board to be easily accessable.
22. While other players wait their turn, table provides them some form of entertainment/amusement (tap dancing feet under table creates fluxuating colors? It's another brainstorm in itself)
23. Risk: Table also acts as an "army dispenser" like a slot machine for each turn (augmented with "knowing" which continents you own)
24. Risk: Scan/Return cards into the table for extra army dispensing
25. Table "guards" your cards, money, etc. while you go to the bathroom (my brother likes thumbprint identification as a solution).
26. Table keeps cards private from other peeking people (my brother once again speaks his preference to be holograms)
27. Slap-Dice inside table: when "fighting" in risk you can slap the table and see who wins (apparently digital slap-sort of dice exist already).
28. Monopoly: Houses, Hotels all stay in their place despite everything else moving on the board (same with Chance and Community Chest Cards).
29. Be able to pause the game if one player is interrupted (by, say, a phone) so that things aren't unfair (perhaps also provide alternate amusement again for the people who are waiting).

**One thing I noticed midway through brainstorming is that there is a certain similarity between "who's turn is it?" and "who is speaking?" for the speaker table. I don't know what that observation could do for us, but it could be helpful down the line. I'm kind of surprised that I didn't have quite as many ideas as I did for the spirit table, but I also feel like a lot of my ideas are a lot more practical/serious than the Spirit Table ideas (a Karaoke table? come on...). If we were to pursue a game table, we'd have to look in to all sorts of games and start listing ideas in how to improve game play. I found that by asking my brother to explain how you play Risk (I forgot how) I came up with more ideas since I understood the game-s cenario a lot better.
**

SPEAKER TABLE:
1.Table senses speaker, changes colors based on frequency/ activity of each person at the table
2. iButton-Ball passed to each new "official" speaker
3. *Find a discrete way to tell speaker they've been talking too long (if a discussion)
4. Table's central display shows the background of the speaker (self-expression, title, previous work, etc.) Sort of like a business card?
5. Table tilts in the direction of the speaker (or away from)
6. Section of table transforms into a podium for standing speakers
7. Senses speaker through directional sound
8. Senses speaker via his/her physical contact with the table
9. Chairs around the table swivel to face the speaker during discussion
10. Table acts as a "compass", points in the direction of the speaker
11. Moderator has some sort of "override" over the current (or next) speaker in order to redirect conversation
12. Table can search texts (for IHUM) to find relevant, specific quotations
13. Table adjusts shape (and shape of seating arrangement, therefore) so that everyone can see the speaker
14. Table uses sound-cancelling waves to stop a long-winded speaker
15. Steering wheels on table so that everyone tries to steer the conversation in their direection to speak.
16. Push a button on the table to indicated that you'd like to get "in line" to be the next speaker.

**I still like this idea generally, but I didn't come up with as many ideas... perhaps I got idea-pooped after brainstorming for the others. It doesn't seem like it would be as "fun", at least from the ideas I've found so far (I'm curious to see what everyone else found, too).
**

So there you go... Long, I know, but in brainstorming that's good, right? So far my preference still stands in Games (it seems both functional and fun) but I'd like to switch my "least preferred" over to Speakers. I think the Spirit Table definitely has some potential behind it. So yea, my preferences are: Games, Spirit, Speaker.

As a note, if we find that we're still split up over where we want to continue on, I'm okay with dividing the group up in pairs to work on different projects. I don't want to ditch someone who doesn't want to end up on their own with no one to talk to (hence dividing into pairs and not 3-1). I also don't think it'd be fair to drag someone along to develop an idea they're not really enthusiastic about (especially if they've in the meantime fallen in love with another idea that they'd be developing in the back of their head anyway). Another option could be to perhaps look at the sorts of ideas we're looking to develop, see what people are particularly interested in, and divide the project up so that everyone gets to work on whichever aspect they enjoy the most. If things end up getting rather confusing and/or traumatic, we may want to consider consulting Wendy and see if a more objective perspective can find a compromise.

In any case, we just need to get started in on a schedule and a
prototype/testing plan, hopefully by this afternoon.

Thanks,

Lora

Posted by Corina at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2003

Meeting with Larry

Larry's leaving for a month, so before he left, Monica, Corina and I got together with him to go over where we've been through our design process and where we're looking to go. We reviewed what we've done so far before Monica left, then Corina, Larry and I went over some interesting ideas and a few points including...

