Digital Senses... Phantasm -Takahiro Matsuo

http://www.aec.at/kiev/en/projects.asp

Phantasm is an interactive installation where a user holds a glowing sphere and by moving this sphere they trigger music and animation on a large screen. The display is dreamlike with beautiful butterflies gracefully moving around the screen towards the sphere and chase the sphere as it is moved. This sounds like an extremely relaxing and therapeutic installation to experience.

The Sancho Plan

http://www.thesanchoplan.com/index.html

The Sancho Plan produce live audiovisual performances and interactive installations. Their work involves live music and invites the user to engage with animated musical characters which are triggered by a variety of electronic drum pads. The work has been shown at many different places including festivals, clubs and cinemas. The creations are really interesting to look at and involve a great combination of animation, sound, music and performance.

"The Sancho Plan blend a careful combination of animation, sound, music and performance to produce striking, interactive AV shows"

SPP2 Lecture with Simon Perkins

The lecture yesterday was really interesting. Simon was talking about how each new technology used is expected to make the product more realist. When people see graphics on games and films now they always expect it to be as real to life as possible. When you start to think about it you have to ask, "why?" Why does everything have to be realistic? We expect actors to make us believe their story and we slate them when they don't, when all the time we know they are just acting so why do we expect them to be able to make us believe they are a different person. We expect computer graphics in films to be realistic when most of the time the graphics are creating fictional characters and situations so how can it be realistic. This lecture really got me thinking, why are we trying so desperately to incorporate fictional and virtual reality into 'real world reality' in as believable a way as possible. When people view graphics they know all the time that the graphics are fictional and have been created by a computer, but for some reason they want the graphics to look 'real'. Why?

View From The Top Photography Exhibition

"People you know, Places you go"

The project in the View From the Top Gallery was funded by the Making Waves organisation that consists of people with a range of experiences of mental distress. Through the members and their experiences, the organisation aims to transform mental health services and develop new and innovative ways of supporting people through mental distress. Not only does the organisation provide service evaluation of mental health services but they also provide research, education and training.



The Mind Frames project is part of a research project exploring what interaction individuals have who live in residential settings have with their local communities. The participants were encouraged to look at different ways of portraying places and people, using photographs to tell a story. The participants used digital, film or even disposable cameras to portray their version of the story.

http://www.viewfromthetop.co.uk/
http://viewforthcomingevents.blogspot.com/
http://www.photovoice.org/
http://www.makingwaves.org/index.html

Elements of Interaction Design: Task 2

The classic Palm Vx PDA designed by IDEO



What does it look like?
It has a sleek contemporary design. Minimal physical buttons as it is mainly touch screen. Small and compact for ease of portability.

How easy is it to use?
As I have not used this product myself i decided to find a user review online.
"Reliable workhorse but lacks space
Pros: long battery life, reliable, lots of freeware
Cons: no backlight, insufficient space, low alarm sound, needs a serial port"
Posted by evwool - October 27, 2007
http://reviews.cnet.com/pdas/palm-vx/4505-3127_7-1432994.html

How relevant is the content of the site and how clearly is the content organised?
I found it difficult to find any IDEO products on their website, in my opinion it is confusing and badly organised.

Sony mp3 Walkman NWZ-A815
www.sony.co.uk



What does it look like?
Available in black, white, violet, silver and pink, this choice makes the product feel more personalised. It is small and light and therefore easy to fit in a pocket. Mobile phone-like menu and interface for easy usabilty. 2 inch screen size which makes it large enough to view videos.

How easy is it to use?
Again, as I have not used this product myself I used an online review.
"Best thing ever"
"What I like: no software & effortless using"
"What I don't like: headphone leakage"
"Brilliant sound best ive heard on a mp3 player & i have owned a few? Video is a sharp as the new nano but the Sony somehow feels a little bigger? same 2" screen but you can turn video around. Build is a nice metal,feels like quality not plastic.the only critisysm is no video converting software?"
Posted by: stuboy - November 5, 2007
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic/0,39030001,49293170-39282247o,00.htm

How relevant is the content of the site and how clearly is the content organised?
The Sony website was easy to find and simple to navigate through. I found the products easily and all the information, both the summary and technical information of the product, was clearly communicated.

Apple MacBook Pro 15"
www.apple.co.uk



What does it look like?
The MacBook Pro is well designed, slim and lightweight. With a widescreen it is larger than most laptops but yet still compact. The silver colour gives it a professional look and feel.

How easy is it to use?
The product is simple to use because of its simple design. The widescreen makes it brilliant for watching DVDs, although the sound leaves something to be desired as it is very quiet. The large screen makes it easy to use more than one application at a time and work on simultaneous projects. the mouse control could do with a right click button, this is a flaw with all Mac computers that can be very irritating. Overall a brilliant piece of machinery, beautiful as well as technically practical.

How relevant is the content of the site and how clearly is the content organised?
The site gave me all the information I needed to know about this product. It also has a contact option and this can be useful as many people may want to ask more detailed questions when spending this much money on a product. It is rare to find a site showing so many products yet being clearly organised and easy to navigate around.

John Maeda

Born 1966 in Seattle, Washington

He is a Japanese-American graphic designer, computer scientist, university professor, and author.

In 1999 he was named one of the most important people in the 21st century.

Maeda first made his mark by redefining the use of electronic media as a tool for expression for people of all ages and skills.

He is the recipient of the highest career honors for design in the United States.

John Maeda is an artist and a computer scientist, and he views the computer not as a substitute for brush and paint but as an artistic medium in its own right.

Random Facts About John Maeda:

He likes to wear Bermuda shorts and T-shirts

The quality he desires in women is trust

He works best on airplanes or in coffee shops

He would like to live in Europe

His favourite flower is the Iris

He is afraid that technology will make us stop imagining and we’ll get stuck

His favourite author is Paul Rand

His favourite colour is blue

His best occupation is being a father

www.maedastudio.com
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