Scott Fisher

Discussion leader: Kristy Kang
Time: Wednesday, October 29, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC),
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Discussion Title: "Paradigms of Innovation"
Tonight's seminar will focus on the various approaches to innovation raised in the previous two seminar presentations by Tracy Fullerton and Paul Yarin. Logs for the backchannel discussion can be reviewed on the respective talk announcements and IMD wiki.

Readings for this discussion are:
1. Clayton Christiansen, "The Innovator's Solution (intro)."
2. John Seely Brown, "Introduction: Rethinking Innovation in a Changing World."
3. John Seely Brown, "The Debriefing"

Other recommended Readings are:
1. "Innovation", WIkipedia.
2. "50 Greatest Game Innovations", Business Week, 11/5/07

BACKCHANNEL LOG: Download file

Wed Oct 29 17:35:23 PST 2008 dread Led by Kristy Kang

Wed Oct 29 18:02:08 PST 2008 dread http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/866387

Wed Oct 29 18:04:45 PST 2008 snark! http://www.270towin.com/simulation/

Wed Oct 29 18:06:46 PST 2008 nahil http://interactive.usc.edu

Wed Oct 29 18:11:53 PST 2008 ndef http://interactive.usc.edu

Wed Oct 29 18:12:06 PST 2008 dread http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/866387

Wed Oct 29 18:12:52 PST 2008 ndef http://interactive.usc.edu

Wed Oct 29 18:14:44 PST 2008 imdbot http://imd.usc.edu

Wed Oct 29 18:14:44 PST 2008 dread http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/866387

Wed Oct 29 18:15:21 PST 2008 naimark hi

Wed Oct 29 18:15:25 PST 2008 snark! b-b-b-backchannel!

Wed Oct 29 18:15:36 PST 2008 dread http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/866387

Wed Oct 29 18:16:06 PST 2008 snark! http://www.270towin.com/simulation/

Wed Oct 29 18:16:16 PST 2008 dread http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/866387

Wed Oct 29 18:22:13 PST 2008 dread http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation

Wed Oct 29 18:24:02 PST 2008 dread http://stevens.usc.edu/innovationstudies.php

Wed Oct 29 18:25:23 PST 2008 dread http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2004/02/17/3/a-conversation-with-professor-clayton-christensen

Wed Oct 29 18:31:46 PST 2008 omgpvd important to note that there are free-market based issues with japan's economy that have also had an effect on their growth over the last two decades

Wed Oct 29 18:33:18 PST 2008 dread Is it only about sustained growth?

Wed Oct 29 18:35:31 PST 2008 omgpvd I think it's also about allowing downturns

Wed Oct 29 18:35:40 PST 2008 omgpvd this is interesting to watch due to it's age

Wed Oct 29 18:38:38 PST 2008 dread http://stevens.usc.edu/innovationstudies.php

Wed Oct 29 18:39:17 PST 2008 dread http://www.xerox.com/innovation/parc.shtml

Wed Oct 29 18:41:19 PST 2008 Diablo What happens to products that are ahead of their time?

Wed Oct 29 18:41:43 PST 2008 Diablo Would they still be considered innovative under the new measuring stick?

Wed Oct 29 18:43:25 PST 2008 omgpvd they might be innovative, but they're (generally) not successful because of the culture to which they're introduced

Wed Oct 29 18:45:42 PST 2008 MikeR so i think that generating ideas is an important component of generating ideas

Wed Oct 29 18:45:52 PST 2008 MikeR what are some techniques that other people use to generate ideas?

Wed Oct 29 18:46:10 PST 2008 MikeR even before prototyping

Wed Oct 29 18:46:19 PST 2008 omgpvd sometimes I generate ideas with my idea generation machine

Wed Oct 29 18:47:14 PST 2008 MikeR being primarily a visual person, i like sketching and word lists

Wed Oct 29 18:47:24 PST 2008 dread what about scenarios where users work out a new use for a product? Who's the innovator, the user or the designer who make it open enough?

Wed Oct 29 18:48:35 PST 2008 omgpvd I kind of like the idea of reappropriating technology given the realization that there's a place for it

Wed Oct 29 18:49:01 PST 2008 logan i think its something of a partnership

Wed Oct 29 18:49:14 PST 2008 dread collaboration

Wed Oct 29 18:49:27 PST 2008 ndef @MikeR It's sort of a nebulous thing, I guess. I like talking through ideas, or free-writing, to try to take a seed someplace unexpected.

Wed Oct 29 18:49:45 PST 2008 logan but the designer gets kudos for creating an intuitive invitation to collab

Wed Oct 29 18:49:54 PST 2008 dread right

Wed Oct 29 18:49:57 PST 2008 logan @MikeR I also have a generation machine (pedal powered)

Wed Oct 29 18:50:10 PST 2008 ndef @logan Way to go green.

Wed Oct 29 18:50:17 PST 2008 omgpvd mine is solar

Wed Oct 29 18:50:26 PST 2008 omgpvd that's why I'm in LA

Wed Oct 29 18:50:29 PST 2008 logan and associative word clusters

Wed Oct 29 18:50:31 PST 2008 omgpvd more productive here

Wed Oct 29 18:50:41 PST 2008 logan i preer to exercise when i come up w/ my ideas

Wed Oct 29 18:50:46 PST 2008 logan *prefer

Wed Oct 29 18:51:36 PST 2008 MikeR haha, i have come up with some of my best ideas in the shower

Wed Oct 29 18:51:47 PST 2008 logan eureka

Wed Oct 29 18:51:55 PST 2008 ndef Haha.