  • Universal Design: the idea of designing stuff so that it serves all people of all kinds, including people with special or specific needs (such as disabilities).
  • Find a real user need, don't be too generic. Find a place where tables are in short supply or are inadequate (such as sailing, airlines, lapdesks, etc.)
    • 310 Project for Lincoln about tabletop surfaces in a car... look it up! Talk to Jeff to get access to their website
  • Does the table have to be horizontal? Consider making tilted or vertical tables, or ones that act sort of like "transformers" and are able to move.
  • Look at the whole workspace as a unit and look at how the table interacts with other furniture and the room as a whole
  • Look into: Lego's Smart Blocks
  • Look into: Clifford Nass (sp?), looking at our social response to media. We already project personalities onto tables, how can we use this information in design? (remember Furnichat!)
  • Look at alternative forms of "interactive" tables: not just talking furnichat, but also physically moving tables, other forms of interaction
  • Alessi: Emotional Impact of stuff is in the foreground of their thinking. Distributes for many designers
  • A table built for mindmapping/associative thinking?
  • Think of not just an interactive table, but also a table that helps people interact

It's an assorted list of random thoughts, but good food for thought, nonetheless. Hopefully it'll help have everyone back on the same page by the time we meet with Wendy tomorrow! (at 1 p.m.! be there or be square!)

Posted by LoraO at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)

Categories to Explore

After meeting today, we have a new list of possible areas that we can develop a point of view from. Homework is to develop some points of view to choose from.

  • User Comfort (Physical and Social): how to enhance productivity, creativity and sociability by increasing comfort level of tables?

  • Versatility, a.k.a. "Table Flux": multiple uses simultaneously (how to manage space) and transitioning from use to use. table adjusting to different uses/users? proximity issue of multiple uses. in conflict with following area

  • Permanence: storage issues and table remembering setup for repeated usages/functions. also in terms of of memex "trails"

  • Personalizing Space: people use tables in different ways? for different functions? how to create a more personal, individual space for users? person tracking? this would be a repeated use enhancement.

  • Personal Space: need to increase? how do you divide/identify personal space?

  • Object Tracking, a.k.a. "Table Table of Contents": what does knowing the objects and where they are tell us? who is at the table? what it is being used for? how do objects interact with each other?

  • Table Adding Information/Extra Information: primary purpose or enhancement of table? what type and media of info? one person or multi-user?

  • Proximity (Remote Communication): how do you create more personal/ closer interactions across large surfaces?

  • Table and its Environment: how do you make the table reflect its environment?


Some other ideas we were throwing around:
  • What does orientation/body position/object position/level of table engagement say about participation/center of focus/group dynamic in a meeting?

  • Table to increase social interaction

  • Table with "spirit"

  • Writing you look down, talking you look up... and people have to twist their bodies to look at speakers while keeping orientation they can write from...

  • Level of engagement depends on what using table for

  • Public, private spaces of laptops and the barrier they create

    • Posted by Corina at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)

My Vote

Since I did not vote in the 2000 elections I am grateful for this opportunity to have my voice heard. In addition, my vote counts for 1/4 of the total, which makes me quite happy and content in the having voted department.

So the winning point of views are...
1. Personalization of big meeting tables which would also remember previous "environment" settings, be it the day before or another user. It reminds me of the flashback mode on the remote control and the car seat memory in my dad's Volvo.

2. The second would be evaluating the communication across large distance problem eliminating social discomfort of reaching and enabling people to converse even though they are not sitting right next to each other.


The first problem seems programming intensive compared to the latter. So if I had to put my money on one of them, I would bet it on easier communication. The wireless, cellphone, and bluetooth are quite prevalent so it might be some fun to create an additional component furthering the cause of poor communication across large distances.

Posted by Monica at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2003

New Blog/Website!!

Thanks to the wonders and generosity of Jeff, we have a new webpage!! ix.stanford.edu, no less! Hopefully people will start editing on this page rather than the old one, since the old one is old and was taking up my own space on the Leland servers... This one should make adding pictures a bit easier, and hopefully we can set it up so we have a uniform look and a bit more of an extensive website-thing going. Yay!

~Lora

Posted by LoraO at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2003

POV: the search for meaning continues...

