pocode is a new open-source C++ library designed by Potion for the production of interactive media across multiple platforms. The frameworks provides a robust, high-performance software infrastructure that allows for the creation of all types of software, from simple visual sketches to elegant mobile apps to entire software applications.

Continue reading.... Pocode – New open-source C++ library by Potion [c++]

éditions volumiques continues to innovate in the area of digital books and games for the iPad. Whereas previous projects such as (I) Pawn showed potential, the following two are a wonderful step forward continuing to question the future of books and games for the iOS platform.

Inspired by Rorschach inkblot test, Rorschach Cards is a collection of playing cards which cause different inkblot effects once laid on the iPad’s screen. As with other éditions volumiques’s games, it appears magnets are used at different locations of the card allowing iPad to recognise unique touch patterns for each card. In addition, the graphic on the visible faces of the cards match perfectly with the animations they generate.

Continue reading.... Rorschach Cards and Balloon [iPad]

Devices For Mindless Communication is a collection of projects by Gerard Rallo, a researcher, technologist, designer and a recent graduate of MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art. His work explores speculative roles of technology to interrogate social implications of progress.

With new technologies as an important driver, certain real life interactions are falling into disuse for large segments of society.
As a result, we see a mix of social groups with radically different values, social skills, perceptions, and ways of engaging the real world and its inhabitants. With this set up, these projects explore how we interact with each other, and speculate about alternative roles of technology, those mediating the most mundane communication practices in shared physical spaces. Practice, based on near future projections of current behavioral and technological trends, as an exercise of reflection on how bizarre our fundamental communication practices and basic assumptions might be seen when looked at from another perspective.

Gerard Rallo, together with Andrew Frien, Sitraka Rakotoniaina also graduates from Royal College of Art, constitute Studio Good One collective, a practice that embraces conceptual design, graphic design, interactive design, exhibition and space design, and the points at which they may converge. studiogoodone.com

photo above by ha++

Conversation Challenger

The possible success of conversational technologies with access to all-knowledgeable semantic networks might lead to a massive disinterest in regular human beings. This device listens to one half of a conversation, and competes for your attention with related content streamed from the net. It allows you to choose where to direct your attention; towards the speaker, or the device. In this situation, the individual speaking does his or her best to pull attention away from the device and back to themselves, but is it really possible for someone be more interesting than everything else?

Project Page

–

Personal Adviser For Reintegration

Sporadic, banal conversations with no aim behind them are at risk of disappearing, no longer a learned or common behavior of future generations. This device tracks conversations, giving hints about open questions, accepted comments, answers, and expressions.
It brings the awkward pleasure of small talk back to those who no longer interact with others for no reason.

Project Page

photo above by ha++

–

Reiterative Communication Aid

Most of the conversations we have through our life are redundant. This fact clashes with modern praise of time efficiency and real time data consumption. This device tracks conversations you have throughout your entire life, analysing your patterns of communication. Eventually, when a repeated pattern is detected, the device is able to replace you in that conversation, allowing you a freedom to explore anything and everything else.

Project Page

photo above by ha++

–

Expressions Dispatcher

Many decisions made in our everyday lives are influenced by expert advice, from hairstyles to insurance policies. Yet, millions of decisions are made on a daily basis and instantly expressed through our own facial expressions without any preconceived external reassurance. We continuously strive to project a desired physical self image of ourselves, sometimes requiring most of our cognitive resources, and paradoxically, this daily challenge has a big impact on our lives. Expressions Dispatcher is designed to help people in their quest for expressiveness.

Project Page

photos above by ha++

Skål (Norwegian for bowl) is a media player designed for the home that lets you interact with digital media using physical objects. You place objects in a wooden bowl to play back related media on the TV. Skål uses RFID to sense small, batteryless tags inside or attached to physical objects, toys, dolls and figures. You can fit any toy of suitable size with RFID tags and connect it to your own media content.

A bowl sits on the living room table and a range of physical objects can be placed within it. When an object is placed in the bowl related media is played back on the TV. For example a physical Moomin character like Little My will play a sequence from the Moomin cartoon where she is featured. Skål lets you control all kinds of digital media; movie-clips, Youtube channels, Flickr photo streams, home videos, online radio etc.

Skål is designed by Jørn Knutsen, Einar Sneve Martinussen and Timo Arnall. It emerged from Touch, a design research project looking at RFID in products and interactions. Touch at AHO is funded by Verdikt.

SKÅL

See also Immaterials: the ghost in the field