Wed Oct 29 18:53:19 PST 2008 Diablo THere's smething Darwinian about innovation at the periphery

Wed Oct 29 18:54:55 PST 2008 dread http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sfisher/be%20the%20bike%20patent.GIF

Wed Oct 29 18:57:09 PST 2008 dread http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-kao/singapore-as-innovation-n_b_91653.html

Wed Oct 29 18:57:45 PST 2008 omgpvd Apple: correct use of innovation in the market, post 2001

Wed Oct 29 18:57:57 PST 2008 MikeR well, even prior to that

Wed Oct 29 18:58:05 PST 2008 omgpvd prior to that they failed mostly

Wed Oct 29 18:58:12 PST 2008 omgpvd unless you go back to pre 1990

Wed Oct 29 18:58:23 PST 2008 MikeR yeah, i guess that was really macintosh

Wed Oct 29 18:58:32 PST 2008 omgpvd yeah

Wed Oct 29 18:58:35 PST 2008 MikeR but regardless, the ipod revolutionized so many things

Wed Oct 29 18:58:38 PST 2008 v http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_innovation

Wed Oct 29 18:58:58 PST 2008 omgpvd the imac as well, back in 1998, pretty much saved apple

Wed Oct 29 18:58:59 PST 2008 MikeR it's intersting to note the number of UI designs that have been copied from the ipod

Wed Oct 29 18:59:10 PST 2008 omgpvd I'm not sure that the ipod did even revolutionize technology as much as UI

Wed Oct 29 18:59:20 PST 2008 MikeR but i would note that the ipod still doesn't support open source formats

Wed Oct 29 18:59:20 PST 2008 v http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-kao/singapore-as-innovation-n_b_91653.html

Wed Oct 29 18:59:38 PST 2008 MikeR well, the ipod tied in with itunes

Wed Oct 29 18:59:50 PST 2008 omgpvd I'm not sure it matters due to the proliferation of support for mp3

Wed Oct 29 19:00:06 PST 2008 omgpvd I would consider that as open as can be, even if there is a license for it

Wed Oct 29 19:00:46 PST 2008 MikeR you are talking about the format, or itunes?

Wed Oct 29 19:00:50 PST 2008 omgpvd the format

Wed Oct 29 19:01:04 PST 2008 MikeR ah, yeah, i unfortunately sided with ogg vorbis

Wed Oct 29 19:01:37 PST 2008 MikeR but still, for a technology that is essentially free, it is odd that no one takes the time to include it

Wed Oct 29 19:01:52 PST 2008 omgpvd well, in terms of mass culture, ogg doesn't necessarily provide enough of an increase in quality to necessitate the learning curve, no matter how soft

Wed Oct 29 19:01:58 PST 2008 omgpvd much like bluray

Wed Oct 29 19:02:09 PST 2008 omgpvd although with bluray you have the bandwagon effect

Wed Oct 29 19:02:21 PST 2008 MikeR that is true, but there are certain watershed moments that will essentially be the tipping point

Wed Oct 29 19:02:58 PST 2008 MikeR like the switch to digital broadcast signals is going to cause roughly ten percent of tv watchers to abandon tv entirely

Wed Oct 29 19:03:02 PST 2008 omgpvd for bluray? when they stop making dvd players/dvds en large enough mass and bluray isn't appreciably more expensive

Wed Oct 29 19:03:04 PST 2008 omgpvd we're not there yet

Wed Oct 29 19:03:19 PST 2008 MikeR that's true, but regardless, people will be upgrading to hd tvs eventually

Wed Oct 29 19:03:24 PST 2008 MikeR and wanting higher definition content

Wed Oct 29 19:03:30 PST 2008 v from ministry of education, singapore http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/forum/2008/08/equal-chances-for-all.php

Wed Oct 29 19:03:36 PST 2008 dread Innovation = Creativity * Risk Taking

Wed Oct 29 19:03:47 PST 2008 omgpvd my bet is that the majority of people who haven't upgraded yet will upgrade when their old televisions no longer work

Wed Oct 29 19:04:18 PST 2008 MikeR i would tend to agree, but it will be interesting to see what happens to the economy

Wed Oct 29 19:04:41 PST 2008 omgpvd what will be interesting is where monitors (computer monitors) and televisions start to intersect

Wed Oct 29 19:05:37 PST 2008 MikeR yeah, especially as display inputs standardize

Wed Oct 29 19:05:38 PST 2008 omgpvd as price points for larger monitors continue to drop and stabelize somewhere near television (cost per inch)

Wed Oct 29 19:06:09 PST 2008 logan its interesting that this global community mind is still demarcated by nation

Wed Oct 29 19:06:15 PST 2008 logan well its gone now

Wed Oct 29 19:06:15 PST 2008 omgpvd there is probably a market for a television/monitor that is large enough for a TV and small enough for a monitor, with the correct inputs and a strong interface

Wed Oct 29 19:06:19 PST 2008 ndef Are display inputs standardizing on something that incorporates DRM?

Wed Oct 29 19:06:24 PST 2008 ndef Like HDMI?