At our meeting with Wendy today we went over our big brainstorm of all the different uses/ problems associated with tables. We also got a clearer definition of Point of View...

It's a way of looking at the problem through a key insight or technology. It's not a topic, but our view of the problem. It's usually something that needs to be fixed, or some untapped opportunity. To find one, we need to develop upon our observations, and look at how to use and analyse these observations to find an ultimate goal. Eventually it's the underlying philosophy behind the project.

If anyone has a different angle of what a POV is, PLEASE COMMENT. We're basically trying to find a problem to focus on, or an aspect of our observations that we could use to adapt tables in a new way. So far what Monica, Corina and I have been doing is going through our brainstorm and crossing out everything that we don't really think have much to contribute to a point of view, things that don't particularly interest us, and things that we've already stated or have been observed. We basically copied pages out of my notebook and are crossing stuff out and boxing things that we think are important. We've not gotten through everything, but we've found a few trends (without going through Laptop use and Writing Surface use):
  • User comfort in using tables (both physical and social comfort)
  • Permanence: Keeping what's on the table on the table, a record of what's been on the table
  • Managing table space for different uses (working space, reference space, unused stuff-space)(private-personal-public spaces)
  • Personal Items and their interactions with tables (this may go with the space-idea too)
  • Recieving outside/extra information about the table
  • Having a Table-Table-of-Contents (I just like saying that one out loud... it's so catchy!): knowing the contents of a table, tracking those contents, evaluating the contents
  • Communicating/Interacting with people or objects on the other side of a table
  • The Table in its Environment
  • The Versatility of Tables (and its ability to adapt to all these different uses, and more!)

There you have it... we've also found that some things like Games and Eating (which don't have as much to do with Group Meetings in the Corporate sphere) do have quite a few things in common with group interactions in a general sense (even the corporate group meetings). From here we're going to have to figure out our "Top Five" Points of View, and from there determine which projects are associated with our point of view, and pick from them. But that's a long ways ahead of us. Joanna gets back on Tuesday (yay!) when we'll catch her up on what's happened thus far, and then we're meeting with Wendy on Tuesday at 2. Be there. Or be an equilateral-right-quadrilateral (square).

Posted by LoraO at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

Final POV Brainstorm

Here's our final brainstorm:

Posted by Corina at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2003

Vannevar Bush article

As We May Think by Vannevar Bush

Posted by Corina at 07:27 PM | Comments (0)

POV Brainstorm

Here's a picture of what we've got so far of our POV brainstorm. We've been looking at the central idea of "Tables", then branching out to different uses/reasons to be using a table, and then out to different problems associated with each use. I'm not sure if this is the POV thing (we're all a bit vague on what it's supposed to be), but it's a start. Hopefully by looking at the brainstorm we'll be able to redirect our research into a more specific area and purpose.

And, as a note, here's a definition of a Designer's "Point of View" from my notes of our meeting with Wendy: "Our "take" on a subject. Developed by looking at our target audience, their specific needs and considerations, and at our goals as designers". It's basically a specific purpose we're working towards, based on what service our product will hopefully provide others or what role it will have in the general field of tables. I think we're going to have to start paring down ideas and focusing a little more on a general sphere... then branch out again and do more research on the kinds of problems that arise again, and then find that thin slice that we can help out with in our remaining time at CDR.

