Tern: Wooden blocks shaped like jigsaw puzzle pieces
Created by Michael Horn and Robert J.K. Jacob at Tufts University, Tern is a tangible programming language for middle school and late elementary school students. Children connect the tailored wooden blocks to form physical computer programs, which may include action commands, loops, branches, and subroutines.
Download Tern's paper for Chi'07
Quetzal
Prior to designing Tern, the authors created Quetzal (pronounced ket-sal), a "tangible programming language designed for children and novice programmers to control LEGO MINDSTORMS robots. It consists of over one hundred interlocking tiles representing flow-of-control structures, actions, and data. Programmers arrange and connect these tiles to define algorithms which can include loops, branches, and concurrent execution."
Also Oren Zuckerman from the MIT Media Lab created Systems Thinking Blocks for children to model and simulate dynamic systems.
Flow Blocks for children "to create 3D structures in space, that look like common structures in life"
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Tangible Programming in the Classroom
SuiPo: the interactive poster
The interactive Poster “SuiPo” by Fuminori Tsunoda, Takayuki Matsumoto, Takeshi Nakagawa, Mariko Utsunomiya, East Japan Railway uses a combination of IC card ticket Suica and Internet accessible mobile phone where customers can get e-mail information by touching their IC card ticket on the reader located near the poster.
More on SuiPo
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Another book
Books I bought today ...
Sagmeister: Made You Look by Peter Hall, Booth-Clibborn publisher.
Envisioning information by Edward Tufte
Curious Boym: Design Works The discreet charm of the ordinary by Constantin Boym, Peter Hall, Steven Skov Holt
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Refreshing ads
Nice for the summer! Via frederik samuel
In the Ibirapuera Park, there were vaporizers placed to refresh visitors. On the sides of these vaporizers, there is a place designed to propagate publicity. They used visuals of people coughing and sneezing with the message that “the flu is in the air”. Agency: QG, Brazil; Copywriter: Edu Marques; Art Director: Luis Tauffer
When technoloy tries the impossible
Turn off your cell phone, GSM system tracks mobile phone via the GPS-TRACK satellite network! Thanks Josh for the link!
Online software (beta)
Friday, April 20, 2007
Interact 2007
Prototypes of Moving Pictures
Yessss! The full paper written for Interact 2007 with Dr Hiroshi Ishii is accepted! It shows how Textable Movie designed for facilitating video production has informed Moving Pictures. It presents a mechanism to seamlessly interface the various parts in video production and present our observations. The conference topic is socially-responsible interaction. So see you in Rio de Janeiro in September!
Abstract: The paper presents a novel approach to collecting, editing and performing visual and sound clips in real time. The cumbersome process of capturing and editing becomes fluid in the improvisation of a story, and accessible as a way to create a final movie. It is shown how a graphical interface created for video production informs the design of a tangible environment that provides a spontaneous and collaborative approach to video creation, selection and sequencing. Iterative design process, participatory design sessions and workshop observations with 10-12 year old users from Sweden and Ireland are discussed. The limitations of interfacing video capture, editing and publication in a self-contained platform are addressed.
Download the 14 pages paper
Thank you all of you for your feedback!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Flying video-taking pet?
Would you like a flying video-taking pet that follows you around? Here is a fun visionary video on the future of mobile technology for teenagers by Microsoft found on RoomWare
Video: Career in Computer Science - MS Research
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The international fashion machines company, ifmachines, created by Dr Margaret Orth, has over 10 years experience in putting technology on the body. As a student at the MIT Media Laboratory in 2000, Maggie invented the Music Shapers, squeezable instruments, which allow players to mold, transform, and explore musical material and compositions.
Music Shappers
IFM provides private research and development in e-textiles to industry and the military. Our facilities include electronics test and measurement equipment and textile equipment, including looms and embroidery machines. We have over 10 years experience prototyping and developing a variety of conductive fabrics for a variety of application
The company produces Pompom that one can squeeze to turn a light on and off, dimmer switches and fuzzy sensor developer kit designed for Toy Developers and Fashion Developers. The kit includes 1 PomPom, 1 Tufted Sensor, 1 Sensing Circuit that lights LED and buzzes.
fuzzy sensor developer kit