Wed Oct 29 19:06:32 PST 2008 MikeR yes, unfortunately

Wed Oct 29 19:06:35 PST 2008 omgpvd I'm not sure we can call it yet though

Wed Oct 29 19:06:41 PST 2008 omgpvd displayport is looking like an option

Wed Oct 29 19:07:16 PST 2008 omgpvd an important consideration is that hdmi does support hdcp, but hdcp is not necessarily required for hdmi

Wed Oct 29 19:07:39 PST 2008 omgpvd hdmi is simply a digital interconnect, the same as DVI, but with digital audio streams integrated

Wed Oct 29 19:07:45 PST 2008 v http://www.edgeperspectives.com/

Wed Oct 29 19:08:05 PST 2008 ndef Interesting.

Wed Oct 29 19:08:14 PST 2008 MikeR still, with laptops shipping with hdmi ports

Wed Oct 29 19:08:28 PST 2008 omgpvd apple picked up displayport

Wed Oct 29 19:08:29 PST 2008 MikeR it seems like there is an attempt to standardize

Wed Oct 29 19:08:33 PST 2008 MikeR did they?

Wed Oct 29 19:08:35 PST 2008 MikeR interesting

Wed Oct 29 19:08:37 PST 2008 omgpvd also they are going to use displayport on their monitors

Wed Oct 29 19:08:44 PST 2008 omgpvd yeah, that's why I'm saying there might be something to pay attention to there

Wed Oct 29 19:08:48 PST 2008 MikeR are they going to include it in the next generations of ipods?

Wed Oct 29 19:09:08 PST 2008 omgpvd I have no idea - although right now they don't use hdmi either - just component or regular video

Wed Oct 29 19:09:25 PST 2008 omgpvd Bam

Wed Oct 29 19:09:27 PST 2008 omgpvd Apple

Wed Oct 29 19:09:38 PST 2008 MikeR yeah, i had to bring it back there, sorry

Wed Oct 29 19:09:55 PST 2008 omgpvd Tracy just pointed out why apple is successful post 2000

Wed Oct 29 19:10:48 PST 2008 dread http://interactive.usc.edu/members/wgraner/2008/10/googles_project_10100th_1.html

Wed Oct 29 19:12:20 PST 2008 omgpvd Smartphones are the next mainstream disruptive technology: Discuss.

Wed Oct 29 19:12:56 PST 2008 MikeR how far into the future are you asking?

Wed Oct 29 19:13:02 PST 2008 omgpvd 6-8 months

Wed Oct 29 19:13:20 PST 2008 MikeR yes, for at least several years

Wed Oct 29 19:13:22 PST 2008 omgpvd I think there is a marketing model that will also be disruptive soon

Wed Oct 29 19:13:24 PST 2008 omgpvd yeah

Wed Oct 29 19:13:29 PST 2008 MikeR especially as the processing power increases

Wed Oct 29 19:13:41 PST 2008 v http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/weblog/2008/01/30/out-now-mycreativity-reader/

Wed Oct 29 19:13:51 PST 2008 omgpvd definitely

Wed Oct 29 19:14:01 PST 2008 MikeR it seems they are converging with the decreasing size of the ultraportable laptop

Wed Oct 29 19:14:05 PST 2008 omgpvd well

Wed Oct 29 19:14:08 PST 2008 omgpvd think about netbooks

Wed Oct 29 19:14:22 PST 2008 omgpvd in netbooks today is the technology that will be in smartphones tomorrow

Wed Oct 29 19:14:30 PST 2008 MikeR they don't have the flexibility of smartphones

Wed Oct 29 19:14:36 PST 2008 omgpvd no, but they have more processing power

Wed Oct 29 19:14:39 PST 2008 MikeR especially with things like multitouch

Wed Oct 29 19:14:48 PST 2008 omgpvd as that processing power costs less in terms of power consumption...

Wed Oct 29 19:14:49 PST 2008 omgpvd oh

Wed Oct 29 19:14:58 PST 2008 omgpvd dude that's a design problem not a technology/adoption problem

Wed Oct 29 19:15:18 PST 2008 omgpvd multitouch exists in laptops and smartphones as of a month ago

Wed Oct 29 19:15:36 PST 2008 MikeR what laptops support it?

Wed Oct 29 19:15:47 PST 2008 omgpvd new macbooks/macbook pros

Wed Oct 29 19:15:48 PST 2008 ndef The new Macs.

Wed Oct 29 19:15:58 PST 2008 omgpvd dice

Wed Oct 29 19:16:09 PST 2008 MikeR oh, neat

Wed Oct 29 19:16:17 PST 2008 MikeR again with apple, too

Wed Oct 29 19:16:20 PST 2008 omgpvd yup

Wed Oct 29 19:17:28 PST 2008 omgpvd I think microsubscriptions are going to be a world-changing disruptive sales platform as well

Wed Oct 29 19:17:43 PST 2008 ndef Ha. When they catch on.

Wed Oct 29 19:17:57 PST 2008 omgpvd I'm not convinced anyone has used them correctly

Wed Oct 29 19:18:07 PST 2008 omgpvd business consolidation will help

Wed Oct 29 19:18:07 PST 2008 MikeR and this ties back into our question of DRM: people need to want to pay for the content they receive

Wed Oct 29 19:18:21 PST 2008 omgpvd yes

Wed Oct 29 19:18:34 PST 2008 omgpvd and they need to be able to use it in the ways they expect to be able to post-purchase

Wed Oct 29 19:18:37 PST 2008 MikeR in some ways, the idea was predated by shareware

Wed Oct 29 19:18:51 PST 2008 naimark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_bike

Wed Oct 29 19:19:24 PST 2008 MikeR well, see, 20 or 30 years ago, when people bought cassettes and vinyl, did they expect to have access to the music?