Cheers,
Lora

Posted by LoraO at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

Joanna's P.O.V. thoughts

  • Furniture with "spirit" or character ~ kind of like my stuffed animals have spirit.
  • Make working at a table really fun.
  • Personalize space ~ as a way to communicate who you are to others, not just as happy reminders to yourself.
  • Facilitate kids' crafts.
  • Make the most of limited space ~ examples: a table that lowers into the floor, a table that can easily switch between being a kitchen counter/dining room table/conference table/personal desk, a table with efficient storage.
  • Make serving easier
  • Help in a restaurant ~ menu, alert when people are done eating or ready to order or whatever.
  • A table for a bartender that reminds him how to mix drinks
  • A place to keep drinks, etc. level on uneven ground such as when camping or at the beach
  • A place to keep papers secure when it's really windy
  • Have a way to keep group focus without actually using a conventional table so...
    1. People can spread out and get comfy, and
    2. groups don't waste space and $ on unnecessary furniture
  • Make tables feel cool (texture)
  • Make a table - rather, piles on the table - really easy to organize/self-organizing
  • Get soundproofing/privacy. Other people shouldn't be able to overhear a meeting, don't want confidential stuff from past meetings to be visible by accident
  • Use a table to display big stuff like building plans and whatnot
  • Use a table to display art (or do art)
  • Tablet to facilitate meetings that take place while people are walking (like in The West Wing (best TV show evar!), 80% of their meetings are like this)
  • Tables as dispensers of stuff (Inspiration: Parking Ticket kiosks)
  • A table to help you visualize 3D stuff
  • Have a table to establish a particular mood ~ play music or something
  • A table that serves as a centralized gadget spot. Like maybe having a stereo system with electronics hidden inside the table pedestal, with a place on top to stick in your cds. or whatever.
  • A table for toddlers
  • A table for teenagers ~ easy personalization, easy to share personalized stuff, lots of IM-type stuff, loud stereo system, easy to do homework at, etc.
  • A table for moms of small kids
  • A self-cleaning table (and floor below table)
  • A table to keep kids occupied
  • A table to allow large groups to be able to see and hear each other easily
  • A table for elderly people: A table that will come if they call it, or that has drawers that will come up to a convenient height when requested, so the elderly person doesn't have to walk too much/bend over.
  • A table that's easily organized with an obvious to-do list. And can store lots of newspaper clippings.
  • A web browser that is super user friendly to help people who don't "get" the web, telling them exactly what to do or simplifying common actions.
  • A table for movie-obsessed people ~ could set goals and when you're about to start a project it will show you a preview. then when you finish you get to see the whole movie.
  • A table for people with many files ~ have files on a revolving thing like at a dry cleaners so when you type in a document name or a category, the whole file system revolves to put the one you want in front of you
  • A table for people who like water: Have water in the table design, Have the table automatically fill water glasses for anyone sitting at it.
  • A table for book-obsessed people ~ a desk with a bookcase on top with tablets in the shape of books that regularly cycle through different texts.

That's all for now, I'll update the blog later with more table details.
See you Tuesday!

~Joanna

Posted by Corina at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2003

Ping Pong Plus

Ping Pong Plus : Both Wendy and Chia Shen mentioned this. It is a "digitally enhanced" version of ping pong. Through sound sensing, the system tracks the location of the ball hitting the table and then there are different graphic projection applications, e.g. water ripple, painting, and comets. Very fun stuff.

Posted by Corina at 09:35 PM | Comments (1)

iRoom: MERL and Diamond Touch

Corina and I went to the iRoom meeting today where we listened to Chia Shen from MERL (Mistubishi Electronic Research Laboratory) talk about Diamond Touch and Diamond Spin technology. Unfortunately we didn't get to see all of her slides (she had to pass up several because of time constraints), however we should probably contact her to find out more about Diamond Touch. It looks like MERL has already done a lot of preliminary research on the use of tables in a high-tech society, so their insights into the use of tables in meeting/group interaction contexts would be invaluable. Also, a Stanford student (? grad student ?) is also working on the project as an intern this summer on the multi-user aspect, and may be able to give us some advice/ direction.

In the meeting, she also brought up an interesting concept of Private vs. Public vs. Personal space. Private is something no one else can visually see or visually manipulate. Personal is something everyone can see but no one can manipulate (such as a paper that is oriented exclusively in your direction; others can see it and know it's there, but they can't look at it). Public is something that others can see and manipulate (but its ownership is always "belonging" to one person). An interesting thought, especially since it explains how people interact with each other while sitting at a table...

Another cool feature was the "Black Hole" vs. "Central Focus" display modes. "Black Hole" is for when people around the table are during individual work (they found that group interaction shifts between individual and collaborative a lot); the visual display is such that the items on the outside of the circle are larger than the smaller, thumbnails near the center of the circle. For "Central Focus" the group is looking at common items, therefore the items in the center of the display are larger than the smaller thumbnails around the outside.

Posted by LoraO at 06:28 PM | Comments (1)

July 08, 2003

Italian Furniture Designers

Sort of random, but good to note... Here's some italian furniture designers that I got "clued in" to via the Italian Interior Design Publication Domus.


