I discovered a nicely designed web site about human navigation on a computer screen through mouse clics. It proposes the another branch of the alternative: the site explores the control of the mouse clic through gestures.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Don't click!
Bluetooth Virtual Laser Keyboard
Who needs touchscreens? This wireless laser keypad makes any surface a usable keypad, even in sunlight. Now you can use those skills acquired in 8th grade typing class, using all 10 fingers instead of the chicken-pecking that phone and PDA keypads require. It even duplicates the sound of keys so you can still get the satisfaction of a key well-pressed. And when you're really bored, project the keyboard on the sidewalk and have the neighborhood kids play hopscotch on it. Oh, the wacky text messages you'll send now!
Via Product dose and can be bought via Yahoo
The Virtual Laser Keyboard leverages the power of laser and infrared technology and projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface. As you type on the laser projection, detection technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds, which feed into the compatible Bluetooth-enabled PDA, Smartphone, laptop or PC
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks). Project Gutenberg reached the following milestones as per dates:
1 eBook in 1971
10 eBooks in 1991
100 eBooks in 1994
1,000 eBooks in 1997
10,000 eBooks in 2003
100,000 eBooks in 2006
Don't miss the science-fiction bookshelf!
Illustration from Ullr Uprising by H. Beam Piper
When design meets science fiction
Mariko MORI, Oneness, 2003, Technogel(Registered Trademark), cast aluminium, electric system, 135 x 75,6 x 37,4 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Deitch Projects. Photo: Jens Ziehe
An exhibition at the Mudam Luxembourg the 25 May to 24 September 2007. More on E-flux
TOMORROW NOW - when design meets science fiction is the first exhibition devoted to the relationship between design and science fiction. Homage to Luxembourg-born Hugo Gernsback, the inventor of the term "science fiction", it explores the links created between the two disciplines from the beginning of the 20th century until today.
Curated by Alexandra Midal and Björn Dahlström, the exhibition presents the territory covered by both disciplines and the richness of their combination through works created by designers, architects, artists, science fiction authors and film directors on the subject of science fiction. More than 800 pieces by more than 100 artists have been brought together and are the subject of a thematic circuit that develops through the different galleries of the museum. The show design, by Mathieu Lehanneur, is in keeping with the exhibition in that it modifies our perceptions with monumental mobile cubes at the entrance to rooms that decide whether to allow the visitor to enter or not, a mountain of unidentified material which seems to pour towards the visitor and inflatable flying objects in a geostationary state...
Monday, July 02, 2007
Twins in tree
One of my favorite picture of all time, Twins in Tree Snedens Landing, New York by Rodney Smith
Stone age trepanation Kit
Trepanation Kit, late stone age.
I love this web site of ancient inventions! This one is especially intriguing:
Trepanation is a method of brain surgery whose origins can be traced to the Late Stone Age. Some remote societies still practice it today, and in some tribal cultures of East Africa it has survived as an integral part of traditional medicine. Doctors employed this invasive procedure to relieve distress caused by a variety of disturbances, including skull fractures, parasites, pressure, hydrocephaly, incurable headaches, and even evil spirits. Intricate and refined instruments aided prehistoric surgeons in the different methods of penetrating the skull, and sometimes in actually removing tissue from the brain. --Trepanation Kit, Worldwide, 2000 BCE by Dierdre Crane
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Musicovery
Toujours plus haut toujours plus fort! Music discovery systems can lack graphic visualization, Musicovery does not! 
Video, time, sound and tangible interface
When a DJ table does the impossible! Discovered on Amsterdamn. Short film created by Double Edge Films.
Motion and identity
A few little dots moving make a figure look male or female, heavy or light, relaxed or nervous, happy or sad. A fun tool to play with by Bio Motion Lab.
Another famous tool that I love, sodaconstructor, a Java applet that animates two dimensional models made out of masses and springs. In this one, emotion and anthropomorphism take place at the spring level.
A while back, Le ciel est bleu designed very successful moving creatures depending on gravity points.
In the robotic sphere, Guy Hoffman's lamp is designed as a collaborative desk assistant and this by following your intentions around your desk. Even if the lamp is non-anthropomorphic per se, its motion certainly gives it an anthropomorphic credibility that serves the function of a desk assistant. Video of its first steps!
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