I came across the Fizzees (Physical Electronic Energisers) research project by Futurelab. Fizzees is a prototype project that enables young people to care for a 'digital pet' through their own physical actions. In order to nurture their digital pet, keep it healthy and grow, young people must themselves act in physically healthy ways!
The Fizzee comes in two parts – a wristwatch-style device where the pet resides, and an unobtrusive heart monitor which straps around the chest. A sensor in the monitor measures the wearer’s heart rate, and this data is sent to the Fizzee device, which houses an accelerometer to monitor movement.
I am not sure about the one-to-one mapping between a digital pet and a child. It also depends how the watch can be calibrated, and if there is a limit to the amount of activity! I understand why these devices could become popular especially after the Tamagotchis, and Neopets mania, but why don't we take it the other way around?
Wouldn't that be awesome to have a Fizzlazy(TM) with which the more you watch TV the more your digital pet would become fat and grumpy, and that eventually it will start reading comic books, play video games and sleep until 1pm!
Picture from the Fizzee's report. Download the brochure here.
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Blog Jouons 
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Fizzees: Physical Electronic Energisers
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Documentary: last in class!
Via my research lab, I heard about this ongoing documentary-making on the "last in class!". The documentary will be a light-hearted look at our culture's growing obsession with achievement as explored through the profiles of several people who finished at the bottom of their college (and in some cases, also high school) class and the somewhat unexpected, often ironic, lives they have lived since.
Check out the web site as they are looking for these exceptional low profiles!
The call:
1. We already have a number of possible people to profile for the film
(from a country music star to a serial entrepreneur and beyond) but are
always interested in hearing from, and about, more. If you know of anyone
who might fit the bill, please send them our way (info [at] lastinclass [.] com).
2. As you will see from the website, as part of this project, we are also
putting together a companion piece of truly memorable report cards and
report card comments, in particular. If you have any you would like to
share, please do.
3. Finally, please pass this email along to your friends and colleagues.
We know that those who finished last are just as rare as those who finished
first but we know that they are out there and probably the source of far
better stories to be told.
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Blog Jouons
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
TableCloth
Table Cloth designed by Maija Louekari.
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Blog Jouons
DIY: A latte art printing machine!
I posted on bread laser printing, fruit printing, computer etching, 3d printing your own guitar, printing your clothing (a next step for TUI), and also about the secret-spying marks left by your printer as you print!
Today, I found this wacky and so cooool tutorial on how to make your own latte art printing machine. Oleskiy Pikalo wanted art work on his latte, so he bought a x-y flatbed plotter (Philips 8155) on eBay and a great book by Matt Gilliland: “Inkjet Applications”!
Here is the result, see the video!
He offers a tutorial on how to build something like this, here you go, so you need (I quote him):
1) An old flatbed plotter (in my case it was Philips 8155) - make sure it has real x-y translation stage. Your best bet is to perform a search on eBay for flatbed plotter. On a good day, you may get a decent fully working plotter for under 100$. I got mine for 175$ with shipping, because I wanted A3 format for later use, and a bunch of pens.
2) Most old plotters connect through GPIB/Serial interface -mine connected through GPIB interface, so I needed a GPIB card, which I also got on eBay. I got my card for around 30$, because the one I purchased was not a popular kind (LTP1 - GPIB).
3) Matt Gilliland’s book Inkjet Applications. It looks like Parallax has this fabulous kit on 40% sale for 59.95$
4) A small 12V relay (my plotter lowers pen by applying 12V to the solenoid). This relay will enable the stream of ink from the inkjet cartridge.
5 ) Edible ink - preferably brown. You can work with coffee directly instead of ink, but the contrast is not as good as wwith ink. Again, I got mine on eBay.
Good luck!
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Blog Jouons
Monday, March 10, 2008
Techy flower
The Moonlit Flower is a DIY project that combines tech to sewing skills.
As you close the flower' snaps, the flower lights up! Proposed as part of the tech DIY web site, the project teaches basic knowledge of electricity and circuits and how to make a shiny and twinkle]y-twinkly “Moonlit Flower"! The site offers many other DIY tutorials combining technology to crafting. So everybody (including boys), enjoy!!!
This work reminds me of Elisabeth Sylvan's research in 2005 on Ejewels. Participants used a combination of basic electronics materials and basic craft materials to create jewelry with lights that glow, flash, and change color.