Looking back on these links, they may be good/better references for when we know what our Point of View is, and what kind of table we're aiming for. They're quite creative when it comes to what kinds of materials to use, what kind of visual effect the table has on its users, but as for new and innovative utility, it's mostly your basic table (with its standard uses). We're still at the point where we're figuring out what those uses are (and what they mean/imply for the kind of table we want to do).Another good site: Design Addict.com

Posted by LoraO at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)

Links + Commentary

I’m going to give a bunch of links here (most already posted before) but now with a bit of description/commentary. Here’s what I’ve got so far, check back later for more - Oh Bother, I just noticed my links aren't working. I'll try to fix them later. Other iXers, let me know if you know what's wrong. In any case, all the papers up right now are at http://tangible.media.met.edu

  • Work by Hiroshi Ishii (and others), mostly at the MIT Media Lab (Tangible Media Group):
    • Bricks: Laying the Foundations for Graspable User Interfaces
    • This paper introduces the idea of manipulating physical objects on an interactive table, rather than just using a keyboard and mouse. The paper discusses the following advantages of the Graspable UI design (see page 2):
      • it encourages two handed interactions
      • It shifts to more specialized context sensitive input devices
      • It allows for more parallel input specification by the user, thereby improving the expressiveness or the communication capacity with the computer
      • We’re good at manipulating physical objects
      • It externalizes traditionally internal computer representations
      • It facilitates interactions by making interface elements more direct & manipulable
      • t takes advantage of humans’ spatial reasoning skills
      • It affords multi-person, collaborative use

    • Illuminating Clay: A Tangible Interface with potential GRASS applications
      • This is an interactive table with clay on top, so you can play with the clay and build whatever you’re designing. The table has a projector (from above) which will light up the clay in different colors to convey information. It is made for landscape design applications, so the functions that have been implemented so far are all things like elevation, where water would drain, and how much sun each area would get. Maybe it could be adapted to product design?

    • There are many more papers from the MIT Media Lab Tangible Media Group here
  • Limn
  • Limn has links to furniture from tons of designers. Nothing is particularly high tech, but the design is very interesting
  • Origami Desk
  • Wendy's project, which helped people learn to make origami shapes through an overhead projection onto a table with actual origami paper
  • Interacting with Paper on the Digital Desk
  • By Pierre Wellner, at Cambridge and Xerox EuroPARC. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, cites this paper. It is an overhead projection desk that tries to enhance paper use by allowing the paper world to interact with the digital world. Some applications are copying numbers into a calculator, translation, copying & pasting, and remote shared editing of documents.
  • Summary of Reviewed 'Digital' Desks and Related Projects
  • Has basic info and links to programs at Cornell, Brown, Berkeley, Cambridge, Xerox, Tan (Germany), and Fakespace Systems (US)

Interactive Table List

  • iTable (Stanford Interactivity Lab)
    • a computer-based tabletop display, part of the iRoom
    • interested in interaction (between user and computer) and collaboration (between multiple users)
    • use for sorting photos, viewing multi-perspective images e.g. maps, blueprints
    • limited application because meant for multi-user but not really suited for multi-interaction
  • The Tilty Tables (XFR)
    • projected image on table that has an accelerometer to measure tilt
    • navigate by tilting table
    • application: viewing large document, infinite plane of tall tales, and virtual ball that rolls over hotspots which makes the word "peace" pop up
    • cool table... not as much useful as interesting
  • CounterActive (MIT Media Lab)
    • interactive cookbook in a kitchen counter
    • can press on words or hotspots and view recipes, movies, etc.
    • good example of specfic purpose: interface closes matches application-- you are not cooking with the computer, it's just a part of the counter
  • Lazy Susan Interactive Table (MOMA and MIT Media Lab)
    • dining room table with place settings of projected image and a lazy susan with to display coasters and a center to share information
    • smart space in museum to replace traditional computer kiosk
    • attach information to physical object so interacting with information and not a computer (parallel to CounterActive)
  • Diamond Touch (MERL)
    • simultaneous, mutli-user, touch input device (can use finger to draw and to select images)
    • can identify who is touching where which is necessary for simultaneous use
    • limited to one perspecitve (people should be viewing from the same side)
  • Diamond Spin (MERL)
    • digitally augmented interactive tabletop environment
    • aim to incorporate the social informality, simplicity, and casualness of around-the-table interaction
    • polar coordinate system allow rotation of individual items so continuous orientation among multiple people
  • InteracTable (Ambiente)
    • for the display, discussion, annotation, creation of information objects by a group of 2-6 people
    • can use gestures, fingers, pens, or infared keyboard to manipulate
    • take-and-put and "passage" functions
  • ConnecTables (Ambiente)
    • allows for the coupling of displays so you can go from individual to cooperative work
    • mobile, networked, context-aware information appliance
    • can shuffle objects from one display to another to ease collaborative work
  • InfoTable (Sony, Rekimoto) : This table was in the 56 page thesis along with Stanford's iTable and the InteracTable that we have already discussed, so go to Joanna's link if you want to read what it had to say about this table. Very cool way of connecting portable computers, physical objects, and table/wall projections, the idea being "a spatially continuous workspace for hybrid computing environments." Look at Hyperdragging and the anchored cursor (which solves our "north-pointing" mouse problem).
  • The Virtual Round Table (FIT and GMD) : This is along the lines of the holographic imaging over a table surface that we had been wondering about. The system is a 3D stereo visualization using projection glasses. This so far has applications for building construction and urban planning.