Wed Oct 29 19:19:39 PST 2008 MikeR the changing expectation needs to be taken into account when considering this

Wed Oct 29 19:19:43 PST 2008 omgpvd they expected to be able to buy it, listen to it, and lend it to your friends

Wed Oct 29 19:19:45 PST 2008 naimark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_bike#History

Wed Oct 29 19:20:00 PST 2008 omgpvd now they expect to be able to buy it, listen to it on any player, and lend it to their friends

Wed Oct 29 19:20:13 PST 2008 ndef Mike's right, though. Now, people expect more from it as well.

Wed Oct 29 19:20:21 PST 2008 ndef They expect to be able to edit, remix.

Wed Oct 29 19:20:27 PST 2008 ndef Not everybody, maybe.

Wed Oct 29 19:20:30 PST 2008 omgpvd I can dj with records

Wed Oct 29 19:20:30 PST 2008 ndef Not mainstream.

Wed Oct 29 19:20:35 PST 2008 ndef But it's emerging.

Wed Oct 29 19:20:41 PST 2008 Bill Aren't mountain bikes popular mainly because they're really cheap?

Wed Oct 29 19:20:43 PST 2008 MikeR yeah, and that is not a concept that content distributors understand yet

Wed Oct 29 19:21:11 PST 2008 omgpvd I'm not convinced that people expect to be able to remix an mp3 when they buy it off of itunes

Wed Oct 29 19:21:13 PST 2008 omgpvd (yet)

Wed Oct 29 19:21:23 PST 2008 MikeR dude, look at the grey album

Wed Oct 29 19:21:33 PST 2008 omgpvd I think we're talking about much more fundamental things, like being able to play it on any music player

Wed Oct 29 19:22:01 PST 2008 omgpvd the problem is that we've gone from having standards to music, to having a powergrab which segregates formats and players

Wed Oct 29 19:22:02 PST 2008 MikeR hm, i would agree, but with the caveat that that is an new expectation

Wed Oct 29 19:22:11 PST 2008 omgpvd I'm not sure it is yet, I think it can be

Wed Oct 29 19:22:16 PST 2008 omgpvd I think some people believe it is

Wed Oct 29 19:22:21 PST 2008 dread http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_banking

Wed Oct 29 19:22:47 PST 2008 logan this term seems more relevant pre smartphone

Wed Oct 29 19:22:52 PST 2008 MikeR oh, i agree, especially after the scare of walmart's DRM'd music

Wed Oct 29 19:23:10 PST 2008 logan my mobile and desktop internet are just different aspect ratios

Wed Oct 29 19:23:13 PST 2008 omgpvd I think most people just want what they feel are the same rights they had back when they bought vinyl

Wed Oct 29 19:23:25 PST 2008 omgpvd usability isn't there yet either, logan

Wed Oct 29 19:23:43 PST 2008 ndef @logan Good point. There are a number of technologies that are going to be swallowed up by convergence before they ever really get started.

Wed Oct 29 19:23:56 PST 2008 MikeR that may actually be a good thing, though

Wed Oct 29 19:23:57 PST 2008 omgpvd I think the app concept for mobile platforms is doing more than the internet concept

Wed Oct 29 19:24:34 PST 2008 logan apps to a certain extent i buy (but then again we have widgets on desktops - dont know how well those are doing)

Wed Oct 29 19:24:42 PST 2008 logan but SMS banking?

Wed Oct 29 19:25:38 PST 2008 omgpvd I think the concept of SMS banking will move into an app (or something like it) before it will be either truely accepted commercially or outdated by our ability to use the internet on our phones

Wed Oct 29 19:25:40 PST 2008 MikeR well, considering most carriers charge per sms, banking via sms is not so practical

Wed Oct 29 19:25:58 PST 2008 logan ya

Wed Oct 29 19:26:03 PST 2008 MikeR though, that is changing

Wed Oct 29 19:26:13 PST 2008 MikeR but, that seems to be due to the smartphone shift

Wed Oct 29 19:26:23 PST 2008 omgpvd *that hasn't even really started yet

Wed Oct 29 19:26:33 PST 2008 MikeR i would argue that it has, though

Wed Oct 29 19:26:43 PST 2008 omgpvd I mean it has, but we're at the very beginning of this wave

Wed Oct 29 19:26:47 PST 2008 omgpvd VERY beginning

Wed Oct 29 19:26:58 PST 2008 MikeR well, i would mark the iphone as the beginning

Wed Oct 29 19:27:16 PST 2008 MikeR especially considering how many phone designs have adapted to imitate it

Wed Oct 29 19:28:21 PST 2008 omgpvd yes

Wed Oct 29 19:28:31 PST 2008 omgpvd but we're still at ~10% of the market in 2007 for smartphones

Wed Oct 29 19:28:39 PST 2008 omgpvd worldwide

Wed Oct 29 19:28:51 PST 2008 omgpvd I think that this year it will go up significantly, but yeah

Wed Oct 29 19:29:10 PST 2008 MikeR again, dependent on the economy

Wed Oct 29 19:29:21 PST 2008 omgpvd I'm not sure it is as much as televisions

Wed Oct 29 19:29:24 PST 2008 omgpvd cell phones are now a utility

Wed Oct 29 19:30:09 PST 2008 Bill what about when innovation creates a need rather than filling one?

