Monday, September 14. 2009PS3's new 3D mode, coming in 2010 to all existing gamesYou know what's absolutely useless? A video of Wipeout HD being played in 3D, with some schmuck wearing 3D glasses and babbling on about how much fun he's having. Well, that schmuck is this Engadget editor, the video can be found after the break, and we've gotta say: we loved it. Especially for something like Wipeout HD, whose neon-infused tracks make for an almost too convenient example of rapidly approaching vanishing points, we'd say 3D could really be a quasi-"killer app" for consoles going forward -- especially if those fancy new motion controllers don't catch on for Microsoft and Sony. In many ways, 3D just seems to make more sense in a video game than for a movie, and the whole problem of finding content to deliver in the format has already been solved: a software update for the PS3 sometime in 2010 will enable it to provide a 3D viewing experience to "all" existing games on the system. We're sure there will be some exceptions, but it sounds very promising. The console itself pumps out a quite regular signal over HDMI, which the TV syncs up with your 3D glasses. A 200Hz TV, for instance, alternates 1080p frames, with 100Hz for each eye. Of course, you'll need a brand new TV, but at least it won't be restricted to just Sony televisions. Via Engadget Personal comment: If content producers start using new 3D screens (which are existing since several years now without that much success), it may make 3D technologies used in TV converging to a common standard that will be reliable for games... but also for 3D movies... unless it makes emerging a new standard war... Wednesday, July 22. 2009Virtual Clouds Could Prevent Data Centers "Destroying" the PlanetThe way data centers devour resources could be dramatically reduced by embracing "community cloud computing." And Wikipedia may be the perfect test bed.
The popularity of cloud computing is rising faster now than at any time in the past. And it's no wonder; accessing services and applications through the Internet rather than storing the necessary data on your own computer makes sense now that links are so fast and reliable. However, cloud computing has some significant drawbacks. Instead of localizing failures as conventional Internet computing does, the cloud makes failures system wide, say Alexandros Marinos at the University of Surrey and Gerard Briscoe at the London School of Economics, both in the U.K.. If the cloud goes down, as happened earlier this year with Gmail and last year with Amazon's S3 service, entire companies and the industries associated with them can grind to a halt. So Marinos and Briscoe have come up with an alternative: community clouds in which individuals offer a portion of their computing resources to a virtual cloud. That's not unlike distributed computing ventures such as SETI@home and Folding@home that use processing cycles on idling personal computers to carry out intensive data analysis. A virtual cloud would be more demanding but could have substantial benefits. Marinos and Briscoe say that Wikipedia might be an ideal test bed on which to try out the idea. At the moment, Wikipedia depends on substantial donations to keep its servers running and to keep the service free of advertisements. An interesting alternative might be a virtual cloud based on computing resources donated by users around the world. Marinos and Briscoe point out that a virtual cloud should also be greener than the rapidly expanding data centers that are springing up all over the world. The combined carbon footprint of data centers is expected to exceed that of the world's airlines by 2020. Even now, these facilities are challenging the capacity of power grids to deliver enough power to keep them going. That alone may provide the necessary vision and momentum to get an idea like this off the ground. Ref: arxiv.org/abs/0907.2485: Community Cloud Computing ----- Thursday, July 16. 2009Massive Multi-touch RFID Wall by SchematicTouchwall Demo from Joel on Vimeo.
----- Via City of Sound (via Spatial Robots) Personal comment: Euh... "Minority report"?
Posted by Patrick Keller
in Interaction design, Science & technology
at
09:27
Defined tags for this entry: artificial reality, devices, hardware, interaction design, science & technology, software, variable
Friday, June 26. 2009$100 Laptop Becomes a $5 PCPutting OLPC's software on a USB drive gives old PCs a new lease on life.
