(Source: krauti)
Google have done it again. While I was working on a game on top of a mapping service myself they were just quicker - again. I assume we will see a lot of gamification aproaches for digital services in 2012. Especially for those where the usual dwell time is limited until you have got what you where looking for. Imagine for example Groupon or Amazon would reward you for looking through all their offers. Or iTunes would reward you in a non-monetary currency for trying out new artist. Foursquare gives you badges for check-in so ask yourself which things would you like to score while using a service.
(Source: Mashable)
rainy music - Kunsthofpassage, Dresden, Germany | photo by Vincent Kwong via Ingeniumetars & Enpundit
THE CHROMATIC TYPEWRITER
What a lovely new use for an old gadget. Washington-based painter Tyree Callahan has modified a traditional typewriter and turned it into a painting machine, or “Chromatic Typewriter”. Callahan submitted the beautiful typewriter as part of the 2012 West Prize competition, an annual art prize that’s determined by popular vote. The keys on the vintage 1937 Underwood Standard typewriter have each been replaced with a different pad of color to give some rather interesting results!
First prototypeI finally got around to making my first prototype of the semester. This six-foot by three-foot printout was a framework to observe how people would interact with a map in a public setting. Simple instructions urged people to label the world with different colored stickers. Much to my surprise, a crowd quickly gathered and filled the map with dots indicating place of birth and locations visited.
What did I learn?
- People enjoyed using this and it became a social gathering
- Location and placement of this prototype was important to get maximum foot traffic
- At its present size, several people could use this simultaneously with spectators looking on
- A few people customized stickers or added unique annotations, but by and large, most people simply followed the instructions. Lesson: provide the tools (pens, markers) right by the map to make it as easy as possible to carry out this task.
- The green dots (could be used for any purpose) were not labeled; can I assume these signified locations people want to travel to?
- Low-tech paper prototyping proved to be fun for the users and effective for me
- What I assumed would take days to fill in the map with stickers, took 15 minutes
- I should have bought more stickers, as I ran out of blue (places visited) dots
- According to the red dots, two of my classmates (or possibly faculty members) were born in Bulgaria… I had no idea! Who?
Next step: refine prototype and increase the fidelity
The site Suitts.me lets you ask your friends about individual pieces of clothing you find online.
Ummm this is gorgeous…may make these for myself…
omg damn cool!
Pillow Talk is a project aiming to connect long distance lovers. Each person has a ring sensor they wear to bed at night, and a flat fabric panel which slots inside their pillowcase. The ring wirelessly communicates with the other person’s pillow; when one person goes to bed, their lover’s pillow begins to glow softly to indicate their presence. Placing your head on the pillow allows you to hear the real-time heartbeat of your loved one.
The result is an intimate interaction between two lovers, regardless of the distance between them.
i wanted this so badly when austin and i were long distance.
This is way too cute for words.
do want do want do want
(Source: chicken-pig-whatsthedifference)