Wed Oct 29 19:30:32 PST 2008 MikeR i would say that cellphones are the perfect example of that, Bill

Wed Oct 29 19:30:51 PST 2008 omgpvd I agree with that

Wed Oct 29 19:30:56 PST 2008 logan bill sent that on an iphone

Wed Oct 29 19:31:00 PST 2008 MikeR rather, Bill's Phone :)

Wed Oct 29 19:31:43 PST 2008 dread http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/04/01/the-bank-of-america-deal-mit-media-lab-opens-doors-to-more-sponsor-involvement-in-research-direction/2/

Wed Oct 29 19:34:50 PST 2008 dread http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_Research_Corporation

Wed Oct 29 19:38:02 PST 2008 naimark http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.12/interval.html

Wed Oct 29 19:47:50 PST 2008 ndef Tinkering vs Planning.

Wed Oct 29 19:48:00 PST 2008 dread vs problem solving?

Wed Oct 29 19:48:04 PST 2008 ndef Two approaches to innovation.

Wed Oct 29 19:48:13 PST 2008 ndef Three!

Wed Oct 29 19:50:26 PST 2008 omgpvd BE the disruptive change you want to see in the world.

Wed Oct 29 19:50:50 PST 2008 logan innovation guru

Wed Oct 29 19:50:53 PST 2008 Bill that term makes us sound like cool, cool rebels.

Wed Oct 29 19:51:04 PST 2008 naimark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology#The_theory

Wed Oct 29 19:56:45 PST 2008 Bill independence of mind as well as $.

Wed Oct 29 19:58:46 PST 2008 Bill companies are made of people, who are individual too.

Wed Oct 29 20:13:45 PST 2008 Bill what about innovation measured by influence on following works?

Wed Oct 29 20:14:21 PST 2008 Bill :)

Wed Oct 29 20:14:29 PST 2008 logan the movie Troy

Wed Oct 29 20:15:13 PST 2008 omgpvd arguably the only way to measure how pertinent aesthetic innovations (and UI innovations) are.

Wed Oct 29 20:15:45 PST 2008 Bill and Tarantino films.

Wed Oct 29 20:15:54 PST 2008 omgpvd not going to get into that one

Wed Oct 29 20:16:09 PST 2008 logan well he's the opposite of innovative BUT there's an anecdote...

Wed Oct 29 20:16:26 PST 2008 logan that when pulp fiction came out, every film student at USC re-edited the movies they were working on to be non linear

Wed Oct 29 20:16:32 PST 2008 logan influence w/o innovation

Wed Oct 29 20:16:53 PST 2008 logan more like a pastiche megaphone

Wed Oct 29 20:18:37 PST 2008 ndef Okay, but, by the Stevens definition, isn't that innovation?

Wed Oct 29 20:19:14 PST 2008 Bill bill's new idea: outovation!

Posted by Scott Fisher at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaker: Paul Yarin, Blackdust Design
Time: Wednesday, October 22, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC),
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Paul Yarin, founder of Blackdust Design, is a consultant in the fields of interactive media, product design, and technology research. Paul’s experience spans both research and industrial projects, many of which have been developed into real products. His focus is the rapid application of new technologies to challenging design problems. While a student in the MIT Media Lab’s Tangible Media Group, Paul developed embedded displays for visualizing patterns of use of physical objects and spaces. This effort made use of networked microcontrollers, radio-frequency identification, and rapid prototyping technologies. The research system, TouchCounters, was presented at the 1999 and 2000 CHI conferences. Before attending MIT, Paul earned a Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Paul's ACM publications here.

