A SXSW panel spells out how mobile technology has the potential to be an enormous help in disaster zones around the world.
I attended an interesting panel at SXSW Interactive on Monday titled "Architecture, Technology and the Rebuilding of Haiti." While frog isn’t typically in the architecture or disaster relief business, there were parts of the talk that seemed relevant to what we do (and what we have the potential to do), specifically in the field of mobile technology.
Interaction designers talk a lot about a user’s emotional experience, but they understand very little about what motivates people to engage. How can designers understand triggers (signals, facilitators, and sparks) that help to change people’s behavior? frog VP of Creative Robert Fabricant investigates.
Microsoft is a bit like Tiger Woods at the moment - industry darling that became too dominant, then had a fall accompanied by a thick layer of schadenfreude, and now is trying a come-back. Microsoft is being replaced in the big-bad-wolf department by Google and Apple and finds itself in the odd position of being an underdog, and people love to root for underdogs. In fact I'd say that Microsoft is further ahead on the come-back trail than Tiger is if you look at some of its recent announcements: Bing, Windows Phone 7, the Courier journal concept, and the just-announced IE9. Something interesting is brewing in Redmond.
An interview with the technologists behind frog design’s augmented-reality SXSW Interactive fiesta.
Saturday’s opening night party marked the 12th year that frog has organized and hosted the official party of South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), and it was an augmented-reality humdinger. We’ve posted photos on this blog and on our Flickr site to give some flavor of the evening. The twitter chatter was telling as well. Even so, we’ve had quite a few people ask us how we did it — literally what was the technology behind the augmented reality Porta Potties? How did you create instantaneous 3D images of people dancing? What’s a Woofie? People also wanted to know why we chose augmented reality (AR) as a theme.
Clay Shirky and Beth Ferguson are the Sunday highlights.
Sunday morning, after augmenting realities at the frog opening night party, and having two days of SXSWi under my belt, I realized I still didn’t know quite what to expect from the conference. I do know, however, that an emerging theme for my personal SXSW journey is “nothing is quite what it seems.” Of course, it’s hard to decipher from session titles and even their brief synopsis just how meaningful the presentation will be for you. But more importantly, I was concerned with avoiding the passive consumption of that knowledge and, if I was inspired enough after listening to a speaker, how might I shift my consciousness, and perhaps even my behavior.
Party Pics from the frog design Augmented Reality party at SXSWi 2010.
The DJ was spinning, crowds were dancing, and people were ... using the porta potties. That's right: Augmented Reality Porta Potties. Get in, have a seat (or not), and do your thing while others watched. Okay, we didn't really watch. But with the help of motion sensors and some exterior augmented projections, people on the outside could see your posture and how long you spend inside. Uncanney valley? Nah. Just a little fun by our tech masters Jared Ficklin, Gregg Wygonik, Michael McDaniel, and others. And les toilets were only the side show. Thousands gathered at frog's 12th annual SXSWi kickoff party to see old friends and make new connections. Fun was had by all. How do we know? We tracked it using RFID card tags. Guests scanned cards when they made friends, when they got a beer, when they danced or had their photo taken. They even checked in after using the john. And then we displayed everyone's activities and connections on a giant Woofie Wall. What's a little augmentation with your fun? Check out pics from the party and the behind the scenes tech work on our Flickr page.
Yesterday, at SXSW Interactive, I realized how serendipitous (and potentially harmonious) your encounters could become, even among the chaotic mission to attend tightly scheduled and provocative talks on everything from transmedia to DIY digital higher education — and then document it all.
Danah Boyd, uncanney valleys, and privacy is not dead.
Favorite new term and concept of the month: "uncanny valley." Previous to this it was the phrase, “insofar as” because I love words that have come together over time to make one word; “whosoever” is another. Such evolutions display the flexibility of the language and its ability to change organically to mold to our needs. Will social media adapt to human needs or will we adapt to the rules established by social media? After hearing Danah Boyd give today’s opening keynote at SXSW Interactive, I wonder.
It happens every year. The bad weather thaws or rains itself out just in time for Austin, Texas, to become known as The Place With the Most Amazing Temperatures On Earth. Today it was all big blue sky and 75 degrees and blinding 8 a.m. sunshine, giving SXSWesters another reason to break out the shades (the first being that for culture-savvy, social-Web tech geeks, SXSW Interactive [#SXSWi] is the coolest place in the world to be).
