I may be new to this party, but it sure looks like a cool one. It’s the Leap Motion gesture control system — a $70 device that’s scheduled for release some time this winter. Technology Review described it as The Most Important New Technology Since the Smart Phone. That may be a bit strong, but…… Read More
Bill Moggridge passed away last Saturday. Bill was a pioneer in the field of interaction design — the designer of first laptop computer, a founder of IDEO, and, most recently, the director of the Cooper-Hewitt museum. Bill was a designer who understood that design wasn’t just about the thing. And it wasn’t just about what… Read More
Google Project Glass got a lot of buzz a couple months ago when it was first announced. The idea of real-life augmentation built into a pair of glasses showed some really interesting potential uses. But it also highlighted general fears that augmented reality could remove it’s users from really engaging in the world — instead… Read More
I had lunch today at genes@CO-OP, the cafe at Barneys New York‘s Madison Avenue store. It’s a remarkably restrained, and so quite pleasant, interactive dining experience designed by 2×4. It’s simple enough… a long double-sided table, and at each seat, a touchable monitor under the glass surface. You can choose what you want to eat,… Read More
Last year the Cornell Creative Machine Lab created a system where two chatbots, machines designed to emulate the conversational abilities of humans, engaged in a “conversation” with each other. The result, visualized as an animation with avatars, was a fantastic, if vaguely absurd, example of two computers interacting with each other. But what does it… Read More
Jorge Almeida has worked on a wide range of fantasy UIs for film — the most recent being “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (MI:4) and “The Dark Knight Rises” (TDKR). I’m so happy that he was able to take some time to talk about his work, as well as to share some images. Q: How… Read More
Ash Thorp, who I interviewed recently about his work on Prometheus, has been busy. His work is also in the just released Total Recall. And he took some time to talk about that work… Q: So, as you got started, what was the brief? The brief was to build iconic, yet functional, interface designs that… Read More
I’ve been distracted the past couple weeks with work projects, unable to find the time to do much “real” posting. But here are a few things I’ve been reading or seeing lately (most of which I’ve posted on my twitter account) that I think are worth a look… T(ether) is a interesting AR-type system that… Read More
For Prometheus, David Sheldon-Hicks and his team at Territory were asked to work on several UI elements. David recently took the time to answer some questions about their work for the film. Q: How did you and Territory get involved with this project? We got a phone call out of the blue from George Simons,… Read More
Sorry – but by request of Prologe, this post has been taken down. But… if you’re interested in UI from Prometheus, be sure to read this interview I did with David Sheldon-Hicks about the UI that his firm, Territory, did for Prometheus.
It’s not out yet but Prometheus sure looks cool. I’m trying to track down the UI designer (any suggestions?) to learn more. But in the mean time, here are a handful of images of UIs from the upcoming film.
Touché is a system developed by Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University that allows people to interact with everyday objects via gestures. It’s pretty interesting, and invites not only a whole new type of interaction, but the ability to use almost anything as an interface. Ivan Poupyrev, senior research scientist at Disney Research in Pittsburgh,… Read More
Here’s a great way to explore a foreign city at your own pace, using local services. It’s the Tram Sightseeing app — created for Västtrafik, the public transportation system in Gothenburg, Sweden. Using the mobile app, you can find the nearest tram stop and get a tour that lasts about 45 minutes. The app uses… Read More
I realize that asking you to spend an hour watching a talk by a programmer at an engineering conference sounds like a lot to ask. But this might be a case where it’s worth the effort. First of all, in this talk by Brett Victor, there are some pretty fantastic interfaces that he’s developed –… Read More
It seemed like last week, everywhere I turned, another street-view type of map site popped-up. While they may not have especially groundbreaking interactivity, they give the opportunity to experience places that are otherwise inaccessible to most people. And their gentle pacing supports experiences which are more in-tune to what it’s like to be there, rather… Read More