BACKCHANNEL LOG: Download file

‹Dread› IMD Forum for 10/22/08: Paul Yarin
22/10/2008 18:14:21 ‹Dread› http://blackdust.com/
22/10/2008 18:17:12 * omgpdv changes nickname to omgpvd
22/10/2008 18:17:29 ‹Dread› http://web.media.mit.edu/~ishii/
22/10/2008 18:18:13 ‹Dread› http://tangible.media.mit.edu/projects/
22/10/2008 18:21:09 ‹Paul Yarin› Hello... feel free to ask questions or post comments on this as we move along.
22/10/2008 18:23:22 ‹Dread› Tower of winds in yokohama:
22/10/2008 18:23:23 ‹Dread› http://www.archidose.org/Apr01/040901a.html
22/10/2008 18:25:02 ‹Dread› origins of ambient media
22/10/2008 18:26:19 ‹ndef› http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/orb/orborder.html
22/10/2008 18:27:03 ‹Dread› usability testing for ambient media?
22/10/2008 18:27:51 ‹ndef› Usability testing seems like a particular challenge, since the point of ambient media is that it operates below a conscious level of awareness.
22/10/2008 18:28:35 ‹Dread› presence awareness vs ambient media?
22/10/2008 18:29:48 ‹ndef› Pros and cons to making things physical. (Physical icons, like the model hamster.)
22/10/2008 18:31:21 ‹Paul Yarin› One can imagine memory studies that measure retention of continuous data. Ambient media tends to be noticed most when it changes rapidly.
22/10/2008 18:32:28 ‹ndef› inTouch - Coupling the state of a physical object over distances.
22/10/2008 18:32:34 ‹s› an inTouch like object seems like a perfect addition to simple communication forms like Skype
22/10/2008 18:32:44 ‹Diab› It also seems that this media is only relevant if it facilitated a kind of dialog
22/10/2008 18:32:52 ‹s› already Skype has audio+video chat, but then you can add the inTouch feature to add tactile interaction to long distance conversations :]
22/10/2008 18:33:04 ‹Diab› the inTouch semmed only interesting when there was another person at the other end
22/10/2008 18:34:23 ‹nahil› there would need to be some kind of gestural language for it to be really meaningful in a conversation, spinning-roller morse code
22/10/2008 18:35:15 ‹Paul Yarin› I agree - after a few minutes you invent some gestures or start playing back-and-forth games
22/10/2008 18:37:03 ‹ndef› Triangles - Reconfigurable interface device.
22/10/2008 18:42:28 ‹s› The music device "the Reactable" is a great example of wireless moveable
22/10/2008 18:42:30 ‹s› objecs*
22/10/2008 18:42:55 ‹Dread› metaDESK
22/10/2008 18:43:49 ‹Dread› http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1994/cp_car/
22/10/2008 18:43:50 ‹ndef› Devices that switch RFID identity by detuning the receptors with magnets... Not exactly sure what the killer application would be, but it seems like a really cool interaction scheme.
22/10/2008 18:45:53 ‹ndef› Resolving ambiguity in physical icons (and relative movement) by adding physical constraints.
22/10/2008 18:46:10 ‹Dread› http://tangible.media.mit.edu/projects/metadesk/
22/10/2008 18:47:29 ‹Lark› MetaDesk...nice application for museum exhibits?
22/10/2008 18:47:39 ‹Diab› It's interesting to me how these tangibles can not scape narrative. They do tell a story by the mere relation to information
22/10/2008 18:47:52 ‹Diab› I meant to say escape :)
22/10/2008 18:49:15 ‹Paul Yarin› Yes, narrative is much of the project content and essential to the presentation
22/10/2008 18:52:04 ‹Dread› i/o bulb:
22/10/2008 18:52:06 ‹Dread› http://tangible.media.mit.edu/projects/luminousroom/
22/10/2008 18:54:53 ‹Paul Yarin› Take a look at John's "Illuminating Light" video for a better explanation of the Luminous Room/IO Bulb concept
22/10/2008 19:01:18 ‹Diab› we don't have interactive techniques for dealing with portable storage devices
22/10/2008 19:05:55 ‹nahil› data trail, footprints in the sand
22/10/2008 19:07:07 ‹ndef› I've heard Amazon call that phenomenon "read-wear", in the sense that something shows wear when it has been accessed a lot.
22/10/2008 19:07:19 ‹ndef› It was always a concept that resonated with me.
22/10/2008 19:08:31 ‹ndef› The idea of collecting data in such a transparent way and displaying it back over the system.
22/10/2008 19:12:12 ‹Dread› museums used to measure interest by how often they had to replace floor tiles in front of an exhibit.
22/10/2008 19:19:11 ‹ndef› The games industry is more accepting of innovation than the mainstream computing industry.
22/10/2008 19:20:22 ‹ndef› I just really like the name "hypersnail."
22/10/2008 19:22:29 ‹omgpvd› hyperanimals are great
22/10/2008 19:22:51 ‹omgpvd› I don't think that the game industry is MUCH more accepting than the mainstream computing industry though
22/10/2008 19:23:23 ‹lolson› i think there's more context in gaming for nontraditional peripherals
22/10/2008 19:23:35 ‹omgpvd› not in mainstream gaming
22/10/2008 19:23:44 ‹ndef› Yeah, I have to agree. "Accepting of innovation" is not the first term that springs to mind when I think about the games industry.
22/10/2008 19:24:20 ‹lolson› but i'm saying there's more justification for a new controller in a game than when doing word processing and surfing youtube
22/10/2008 19:24:38 ‹ndef› Console cycles really do permit a lot more iteration in interface design, though... you get things that you just can't organize in the larger PC-computing context.
22/10/2008 19:25:25 ‹ndef› I'm not convinced that there's that much more justification, but I think the frequency of hardware and software updates in the games space makes it more plausible.
22/10/2008 19:27:02 ‹omgpvd› I agree with that
22/10/2008 19:27:30 ‹omgpvd› but I think that the same economies of scale and requirements for a minimum number of sales to justify development apply to both the mainstream computing industry and the mainstream gaming industry
22/10/2008 19:27:48 ‹ndef› Yeah, that makes sense.
22/10/2008 19:27:57 ‹omgpvd› in order to introduce a new controller, nintendo re-released the gamecube
22/10/2008 19:28:54 ‹omgpvd› I think there's a ton of room for improvement in the interfaces our users are already familiar with - if developers just tailored our input/output devices to their programs we'd all be a whole lot better off already
22/10/2008 19:34:57 ‹Dread› http://nano.xerox.com/weiser/calmtech/calmtech.htm
22/10/2008 19:35:16 ‹Dread› "calm technology" from PARC
22/10/2008 19:44:42 ‹nahil› this looks like a fun game... Operation x10
22/10/2008 19:45:34 ‹Diab› it also partially lives in the realm of interactive art as well :)
22/10/2008 19:46:58 ‹Paul Yarin› Yes Mark Weiser's "Ubiquitous Computing" set the tone for a lot of interaction research. He was influenced by _The Tacit Dimension_ by Michael Polanyi - about tacit knowledge
22/10/2008 19:58:15 ‹Dread› http://architectradure.blogspot.com/2007/09/operation-for-adults.html
22/10/2008 19:59:03 ‹Dread› http://reactable.iua.upf.edu/musictables/MIT_Ishii_Musicbottles.png
22/10/2008 21:27:54 ‹Dread› END

Posted by Scott Fisher at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From Engadget:

"We've never really gotten the knack for video chat. Either we're bothered by the lack of eye contact, freaked by the uneasy silences or just way too ugly, but whatever it is we're sure the Minoru 3D Webcam is going to make it all much more immersive and difficult. Featuring dual cameras spaced about a face-width apart, Minoru creates a stereoscopic effect for viewing with old-school red and blue 3D glasses. The camera supports all sorts of video chat services, or you can shoot 3D video and shuffle it up to YouTube, and 2D is also available for all the squares out there. Minoru's currently competing in the CES Innovations competition, and should be hitting shelves in December at a sub-$100 pricepoint".