These are Lora's tables

Group Meeting Key Words

One article that talks specifically about GDSS (Group Decision Support System) designed to faciliate an exchange of ideas and productivity within a group. The paper lists technology that place an emphasis on group decision making, which are also components of the GDSS.

Key words to search on Google since multiple companies use this technology:
1. Electronic Meeting System
2. Computer-Supported Collaborative Work
3. Groupware

Posted by Monica at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2003

Two More Tables

So far this afternoon I've gone to the library, watched some people working at desks, and did a little more searching online for table stuff. (I will add more to this later but here is what I've found as of yet).


  • InfoTable : This table was in the 56 page thesis along with Stanford's iTable and the InteracTable that we have already discussed, so go to Joanna's link if you want to read what it had to say about this table. Very cool way of connecting portable computers, physical objects, and table/wall projections, the idea being "a spatially continuous workspace for hybrid computing environments." Look at Hyperdragging and the anchored cursor (which solves our "north-pointing" mouse problem).

  • The Virtual Round Table : This is along the lines of the holographic imaging over a table surface that we had been wondering about. The system is a 3D stereo visualization using projection glasses. This so far has applications for building construction and urban planning.

Posted by Corina at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)

Benchmarking Field Trip!

On Saturday, Corina, Joanna and I went to downtown PA to do some first-hand benchmarking. Camera in hand, we went in to Design Within Reach, Restoration Harware, and Z Galerie to look at tables to purchase. We stopped by Miyake's for lunch (to check out their sushi boats-- sort of like an automatically turning Lazy Susan), and the Peninsula Creamery (to check out how counters work as opposed to tables).

Some observations/ cool stuff from our meeting this morning:

  • Picnic Tables/ Outdoor Tables (Tressider, various locations across campus): Benches attached to tables
  • Dual-Level Computer Desks (Meyer): User can adjust the relative heights of the two sections (front one for keyboard, back one for monitor).
  • "Wired" Tables (Green): Panel in the middle of the table for power/ ethernet connections for laptops. Wires are plugged into the floor (concealed in one of the table legs). However, because of being "plugged in", table is immobile.
  • Inset Window-Benches (4th Floor, Wallenberg): Horizontal working/sitting/sleeping space, meant to be flexible. Is not really used for sitting as much as it is for table space, especially it is permanent and immobile, unlike much of the other horizontal table space in Wallenberg.
  • Desk attatched to Chair (permanent chair-desks all over campus, chair-desks on wheels in Wallenberg): Transient table space, not used for permanent projects but for temporary writing space during a meeting

Also, perhaps we should brainstorm on different uses/categories/qualities of tables when we decide we're going to stop researching them (and try to sort through what we've found and make some sense of it). Also, we should try to find a specific purpose of what we're trying to do after we've become mini-experts (so that we can perhaps cater our work to a 'type' of user, which should help us take a thinner "slice" of the whole universal "table problem".

Posted by LoraO at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

A few more links

I think a few of these might be repeats, but here they are anyway:

Posted by Joanna at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2003

Benchmarking Photos

I'm trying to figure out how to upload pictures or create a pictures page on the sparrow site so we can post our Benchmarking Photos online. I'd rather do it there than on the blog (since the blog is on my webspace, and the iX thing would be a bit more permanent). We're going Benchmarking again in Palo Alto today (should be a lot of fun!)

