File this one under, what the heck do I need this for?!? The Sony Rolly was dancing it’s fool heart out at the Sony Store at Old Orchard today. It definitely caught my (and Lulu’s) eye. But who would pay $400 for this thing? Watch the video and be amazed.
Second life has been setting the pace for virtual world development since 2003. We’ve been playing (er.. experiencing) since 2006. We even own land by the virtual sea, but the concept of a second or alternate world has always troubled us. Reality is already pretty complex.
Augmented Reality (AR) on the other hand, is exciting because we see a digitally enhanced reality as not only possible, but the key to supercharging the man / machine dyad. Imagine a world where digital daemon’s travel with us as friends, servants and guardians (I need to lay off the children’s literature). You don’t have to imagine too hard, the folks at Georgia Tech are already working on realizing part of this vision. The video above shows how digital can be superimposed over reality in a hyper-realistic manner. The last minute of video above is the most exciting, but heck, the whole thing is only 3 minutes long… Enjoy! (Thanks Stephanie)
Advanced Beauty 6 of 18 / Directed by Robert Hodgin from Universal Everything on
First, if you don’t have a podcast (free) subscription to the video blog “Advanced Beauty“, get one right now!!! They are releasing 18 gorgeous digital renditions one at a time from various artists including our dreamboat Robert Hodgin. They are on the seventh video and so far all of the videos are great but Robert’s melts our head. Sure we might be biased, so check them out for yourselves and bask in their digital beauty.
We’re almost a decade past the web’s initial foray into accessibility and the US government’s attempts at legislating accessibility standards, and web accessibility still sucks. Current standards and guidelines don’t go far enough. (Sure, some come close, but we’re nowhere near where we need to be.)
Rumors and ignorance still dominate how people approach accessibility. Often people assume that accessibility is somehow not worth the effort—that accessibility costs too much in terms of time or money; that accessibility translates to spartan, utilitarian, even ugly design; or that accessibility is something that can be considered as an afterthought. Sometimes people even assume that accessibility only means passing some automated test. None of these beliefs are accurate. In reality, the opposite is true.
We’re here to change the situation. At Tanagram we are committed to accessibility in every aspect of our work. We are convinced that the internet can truly be the great equalizer. We are committed to providing rich, egalitarian experiences for all users, including people with visual impairments and members of the Blind and Deaf communities. To reflect this attitude, we make accessibility part of our entire process.
No one deserves or should have to make do with a substandard online experience. Accessibility isn’t just about helping people different from us. It enhances all of our online experiences and has benefits beyond doing the right thing, including improved usability and more reliable SEO. Good things happen when we begin a project with an accessibility-oriented mindset.
The little “508” badge at the bottom left of our site only signifies our commitment to accessibility. To get a better taste of where we want to take accessibility, fire up a text-only browser, JAWS, or your favorite assistive technology. We think you’ll like what you experience.
Most virtual worlds have have fans/residents that use the world, creatures, and other residents to create Machinima. Second Life is special because you get to do set design instead of location hunting. The concept is interesting but it seems they still haven’t figured out the mouth part yet. EWWWW! Learn more about the behind the scenes for this project here.
Today the edges between digital and real were blurred a little further (thanks Brad) as man and data interact in real time and real space. This slight-of-hand was created using a compelling combination of Musion Eyeliner and some clever motion cameras. We want to see it from the point-of-view of the guy on stage!
The folks at Microsoft Surface have begun to play further with their advanced multi-touch display. We are THIS CLOSE to getting one of these coolies to play with but now our desire has been captured by this new globe version. I think we were all amused by some of the “creative” demonstration apps they built for it, but the virtual tour demo left us wanting it purely because it looks like a crystal ball and who doesn’t want one of those???
Three months of still photographing dice resulted in this amazing video (thanks Rudy). It’s gorgeous. There is something to be said for the love of the craft and attention to detail.
CHANGES from LORCANFINNEGAN on
We’re huge fans of the post-hyper-real (or whatever the historians will call it) abstract impressionistic CGI animation phenomenon. This video is a wonderful example of expression and playfulness. It illustrates the value of abstraction for creating mood, feeling, and aesthetic appeal. It would be cool to play in a virtual world that looks like this.
Welcome to the spill. The overflow buffer for the passion we have for interaction.
Spill is the blog from Tanagram, Inc. a technology innovation and design company based in Chicago, Illinois.
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