Posted by Scott Fisher at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arts, Briefly - Obama Ads Appear in Video Game - NYTimes.com

Obama Ads Appear in Video Game">
By DAVE ITZKOFF
Video gamers who have recently played the racing game Burnout Paradise may find it offers more than a high-speed driving simulation: advertisements for Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, above, have begun appearing in the game. Players of Burnout Paradise who are connected to the Internet are also connected to an in-game system that allows real-life sponsors to place advertisements on billboards and other surfaces in its digital world. Jeff Brown, vice president of communications at Electronic Arts, which publishes Burnout Paradise, said Mr. Obama’s campaign had purchased ads to run in the Xbox 360 version of the game, which he said is most popular among male players ages 16 to 30. The ads will run until Nov. 3 in 10 battleground states. Mr. Brown said Senator John McCain’s campaign had not purchased in-game advertisements, but added, “There’s still three weeks before the election.”

Posted by Scott Fisher at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

ICIDS08
Interactive Storytelling'08 - 1st Joint International Conference on
Interactive Digital Storytelling, November 26 - 29 2008, Erfurt, Germany

Invited speakers:
Andrew Stern: game designer, co-creator of "Facade" and Grand Text Auto
Marie-Laure Ryan: narratologist, author of "Narrative as Virtual
Reality" and "Avatars of Story"

Early Registration Deadline: October 15 2008
http://www.ai.fh-erfurt.de/ICIDS08

Posted by Scott Fisher at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you happen to be in Scotland:

distance lab OPEN STUDIO 004
Thursday 13 November 2008 / 12 noon - 5 pm
Horizon Scotland / Forres, Scotland

The theme of this event is Slow Technology, an extension of notions from the "slow food" movement into the design of new technologies. Instead of speed and efficiency, slow technology emphasises the quality, locality, and humanity of the total experience.

Distance Lab researchers Costas Bissas and Tomoko Hayashi will describe our ongoing endeavors in the realm of "slow technology", including Neuromantic, a project that aims to encourage rural modern life through the use of new technologies without altering the authenticity of the environment, local uniqueness and resources.

Special guest speaker: Glorianna Davenport, MIT Media Laboratory " Slow Stories"
Glorianna Davenport is head of the Media Fabrics (formerly Interactive Cinema) group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. Trained as a documentary filmmaker, Glorianna has achieved international recognition for her work in new media forms. Her research explores fundamental issues related to the collaborative co-construction of digital media experiences, where the task of narration is split among authors, consumers, and computer mediators.

In her talk, Glorianna will frame her work within the "slow" theme. Time is central to our experience of life and to the concept of story; time is required to experience ones own story, to author story, and to experience the stories of others. Today the agility of computer networks and their associated technologies allow a new class of story: slow stories. For instance, a story of a character - be it a glacier, a day in the life of a salt marsh, or a human being maturing through a complex web of circumstance - can be developed for slow release, in a time coordinated with story development.

Posted by Scott Fisher at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaker: Tracy Fullerton, Associate Professor, Interactive Media Division and Director, EA Game Innovation Lab
Time: Wednesday, October 15, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC),
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Title: " The Ghost of Innovation Past"

Bio: Associate Professor of Interactive Media at USC and Director of the EA Game Innovation Lab. Tracy is co-author of Game Design Workshop, a design textbook now in use worldwide. She designed The Night Journey a unique game/art project with artist Bill Viola, and Liberty Under the Law, a collaboration with Activision and KCET funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. She was faculty advisor for the award-winning student games Cloud and flOw. Prior to joining USC, she was president and founder of the interactive television game developer, Spiderdance, Inc. Spiderdance’s games included NBC’s Weakest Link, MTV’s webRIOT, The WB’s No Boundaries, History Channel’s History IQ, Sony Game Show Network’s Inquizition and TBS’s Cyber Bond. Her work has received numerous industry honors including an Emmy nomination for interactive television and Time Magazine’s "Best of the Web."

