I was happy to be invited as a workshop leader for "Design Week" at The University of Akron. I would call it more of a demo workshop. I went from modification of a PS3Eye webcam, to installing CCV to loading a flash application to make an interactive wall. All in about 3 hours. So I thought this would be a great topic to write up for anyone that may have missed something in the demo or couldn't make it into the demo entirely. Read the rest of this entry »
Something new I'd like to try, and I'm going to try and not come across as some know-it-all d-bag. But it seems that I just came across 2 similar applications at roughly the same time. Now, I do not know how to DJ, I have a friend that does (new needs to hop back into the social networking world). And I have Not seen either of these first hand, I've only analyzed the accompanying videos.
Keeping an eye on Engadget a couple days ago (Ok, I didn't see it first, co-workers pointed out the links to me), I first saw Token.
"emulator" on töken concept from yöyen munchausen on Vimeo.
The interface is beautiful to me. It is colorful and vibrant. Since the screen is viewable on both sides, the audience really gets their own glimps of what is going on. I could see a DJ being in some type of elavated spot so everyone can enjoy the look of the entire interface.
The layout looks like it was well mapped out and covered everything the DJ would need in a 1:1 recreation of a DJ's real world interface. The multitouch aspect of it was seen, I noticed him be able to do multiple tasks at the same time. And the first time I watch this video I immediately sent this to my DJ friend (who also came across it and was about to send it to me first).
Then today, IM pops up. Checked out the link.
Graphic User Interface for Mobile DJs
Multi Touch Light Table: GERGWERK from GERG WERK on Vimeo.
I like the idea of going to digital DJing to help with mobility, but not wanting to lose abilities. I hope your watching the video, listen for this line.
"if there's no knobs or buttons pertruding from the surface, the DJ'll need to look down the entire time."
I had never even thought of that. Just keep watching. When the first screen shot is show, I was thinking where is everything? Mixer, dials, knobs, be it digital, the only things I even recognized from a real world DJ setup was the crossfader and 2 blobs spinning around that I guess would be the turntables.
...and then the description of how the interface works started. The bulk of it, gestures. Gestures! An even deeper use of multitouch technology. Eliminating more space taking up widgets and changing it to multiple finger touches and types of swipes to effect the application at it is running. Changing the speed of the track by physically tapping the screen. Pinching to capture loops. The entire use of gestures is well thought out and explained, and once you learn it, it looks like something that can become second nature.
Being lucky enough to see both these applications cross my path at relatively the same time is amazing. It makes me realize that I still have much to learn about multitouch, like many others thinking of how to build proper multitouch interfaces. Straight representation of a real world devise is fantastic, don't get me wrong. It takes a lot of skill, patients, knowledge. But there always seems to be that next step further someone will take that will make anyone and everyone astonished.
Seeing an app like GERGWERK, even in just a demo video reminds me that I always need to take a step back and ask myself, am I really thinking through the full potential of using a multitouch device? Are there innovations I'm not thinking of? Will a multitouch interface device really add value with what it is I'm trying to do? And how do I pull that off?
I would love to see either of these applications running first hand, and it makes me want to learn how to DJ. But hey, one thing at a time.
(^_^)//
Hey there. It sure has been a while hasn't it?
Looks like I have a little down time while my computer defrags and my upgrade goes through at work, so I thought I'd hop on and white up a quick post of something I just wrapped up and released.
So I am trying to build out this proof of concept application, its a demo of a conference's floor plan with a list of all the attendee on the side, you'll scroll through the list, pick one and the app will show you the location on the map and give more information about the attendee. Only one problem, I'm using the TUIO, so there isn't a component for a scollable list of ...anything. So looks like I just have to build one.
I took a couple tries before I stopped coding myself into a corner. The layering of the component had to be just right. Plus, it needed to the usable at any angle. It is intended for a table top / multi-user display. And to make that happen, I needed quite a bit of layering, on the app and in the code itself.
I also wanted this to start off all code based, so I only used FlashDevelop. So moving forward, if you have Flash you can build a MovieClip and attach it to the List Item Object and customize the look of the selectable items.
Its nice to know there is activity in Cleveland. shark&minnow (Hallie Bram who is a co-worker of mine) are pulling together an independently organized TED event here in February. Not only that, she asked me if I would do a presentation. After seeing 36 Views of a Bridge, she and Eric Kogelschatz told me they hadn't seen anyone else around Cleveland doing anything of the sort, especially working with a relatively inexpensive DIY solution just out of a basement.
I mentioned about how I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have without the help of the open source communities, from NUIGroup for building the hardware and CCV to Processing and Open Flash APIs to work with. After talking with Hallie for a while, I had decided that I didn't necessarily want to just talk about the multitouch experiments I've been working on, I'd prefer to talk about something deeper. I want to talk about how I just happened to find something I became passionate about and how there are other people out there that share that passions, and because of open source communities and collaboration, anyone can follow their passion and excel with it.
So now, its time to start actually putting together a presentation worth listening to... and I'd give it a 85% chance that I'll have a multitouch table setup there to show off as well. But we'll see.
My Google Code page has been updated! After what has seemingly been forever.
I've created a widget that I'd like to share with everyone. A small for keyboard for use in Flash TUIO multitouch (experiments) projects. The form I based off of my Google Android Phone and iPhone style. Read the rest of this entry »
It about time I mentioned an application I've been working on. Expanding the start of using Google Maps, this demo expands on it and combines a few examples I found into one application.
The idea behind it is to be setup in a local that is getting a lot of unfamiliar to the area traffic. This could be a place of commerce, public space or conference to name a few. Read the rest of this entry »
The Collider Series page on my website is now displaying some analytic information about what apps are being played with most.
Looks like FluidSolver is in the lead,
with Touch Physics close behind!
And Gaia’s Touch, impressive...have I shared that one with everyone yet?
I've been trying to get my Box2DFlash chops up.
And this is something I've wanted to do since I started looking into multitouch.
So without further ado... Hungry Hungry Hippos (alpha version).
NOTE: I absolutely love seeing my experiments and apps in videos on the net. So feel free to take video testing out this game and leave a comment with a link.
The code is very very very very raw and not very clean or organized, but if you'd still like to see it, just send me a message.
I'm trying to get it up and running in the Collider project.
I finally got the footage edited of 36 Views of a Bridge at the Bridge Project. Enjoy.
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