Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - March 17, 2010
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 Whuffie? People also wanted to know why we chose augmented reality (AR) as a theme.
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - March 14, 2010
A sampling of the chatter about frog's augmented reality party on opening night of the 2010 SXSW Interactive conference.
Read on to see many more (or search #frogparty and frog design)
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - March 14, 2010
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.
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - March 13, 2010
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.
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - March 12, 2010
Doug Rushkoff versus first day tactics.
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).