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Blog Jouons
Transgenesis
Transgenesis
In 2000 I had the chance to meet Pavel Smetana at Avignon Numérique, in France, and interact with his Room of Desires that he created in 1995. In this project I was connected to brainwave and heart-rate sensors in an empty room, with video projections of pretty relaxing pictures and music. As soon as I would become excited with an image, the system would generate new images and sounds, based on my biofeedback. The audience could witness these changes and understand what imagery would trigger a certain kind of emotions. After a while I would be able to control the system, in a way "controlling my emotions" and also what the audience would see as a result.
Recently Pavel Smetana in collaboration with Ivor Diosi and Ivan Acher revisited this past work and created transgenesis, a set of virtual environments the audio and the visual parts of which are changing in real-time in dependence on data received form sensors capturing brain and heart activity of viewers. Each viewer enters those and only those virtual landscapes which his or her physical and mental states lead to. Landscapes vary in audiovisual styles ranging from horror-like hyper-realistic atmosphere up to geometric or organic abstractions.
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Blog Jouons
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Wanna get an old new-mac?
Me with my PowerBook G4, on the road from San Francisco to San Diego
Being a big fan of Tim Mott's concept of guided fantasies with the need of rigorous user testing for designing user interfaces, I find Apple computers being all about user's needs.
I recently repaired my old Power Book G4 to give it to my grand ma, who had almost no computer experience. After testing with her different platforms, she prefers working with a trackpad than a usual mouse. She loves the drag and drop and prefers it to the open/close menu. In sum, the mac interface and the macbook pro seems perfect for her. Teaching her using my old mac was so nice combining my knowledge in usability to the love for my grand ma. Now she is on Skype regularly and I can talk and chat with her!
Apple iMac G4
You can get Apple parts for old computers online. DV Warehouse is an avid reseller of used mac. It proposes a wide range of Macintosh computers and individual parts. They have pretty good deals, have a lot of Apple parts, and also nostalgic pieces such as the Apple iMac G4 or the iMac G3. The Apple community needs this kind of single source for used Mac and used Macintosh computers parts. So you can start designing, repairing and hacking old macs!
The Apple iMac G3
I could not find the Apple I, Apple's first product! "Sold as an assembled circuit board, it lacked basic features such as a keyboard, monitor, and case."
Apple 1 with an added keyboard and a wooden case. Photo taken by rebelpilot
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Blog Jouons
Spam drawing
Apparently artists find spam inspiring. After spam architecture, Marian Bantjes creates spam drawing!
Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure.............................................................................................
Blog Jouons
Blog Maison Blog Lesson
MIT to be tuition-free for families earning less than $75,000 a year
Pretty insane news! I am proud to belong to MIT when I know that nearly 30 percent of MIT students will soon have all tuition charges covered! The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) today announced its financial aid program for 2008-2009. Increases in financial aid will make it possible for a larger fraction of MIT students to have their tuition and fees completely covered. Here is an excerpt of the newsletter I received from the MIT alumni association:
Under the new plan, which will take effect in the 2008-2009 academic year
Families earning less than $75,000 a year will have all tuition covered. For parents with total annual income below $75,000 and typical assets, MIT will ensure that all tuition charges are covered with an MIT scholarship, federal and state grants, and/or outside scholarship funds. Nearly 30 percent of MIT students fall into this tuition-free category. (...) Under this provision, for example, students in this income group who participate in MIT's paid Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) each semester would be able to graduate debt-free.
For families earning less than $100,000, MIT will eliminate home equity in determining their need. In determining the ability to pay for college, MIT will no longer consider home equity for families with total annual income below $100,000 and typical assets. On average, this will reduce parental contributions by $1,600. For families who rent, rather than own a home, MIT will provide a comparable reduction in the expected parental contribution.
Total financial aid budget is one of the highest per enrolled student in the nation. Building on this commitment, MIT will increase its financial aid budget to $74 million. MIT's total financial aid budget is one of the highest per enrolled student in the nation. Sixty percent of MIT undergraduates receive scholarship aid from the Institute's internal resources. Fully 90 percent of MIT undergraduates receive financial aid of some kind, from a range of sources. While MIT focuses assistance on those with fewer resources, it also provides aid to families with incomes well above $100,000 who demonstrate need--for example, because they have more than one child in college at a time. In fact, approximately 38 percent of our current MIT scholarship recipients come from families earning more than $100,000.
"We will continue our longstanding financial commitment to students and their families in the years ahead," Hastings stated. "That we can welcome to our campus such extraordinary students, regardless of their economic background, is due to our historic dedication to need-based financial aid."
More news & letter to the MIT community!
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Blog Jouons