By David Talbot
"What we are doing is taking a bunch of old machines that barely run Windows 2000, and turning them into something interesting and useful for essentially zero cost," says Walter Bender, former president of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project. "It becomes a whole new computer running off the USB key; we can breathe new life into millions of decrepit old machines." Bender left OLPC last year to found Sugar Labs, which promotes the open-source user interface, dubbed Sugar, and educational software originally developed at OLPC. Bender has dubbed the new effort Sugar on a Stick. The software can be downloaded for free from the Sugar Labs website as part of the new initiative, which will be announced at a conference in Berlin today. This summer, Sugar Labs will also deploy the software at the Gardner Pilot Academy, an elementary school in Boston, under a $20,000 grant from the Gould Charitable Foundation. Sugar Labs also plans to release an improved version of the software at the end of 2009. The Sugar interface was custom-designed for children. The new Sugar on a Stick download features 40 software programs, including core applications called Read, Write, Paint, and Etoys. Many other applications are available for download, most of which emphasize creative collaboration among children. The USB software can boot up an aging computer, or a netbook, and save data from any of the programs. In addition, Sugar-powered machines are designed to work with server software that can also be downloaded for free. This server software can be operated by a school and used to distribute content, collect homework, back up data, and filter access to the Internet. Once Sugar and the server software have been installed, two children using different computers can work on the same document at the same time, for example. The Sugar interface and related software have already been used by more than one million children, nearly all of them users of the original OLPC XO laptop. Bender's departure from OLPC came after a disagreement over the organization's plans to break away from a pure open-source approach and offer a "dual-boot" version of its laptop that could also run a stripped-down version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, something Bender said he feared would make OLPC "just another laptop company." But Nicholas Negroponte, founder of OLPC and, previously, cofounder of MIT's Media Lab, said that the move was necessary to boost sales and, consequently, expand the availability of the machines to children. Despite some large-scale deployments, such as one in Peru, the XO has fallen short of Negroponte's ambitious plans: in 2006 he was predicting sales of more than 100 million machines by 2008.Negroponte said last night that almost a million children have XO laptops, in 19 languages and 32 countries, including Haiti, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Mongolia, and that "another million are in process." But even if its own laptop sales were relatively modest, OLPC essentially pioneered the netbook concept, prodding the industry to start making small, stripped down, cheap computers, which are now a significant share of the computer market. And now, with Sugar available to run old computers, the OLPC learning model can expand in a new direction. "Putting Sugar on a stick is absolutely the right thing to do," Negroponte added. Copyright Technology Review 2009. ----- Personal comment: Dans l'idée du développement durable (ou plutôt de la récupération ici), c'est évidemment une bonne initiative que de donner une deuxième ou troisième vie à un pc! Pour un coup dérisoire. L'interface, par contre... (bureau pour les grands, sucre pour les petits... un peu réducteur non?) Thursday, June 25. 2009Just Another Online Fad--or the Biggest Revolution Since the Internet?By Stephen Cass According to its advocates, cloud computing is poised to succeed where so many other attempts to deliver on-demand computing to anyone with a network connection have failed. Some skepticism is warranted. The history of the computer industry is littered with the remains of previous aspirants to this holy grail, from the time-sharing utilities envisioned in the 1960s and 1970s to the network computers of the 1990s (simple computers acting as graphical clients for software running on central servers) to the commercial grid systems of more recent years (aimed at turning clusters of servers into high-performance computers). But cloud computing draws strength from forces that could propel it beyond the ranks of the also-rans. Rather than running software on dedicated hardware--a mail server here, a database host there--cloud systems can let software run on virtual machines, simulated systems generated at a moment's notice in massive data centers (see "Water-Powered Computers"). If a customer's needs expand, more virtual machines can be created and configured with ease, and should those needs later decline, the underlying hardware resources are returned to the data center's pool. No elaborate construction or development program is needed to kick-start such technology--the infrastructure is already in place and making money. Existing data centers, built to support the likes of Amazon and Google, can rent spare capacity, creating a collection of services that provide the illusion of infinite computing power and storage on tap. Technologies like virtualization (as explained in "Conjuring Clouds"), combined with growing market pressures to reduce capital spending (see "Virtual Computers, Real Money"), could revolutionize the software industry, enabling startups to offer online applications or services without investing much in storage, Web, or e-commerce infrastructure. End users could have seamless access to applications and data anywhere, on any device. As reported in "Making Art Pay", eliminating the need for infrastructure investment allows rapid development of applications. An ecosystem of startups has sprung up to provide platforms, tools, and expertise--recently joined by companies such as IBM and Intel (see "Companies to Watch"). As a still-maturing technology, however, cloud computing has yet to overcome certain challenges, such as guaranteeing the integrity and security of users' data, providing a seamless user experience, and establishing standards to allow companies to move from provider to provider (see "The Standards Question"). A number of key players are driving many of the industry's responses to these challenges, and open-source efforts and academic research consortiums are likely to play a role as well (see "Open-Source Projects and Research Consortiums"). A survey of corporate software buyers by the 451 Group showed the use of public cloud computing increasing by more than 60 percent in the last quarter of 2008 over the previous two quarters, and International Data Corporation has predicted that business IT spending on cloud services will rise from $16 billion last year to $42 billion by 2012, setting up cloud computing as one of the few areas of growth in an otherwise gloomy economy. Copyright Technology Review 2009. ----- Personal comment: Soyons prête à en entendre de plus en plus parler ces prochains temps!