BACKCHANNEL LOG: Download file

‹Dread› IMD Forum for 10/15/08: Tracy Fullerton!
15/10/2008 17:16:43 ‹Dread› Title: " The Ghost of Innovation Past"
15/10/2008 17:48:34 ‹Dread› http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sfisher/archives/2008/10/imd_forum_for_1_21.html
15/10/2008 18:11:49 ‹Dread› arrows in the back pioneer type...
15/10/2008 18:12:49 ‹nahil› aka Participation Nation
15/10/2008 18:15:43 ‹Bill› .
15/10/2008 18:16:27 ‹Dread› 1985 super 8
15/10/2008 18:17:12 ‹Dread› oops 65
15/10/2008 18:21:46 ‹ndef› I wanna see it.
15/10/2008 18:23:15 ‹Dread› 82 commodore 64
15/10/2008 18:23:27 ‹EvidentManiac› C64 is where I started...green on green monitor! 3 channel sound!
15/10/2008 18:23:30 ‹Diab› I'm tearing up
15/10/2008 18:23:59 ‹EvidentManiac› C64's BASIC on the command line was genius...
15/10/2008 18:24:44 ‹Michael› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Defcon_world_overview.jpg
15/10/2008 18:25:58 ‹Dread› wargames...
15/10/2008 18:26:00 ‹Dread› http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sfisher/tracy-warroom-lg.jpg
15/10/2008 18:28:30 ‹Diab› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Year_at_Marienbad
15/10/2008 18:31:50 ‹Dread› http://www.hippy.com/php/review-21.html
15/10/2008 18:35:38 ‹EvidentManiac› The Rumblefish?
15/10/2008 18:36:58 ‹Dread› http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sfisher/archives/2008/10/imd_forum_for_1_21.html
15/10/2008 18:41:40 ‹EvidentManiac› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Abel
15/10/2008 18:41:48 ‹v› http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfloPU6VpKc
15/10/2008 18:43:19 ‹pweil› early (very early) computer graphic: Panasonic Glider http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KFV0HbYULk
15/10/2008 18:44:51 ‹Dread› http://www.mediacollege.com/video/format/laserdisc/images/laserdisc.jpg
15/10/2008 18:45:28 ‹s› is that James Earl Jones?
15/10/2008 18:46:13 ‹lolson› the guy from T2!
15/10/2008 18:46:14 ‹EvidentManiac› Music's totally old school Emulator...
15/10/2008 18:46:32 ‹Diab› lovely sythesizer music
15/10/2008 18:47:24 ‹s› it IS james earl jones!!
15/10/2008 18:47:25 ‹s› YESSS
15/10/2008 18:47:30 ‹s› what a victorydisc
15/10/2008 18:48:39 ‹EvidentManiac› Multimedia PC standard started 1991...
15/10/2008 18:50:17 ‹EvidentManiac› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileMaker
15/10/2008 18:52:51 ‹Dread› synapse and voyager (bob stein)
15/10/2008 18:53:54 ‹pweil› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Company
15/10/2008 18:55:28 ‹Dread› http://www.rapt.com/events/monetization/images/pho-bio_bbejan.jpg
15/10/2008 18:56:18 ‹pweil› http://www.amazon.com/A-Silly-Noisy-House/dp/B000H10Q42
15/10/2008 18:56:42 ‹pweil› products from The Voyager Company are "currently unavailable"
15/10/2008 18:57:55 ‹Dread› http://www.messmedia.org/messville/ride4yourlife.html
15/10/2008 19:06:57 ‹Dread› interfilm
15/10/2008 19:06:58 ‹Dread› "http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sfisher/interfilm2.jpg
15/10/2008 19:07:40 ‹Dread› http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sfisher/interfilm2.jpg
15/10/2008 19:12:40 ‹lolson› Bob Gale is responsible for Tattoo Assassins - considered one of the worst arcade cabinets ever made
15/10/2008 19:12:55 ‹Dread› http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114282/
15/10/2008 19:17:12 ‹Dread› http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/08/interfilms-interactive-movies-1995.html
15/10/2008 19:20:18 ‹Dread› Aspen Movie Map:
15/10/2008 19:20:19 ‹Dread› http://www.naimark.net/projects/aspen.html
15/10/2008 19:21:45 ‹Dread› http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~lachance/oline/ollippman.htm
15/10/2008 19:23:30 ‹Dread› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R/GA
15/10/2008 19:26:25 ‹Dread› netwits
15/10/2008 19:27:25 ‹Dread› http://www.mobygames.com/game/netwits
15/10/2008 19:33:47 ‹Dread› "organic convergence"?
15/10/2008 19:39:22 ‹v› http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_July_19/ai_55187944
15/10/2008 19:43:10 ‹Dread› http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/09/11/mtv-launch-%2526quot%3Bbackchannel%2526quot%3B-interactive-tv-social-game
15/10/2008 19:49:11 ‹ndef› "Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
15/10/2008 19:51:53 ‹ndef› http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ-fvMxmzOw
15/10/2008 20:15:56 ‹Dread› END

Posted by Scott Fisher at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Discussion leader: Professor Anne Balsamo
Time: Wednesday, October 8, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC),
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Discussion Title: "Smart Toys, Things that Think, and Evocative Knowledge Objects"
Tonight's seminar will focus on the topic of things-that-think and things-that-help-us-think raised in the previous two seminar presentations by Steve Anderson and John Sosoka & Caleb Chung. Logs for the backchannel discussion can be reviewed on the respective talk announcements.

Readings for this discussion are:
1. The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
2. "Behold the Toys of Tomorrow", David Shenk in the Atlantic.

Other recommended Readings are:
1. When Things Start to Think by Neil Gershenfeld
2. " I, Pleo" , Interview with Caleb Chung in Maker
3."Boundary Objects, Please Rise! On the role of boundary objects in distributed collaboration and how to design for them." Ellen Christiansen
4. "The Role of Objects in Design Co-Operation: communication through Physical or Virtual Objects.", Claudia Eckert and Jean-Francois Boujut,
5. Shaping Things by Bruce Sterling (Spimes!)

Posted by Scott Fisher at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)