Cheers,
-Lora

Posted by LoraO at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2003

iRoom Observations

  • Everyone brought their own laptops (seperates people, creates a physical barrier, stop paying attention to presentation and go off on tangents).
  • Capability to project laptop screen, but too much trouble to do so, so he had to turn around himself and display the laptop's actual screen to the group.
  • Central Pedestal vs. Four-legged table: Inset legs allowed free access of chairs around the table.
  • "Plug in" Laptop to the Table: Allow people to bring in their own laptops, but have them be hooked up to the room so that there's no
  • Leaning on table with hands, arms, legs, etc.
    If a touchscreen table, how do you distinguish touch-control with leaning?
  • Trash is difficult to manage: Table accumulates a lot of trash (empty plates, wrappers, etc.) since no one wants to get up and throw it away
  • Cables/Wiring under the table: lots b/c of laptops. Really inconvenient to have so many wires, and also to have the stuff all plug in under the table.
  • Personal Belongings go by their feet: Chairs tend to be on part of the backpack, end up getting in the way of belongings. Also, has danger of being kicked/ in the way.
  • Back row: pushes away from tables, leans back in chairs and crosses arms. However, also occasionally leans on to table for change of position.
  • Using a portfolio/clipboard as a temporary table space. Use of laps in place of a table (when no tablespace is found.
  • Beverages: Not everyone would put their plate on the table, but everyone puts their beverage on the table while eating
  • Low Bench/Table for Food: Allows people to survey the entire table, however it also requires people to bend over in order to interact with the table.
  • Camera suspended above the table to capture the contents and project it on the iMural: Items NEED a horizontal surface to sit on, if they're going to be used or on display at some point in time

Off topic but good benchmarking:

  • Dual-level tables in Meyer: Allows one side to be raised/lowered
  • "Wired" Tables in Green: Bing Wing, basement, Bender room(round tables).
  • Home Economics Demo Table: Mirror angled above so that the class can see layout of the table, what's going on on the counter. Med school Anatomy Class?

Also... How DO you clean an interactive Table??

Posted by LoraO at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2003

Smart Tables

  • Smart Table: at UCLA, a sub-project of Smart Kindergarten... a different look at smart furniture
  • Interactive Furniture: Here's the article about Neal Gershenfeld that Wendy was talking about... he's the guy who did the exhibit at the New York MOMA where the table had coasters that contained information, with the lazy susan in the middle, etc. Cool stuff.
  • Furnichat: The intro says it all... "The project investigates the potential of talking furniture, in a public space, not only as a form of entertainment, but also as a medium for social interaction and play."
  • SMART Technologies: These are the people who make the touchboards that they use in the iRoom (I think). It's a lot of cool, interactive stuff.
  • M.C.E. Design: They're based in Paris, but you've got to love the French. They've got some cool kiosks and other neat design-furniture stuff.
Posted by LoraO at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

Table Links

Here are a few websites relating to interactive/digital tables:


Posted by Joanna at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

Benchmark Those Ideas

Finally remembered that I changed my password.

Research Online for NEATO da Beato office funiture similar to what we hope to create:

1. http://www.interactivesystems.co.uk/office-furniture.htm
2. http://www.biomorphdesk.com/1-888-302-DESK/main2.html
3. http://www.workspaces.com/
4. http://www.best-office-furniture.co.uk/Desk-Mats.html

I'll post relevant research materials later.

Posted by Monica at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2003

Some Table Links

Here's some tables...


  • iTable : From the iRoom

  • The Tilty Tables : The table Wendy told us about from the XFR people

  • CounterActive : Wendy's interactive cookbook on the horizontal display of a counter

  • An installation of interactive funiture : Look at Neil Gershenfeld's interactive table

  • Table Lens : I do not really understand exactly what this is. I only read the abstract but it is something that involves a table

  • Diamond Spin : UbiComp 2002 Workshop on Collaboration with Interactive Walls and Tables (Go to "Around the Table" for Diamond Spin)

  • InteracTable : A cooler looking iTable

  • ConnecTables : Building off the InteraTable, it facillitates going between individual to group display

  • CoolTables.com : So these tables don't do anything cool but they look rather cool. This is just here for kicks.

    • Posted by Corina at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)