Posted by Patrick Keller
in Science & technology
at
08:38
Defined tags for this entry: hardware, science & technology
Friday, March 20. 2009News Alarm: A DIY Sonic News Stories Alert
The project consists of hacking an off-the-shelf smoke detector and connecting it with Arduino to a Processing application that connects to the API. The application is currently configured to sound if more than 50% of the NYTimes headlines contain the word 'aliens'. As the author puts it: "You never know... right?" UPDATE ----- Related Links:Personal comment:
En soi assez DIY, mais dans l'idée des projets, installations ou espaces qui auraient une "conscience géo-politique" ou "globale" que nous cherchons à développer. Voir l'API du New York Times.
Posted by Patrick Keller
in Interaction design
at
10:56
Defined tags for this entry: devices, hardware, interaction design, media, ressources, software, tangible
Thursday, February 26. 2009Biofeedback deviceThis little USB gadget from Korea makes some pretty lofty claims. Not only will it help you chill out, it could help you memorize Pi to 100,000 digits, or might turn you into the next Rembrandt. Or Obama. The HIMS Brain HUBI biofeedback device plugs into your computer, and interactively monitors electrical impulses from your fingertips to help you control your brain into the proper state of mind to accomplish nearly anything. Now how it does this without actually attaching to your scalp, I have no idea. I’ll leave that to the scientists and snake oil salesmen to explain. The included software lets you choose from a variety of profiles including relaxation, creativity, memory and concentration. Unfortunately modes for Jedi mind trick, levitation and that head-slashing thing that Sylar does with his fingertips aren’t included. Maybe they’ll get those working in a future model. As you think, you do your darnedest to coordinate your brain waves with the graphs displayed on the screen. Think of it like mind-controlled Guitar Hero. Damn, that sounds like a good idea for a game - I’d better patent that. If you want to find out exactly how much the HUBI lives up to its promises, you’ll have to exchange aboutt $206 (USD) cash for KRW 290,000 then order one from Korea to try one out. At this point, there are no plans to bring the device to North America or Europe.
