Drugs must be so much better these days…
This is another brilliant site ALA explorative navigation. Wow! Nice work folks!
Spill
Monday play time!
It’s Monday and after being inundated by political talking points and talks of our further receding economy, we think it’s time to play. While HelloSourSally is most definitely a viral marketing piece, it’s whimsical interaction and childlike experience make all the bad monsters go away. Enjoy!
Microvision Wearable Displays
During some recent digging (we do that alot) we stumbled across the Microvision wearable display. At $10K per unit they aren’t ready for consumer consumption yet, but the concept looks compelling. Basically they are using their pico projector technology to bounce lasers on your eyes. Sounds dangerous but they seem to disagree.
Microvision has a very good questions and answers page where Ben Averch (Global Product Manager, Wearable Systems) talks about the value of Augmented Reality and how the data of the future will be accessible anywhere and any time. Great job Ben and Microvision. We want one now!
Kohl’s bravely exploring accessibility
The team at Kohls.com is highly committed to user experience so it is no surprise to us that they are already pushing the boundaries of accessibility and e-commerce. This week Kohl’s launched an updated version of their shopping cart that includes navigation jumplinks and a high-contrast style sheet. Kudos to the Kohl’s team for taking steps towards optimizing their experience beyond 508 compliance.
Social Voyerism – Twittearth
Maybe it’s just me but I could watch this application for hours. It’s so fascinating to have little peeks into other people’s lives and to see where they are in the world. Perhaps it’s the suggested integrity of each person’s post that makes this more compelling to me than the DiggLabs visualizations, but I can’t peel my eyes off the screen long enough to think about it.
Target Settles with NFB
As reported by Kiplinger.com [UPDATE - Here's a NYTimes article as the Kiplinger article is offline] and many other sources, Target has settled with NFB on the class-action lawsuit that has started a shift in the thinking with regards to web accessibility. This settlement will put a lot of pressure on e-tailers throughout the United States and while that seems like a good thing, we are not satisfied with the likely result. 508 compliance must evolve, the blind and visually impaired deserve better than digital hand-rails and ramps. You’ve heard our rants before. Just like Oscar Pistorius used technology to turn his disability into an advantage, we believe the man / machine dyad can be optimized for anyone. Here’s a question to Target and the other e-Tailers out there: If product color descriptions and product images (i.e. a photo illustrating the cut, shape, fit, and color of a pair of pants) aren’t helpful to the blind, what good does it do to make sure they can access them?
Augmented Reality for Second Life
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)
Tangrams on the iPhone!
You know we have to have this!!! Tangram is a puzzle game for the iPhone and at the low price of $2.99 you can’t beat it. Now we just need to find an Anagram application, buy them both drinks and lock them in a hotel room.
Robert Hodgin KILLS Advanced Beauty
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.
Beyond Accessibility!
The word is out! We’ve started talking about access for all, how the government has failed to make the grade, and how we think digital is the great equalizer. Last Tuesday we presented to the masses (ok small masses) and had a blast. We met a ton of really exciting people who share our passion and are looking for a place to share thoughts. So now we’re on a mission. We’ve started the first in a series of steps towards a community of interest. Our first page includes a reprint of our accessibility manifesto, some useful links and an email address. Please contact us to share your hopes, thoughts, concerns, and questions. We will be working to grow the discussion with you.
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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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