"Enkin" introduces a new handheld navigation concept. It displays location-based content in a unique way that bridges the gap between reality and classic map-like representations. It combines GPS, orientation sensors, 3D graphics, live video, several web services and a novel user interface into an intuitive and light navigation system for mobile devices.
This project is a submission for the first round of the Google Android Developer Challenge and should not be considered a final product.
A heated post-pub debate last night on the potential of mass customization and the echo-chamberness of these little micro-communities on the web took an interesting turn when the good Mr. Sparks and I found ourselves veering into the land of television.
So for the last 50 years or so, we've seen the rise of weekly media moments. Those water-cooler, event television moments, where instead of gathering around a warm fire, we all huddled round the blue glow of our TVs.
But now that broadcast is crumbling, and I can watch shows whenever I want. The question becomes, does the loss of the VHF ties that bind us impact our society adversely?
Its not like people used to read Moby Dick at 10PM on Wednesday's right?
One might think that the United States' nuclear weapons — the cornerstone deterrent in the country's arsenal — would be treated with the utmost precision.
This comfortable illusion was shaken on Aug. 31, 2007, when crews loaded six live nuclear warheads onto a B-52 bomber and flew from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, cruising over the nation's heartland. Each warhead was 10 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
The last day in August [2007], Air Force personnel loaded the nuclear warheads on a routine repositioning of weapons stocks, believing them to be cruise missiles.
The article goes on to cover what the USAF can do to prevent this lovely state of events in future. However, I'm really motivated now to start saving up for a doomsday bunker. Maybe I can hide it somewhere on Hampstead Heath…
I'm in San Diego for ETech this week and have been hanging out with Michael Shilo from OpenMoko. Those of you who came to MobileCampLondon will remember Michael as the man who took a 30 minute presentation and sparked debate over the possibilities of Opensource mobile tech that raged for two days.
Over our pre-session caffine boost, Michael let me know of a new development in the progress of OpenMoko that was announced at 6 am today. OpenMoko has just released the CAD files for the physical design of both the first edition of their device, the Neo 1973 and their soon to be released Freerunner (GTA 02).
The idea is to see what the community starts to do with the physical details of their device. Having just started working with product designers myself, this is a particularly interesting development.
The key here, is really what's always made me excited by FIC's backing of OpenMoko. Have a look at Dash, a new in-car navigation system. Dash is built on both the hardware and the software that makes up OpenMoko. Now things are really getting interesting, as other companies begin to build on top of OpenMoko as a mobile platform. Now we can begin playing with the look and feel of our devices in the same way we tinker with code.
Via Digg, and served up by YouTube, this BBC story on a car that runs on nothing but compressed air with a 200km range. I don't even drive and I want one:
While surfing around on this cold Saturday night, found a rather hot little post over on Core77.
Being a technology and design geek, this is a pretty exciting development. A highly respected art and design school, known for its graduate's skill in more traditional arts, will be lead by a man who while a respected artist in his own right has long been associated with with an institution that has long been respected for its understanding of engineering and science in all its forms.
Maeda's into video over on the RISD site is particularly interesting in his references to tech. I just wonder what that might mean for the curriculum of departments that may not play in the traditional Media Lab arena: glass? ceramics? painting? illustration?
A minor UX gripe today for my bank, the, ahem, "World's local bank" as they like to sell themselves.
As an expat, I have accounts both back home, and in my current host country, the UK.
Both these accounts are located at the "World's local bank," but up until recently my only option for moving cash between these two accounts was to do the ATM-To-Teller dance. Kinda fun in that during my lunch break I could literally be part of the global economic network, acting as the last meter, as it were, between my two ATM cards.
A few weeks ago, a friendly greeter at my local branch let me know, that I didn't have to do said dance any more. Apparently I can link the two online now and setup regular transactions. Huzzah!
Erm, no, not quite.
Seems that this function is managed by Keebler Elves who only work Monday through Friday, 8AM to 3:30PM (can I have this job please?).
This would make for a great performance art piece, we could call it Rube Goldberg Banking. Shame that its actually supposed to make the customer experience better.
I'm not going to start passing personal login details (which are also incredibly convoluted and difficult to remember) over my employer's networks. So . . . that leaves me doing the ATM-To-Teller dance for a bit longer.
What I don't understand about this issue is that other functions on HSBC.co.uk are saved as orders to be processed during working hours (payments within the country for example), so why are international transfers completely blocked after work hours, when users are most likely to take advantage of it?
Found when doing a search for "GPS and 2009," this little nugget on Pocket Lint:
"According to Kodak, the GPS information will be added to the metadata of the photo allowing you to search for images shot in a specific country or location such as shots taken in Chelsea.
GPS is likely to be the next big thing in the camera world as more and more people look to capture location data.
There are currently 23 million images with location data available on Flickr."
Dash is a new player in the in-car GPS market. Based in Sunnyvale, Dash is creating nice mashup of two DARPA funded innovations: GPS and the Internet. If Dash is your in-car GPS system, you can get stuff like up-to-date traffic info, as well as Upcoming events listings (the Sunnyvale connection perhaps?) delivered to you as zip around town.
"This is a sit-back, 65-mile an hour phone," Rob [Currie of Dash] said. It uses wifi to download updated data when you pull into your garage, but on the road, its internet connectivity is GPRS. Even more interesting, once there are enough Dash-enabled cars on the road, it uses mesh connectivity between them to improve the routing and traffic data.
So it's not just about creating bespoke phones (another dream of mine), but really about thinking about cellular tech in different ways. I already have a phone, but what if my car had a phone too? Not for making calls to Grandma, but for pinging other devices/services?
The diary of Victor Szilagyi, a bald Brooklyn boy, lost in Milan - somewhere in Europe - thinking about the impending glut loactive media. More about how I ended up here, here, and here.
A recent graduate of the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea. I am an Interaction Designer and UX strategist, with a focus on mobile software and services. This blog is about the intersections of my interests and work: new interaction possibilities, history, urbanism, wireless technology, and the occasional silly YouTube find.
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