Related Links:OLED Wallpaper: Who needs a window?Toshiba is working on an ultra-thin OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display that could be used to wallpaper your home, turning any wall into a huge TV. From Toshiba: "The wallpaper uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles." Also according to Toshiba, it's several years from commercial production. Damn — I want it now. Lenses will amplify the light, and brightness levels close to more traditional TVs will be possible with nanotechnology. Entire rooms could be covered with a floor-to-ceiling glow. Instead of picking a permanent color palette for a room, set one for your mood at the moment. Don't paint a static mural in your kid's room, just install this and keep moving murals playing all day long. Keep a sunny day in your kitchen, all winter long. Or just use it as the world's biggest badass TV. That works for me. <
Related Links:Tuesday, February 24. 2009Sony Rolly Conducts AIBO PerformanceSony’s AIBO may be defunct, but the little robotic dogs still have a loyal fanbase. On February 7th in Japan, a bunch of AIBO owners (37 of them) got together and put on a show, conducted by what else but a Sony Rolly. It looks like the Rolly was set up to play an audio command, which the AIBOs would all respond in unison… Have a look:
Related Links:Fujitsu’s LogonDirector integrates windows sign-on in the palm of your handRetina scanning, face recognition and fingerprint reading are common biometric systems for physical security accesses or computer logon systems, and in recent years the latter has become more widespread in consumer products such as laptops or handheld devices. Fingerprint readers, despite being nearly ubiquitous on notebooks these days, aren’t exactly popular mainly due to the concerns of public hygiene. Fujitsu’s approach, palm vein scanning, on the other hand, is non-invasive and contactless scanning: PalmSecure advanced biometric authentication technology comes in the form of a standard PC mouse and offers highly secure and reliable personal identity verification. SlashGear caught up with Dan Miller, business development manager at Fujitsu, to find out more. The PalmSecure biometric sensor does not register age-lines or anything like fingerprints, in fact it reads and records the unique vein pattern inside your hand. A near-infrared beam goes sub-layer into the palm of your hand, recording the unique patterns into a digitally encrypted file. Data is stored and secured with an in-house two-way encryption algorithm of up to 256 bits, or alternatively Fujitsu will let you apply the encryption method of your choice. Its accuracy, according to Miller, far exceeds fingerprint scanning and is in fact up near iris and DNA levels, with just 0.00008 percent false acceptance and 0.01 false rejection. “It’s a very highly accurate device which you can’t forge” Miller explained, “and you’re getting it at the fraction of the cost compared to an iris.” The technology has been successfully implemented in various industries worldwide including banks, big-name corporations, healthcare organizations and, now, is expanding into the PC industry with the sensor built into the body of a standard USB mouse. The PalmSecure’s LogonDirector is designed to work with Windows based desktops and laptops, integrating with the Windows sign-on screen and replacing the standard username and password boxes with a palm-scan prompt. No password entering or card swiping is needed: with spread fingers, you just raise you palm a couple of inches above the mouse, then slowly bring it down. Within the space of an inch, the reader should be able to scan the veins and automatically log you right in. Miller says a single user authentication happens almost instantly, while large multiuser organizations, requiring database access, may require at least a second or more. The hardware is a standard USB 2.0 PC mouse, and since it’s bus-powered it doesn’t require any sort of battery. When asked about an alternate wireless version, Miller said it’s not currently on the roadmap. In Fujitsu’s defense, due to low demand in Vista deployment, large enterprises are still using XP thus the device currently only supports Windows 2000 and XP. Nonetheless, Miller assured us that Vista is definitely on the roadmap and, in fact, a new version supporting the OS should be released this quarter. Unfortunately he couldn’t promise anything for Apple or Linux users. “Right now it’s supporting XP; Vista is going to be out very shortly, this quarter. Apple and Linux are not on the target list yet” he continued, “down the road it is, but we don’t have any dates yet.” The Fujitsu PalmSecure LogonDirector has a suggested retail price of $427 for the hardware and an additional $40 for the app. Standalone versions can be purchased with groups of 1, 10 or 25 user licences; meanwhile volume licenses are available for the Enterprise version, with similar pricing from 1 to 100 users. The Enterprise version includes additional management software, that requires installation on an existing server. That allows for centralized administrative and management control, letting large organizations manage palm vein patterns to an authentication server for more robust security and fine-tuned user privileges. Right now, Fujitsu seem to be aiming resolutely at business and enterprise users - and with the hardware alone costing as much as an entry-level notebook, we’re not surprised. However we’d expect the PalmSecure technology to filter down to consumer products relatively soon, given the benefits of palm-vein authentication over fingerprint technology. Related Links:
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fabric | rblgThis blog is the survey website of fabric | ch - studio for architecture, interaction and research. We curate and reblog articles, researches, writings, exhibitions and projects that we notice and find interesting during our everyday practice and readings. Most articles concern the intertwined fields of architecture, territory, art, interaction design, thinking and science. From time to time, we also publish documentation about our own work and research, immersed among these related resources and inspirations. This website is used by fabric | ch as archive, references and resources. It is shared with all those interested in the same topics as we are, in the hope that they will also find valuable references and content in it.
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