Research

d.tools is a hardware and software system that enables designers to rapidly prototype the bits (the form) and the atoms (the interaction model) of physical user interfaces in concert. d.tools was built to support design thinking rather than implementation tinkering. With d.tools, designers place physical controllers (e.g., buttons, sliders), sensors (e.g., accelerometers), and output devices (e.g., LEDs, LCD screens) directly onto form prototypes, and author their behavior visually in our software workbench....

Stanford on iTunes provides access to a wide range of Stanford-related digital audio content via the iTunes Music Store, Apple’s popular music jukebox and online music store. The project includes two sites: a public site, targeted primarily at alumni, which includes Stanford faculty lectures, learning materials, music, sports, and more. an access-restricted site for students delivering course-based materials and advising content.

Apple has patented a new Integrated sensing display: On Jan. 12, the US Patent & Trademark Office revealed Apple’s new patent application titled “Integrated sensing display.” This is certainly the year of the integrated camera, as this patent presents. An integrated sensing display is disclosed. The sensing display includes display elements integrated with image sensing elements. As a result, the integrated sensing device can not only output images (e.g., as a display) but also input images (e....

I have been struggling with figuring out the easiest way of converting MPEG-2 .MOD files coming out of a JVC Everio HD camera to something else, and finally found a good solution in Squared 5 - MPEG Streamclip which allows for converting these files to more or less all codecs that are available on the system. It is also a good idea to rename the .MOD files to .M2V or ....

“retrievr is an experimental service which lets you search and explore in a selection of Flickr images by drawing a rough sketch. […] retrievr is based on research conducted by Chuck Jacobs, Adam Finkelstein and David Salesin at the University of Washington: Fast Multiresolution Image Querying (1995).”

I came across the piece Notjustmoreidlechatter by composer Paul Lansky, showcasing a fascinating use of voice for creating musical rhythm and texture. And then I found the article Digital thoughts where he explains some of his compositional ideas throughout the years.

Philosophy in the Flesh by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson starts with these nice sentences: The mind is inherently embodied. Thought is mostly unconscious. Abstract concepts are largely metaphorical.

In a rather bizarre Wikipedia discussion about the flatness of Earth, I found an interesting statement: - At the scale of less than 10^-9 meters or so, the earth is a space has an undefinable shape. From about 10^-9 meters through to about 10^4 meters, the earth is flat. From about 10^4 meters to about 10^9 meters the earth is a sphere. At the scale of anything greater than about 10^9 meters, the earth is a point....

The CNMAT people have made a forum at the Open Sound Control site. OSC is a way of communicating musical information between devices, much in the same way as MIDI, but without all the problems of MIDI (low resolution etc). Although OSC seems to have gained ground in the research community, I think we all have to support it more if it is ever going to be accepted by the commercial industry....

The concept of mirror neurons was discovered at the University of Parma, Italy some years back, and shows how we have the same neural activitiy whether we do a movement ourselves or just watch someone else doing it. NOVA has made an excellent documentary about mirror neurons.