vimeo

"like flickr for video"

http://www.vimeo.com/

there's some kind of cool things about this service. I love the idea of editing together an "automatic" movie based on tags. this potentially has a good community vibe, although I think they should just fold this into flickr, and add the generated movies. Anyway, here's another reference, tripp.

Qrio

man, the movement on this thing is fluid.

Link

Smart Sensor Web

from geoplace.com via slashdot

Smart Sensor Web

THE MOST PROFOUND REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGIES ARE THOSE THAT DISAPPEAR. THEY WEAVE THEMSELVES INTO THE FABRIC OF EVERYDAY LIFE UNTIL THEY'RE INDISTINGUISHABLE. THE WEB IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF SUCH TECHNOLOGY--IT'S NO LONGER EXCITING, BECAUSE IT HAS BECOME PART OF OUR LIFE. HOWEVER...

A good look at the growing sythesis of sensor devices into one 'electronic skin.' the key to this idea is the integration of many unique 'enabling' technlogies such as wireless devices, global positioning, tracking, etc. The problem with these technologies thus far is that each does only one or two jobs well, but is severely lacking in other areas. e.g. gps doesn't do so well indoors, rfid has a small range, etc. the purpose of the sensor web seems to be to link all this stuff into a dynamic, fluid structure, in which sensors hand off responsibility to other sensors to keep the flow of data consistent. the project seems to be in whitepaper mode right now, but is clearly an area that needs to be addressed.

siggraph

so, while it was rather tedious at times, I must thank my friend for letting me stay with him in San Diego for a week so that I could go to a lot of stuff at siggraph. below is the stuff you should look at if interested, because you didn't see at emerging tech, and most certainly didn't see on the exhibition floor.

All info pulled directly from the siggraph page.

Little Red MR: Storytelling in Mixed Reality
Mixed-reality systems as a storytelling interface, using picture books as a metaphor. "Little Red" implements methods of re-creating literary work in 3D using MR techniques. url

Office Voodoo: A Real-Time Editing Engine for an Algorithmic Sitcom
An interactive sitcom running on a real-time, shot-based editing engine where viewers can control the emotions of the characters in the film using physical voodoo dolls. url

Textable Movie: Improvising With a Personal Movie Database
A graphical interface that invites a storyteller of any age to compose and visualize movies, images, and sound environments while writing a story. url

Social Network Fragments: An Interactive Tool for Exploring Digital Social Connections
A novel application for interactively visualizing the interpersonal networks that emerge during email interactions. While people have complex email interrelationships, no previous tool allows examination of an emailer's overall network. url

Processing: A Learning Environment for Creating Interactive Web Graphics
Processing is a context for exploring the emerging conceptual space enabled by electronic media. It is a new language and environment for developing interactive web graphics. url

Touchy.Internet: A Cybernetic System for Human-Pet Interaction Through the Internet
An innovative cybernetic system for human-pet physical touch interaction over the internet that delivers the sense of physical and emotional presence between man and animal.url

google

tripp reminded me today about the recent web-debate over google. The link he sent me is here. I read a post a couple of days ago off the blog of Steven Johnson was in response to the criticism he received after the slate article was published. Don't be like me, and read the slate article, followed by the post.

most interesting line, I think (especially for our purposes, as the crux of the stuff we're doing is searching, filtering data, etc.):

"We're wrong to think of Google as a pure reference source. It's closer to a collectively authored op-ed page—filled with bias, polemics, and a skewed sense of proportion—than an encyclopedia."

Extending Flash

more and more, flash is looking to finally be a factor in non-desktop, mobile environments. this automatically is good for content on these different platforms; just look at the impact that flash has had on the web. so yeah, flash is misused most of the time, and i still hate sites that are done entirely in flash, but there are some cool possibilities. And it will someday mean I can author for mobile stuff more easily. original point - the blog pete's eats is tracking all this pretty carefully. check it out.

pro vs. consumer

Part of the FOB / EVE project is trying to create an authoring system that caters to the needs of both the lowest and highest common denominators of users. For example, our authoring tools would need to allow 'professionals' to create deep and compelling content -- narratives, comprehensive histories, etc., while at the same time making the system easy and quick enough that the average user -- who wants to tag a few resturants he likes for his family -- can do that as well. This is a tough problem, and certainly one that the web has struggled with over the years -- html, flash, DHTML, javascript, etc. But these are all still individual tools -- we need to make one that will work for everyone.

Part of it would hopefully be solved by 3rd party developers.

But just something to think about -- this is relatively uncharted territory for authoring systems as far as I know. Apple is a good example -- they make iMovie for the consumer and Final Cut for the professional. They are coming out with a consumer audio editing tool, but realize that professionals will still use proTools. And electronics are the same way -- home movie cameras vs. professional models.

So what sort of things do we need to think about when designing our system. One idea that comes to mind is that perhaps we can't do this, and therefore we hav to make the authoring tool extensible enough that people can mold it, or build upon it to suit their needs.