On this episode of Spark: the shape of things to come
- Valérie Lamontagne tells the story of Peau d’Âne, and talks about her Sun, Moon, and Sky dresses (photos)
- Nora mentions two cool videos:
- Roel Vertegaal reshapes computers
- Merlin Mann explains how to deal with Turkey Bacn: those unwanted email forwards that clog up your inbox.
- Single-serving websites for dealing with Turkey Bacn:
- Paolo Prandoni builds “billboards that look back” (more from NYTimes.com)
- Lee Tien is concerned about surveillance technologies
This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:
- “Wadidyusay?” by Zap Mama
- “Downtempo Groove” by Neurowaxx
- “02-ABA STRUCTURE: Deep Step“
- “Do What You Can” from Backtime by Lee Rosevere
- “M12 – Temporary Assignment” by mykleanthony
Play audio:
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Original photo from HML
Another fine show as always. I particularly enjoyed the segment about reshaping computers. It reminded me a lot of your interview with Bill Buxton at MESH. In fact, after listening to that interview, I bought his book and am thoroughly absorbing it. Reshaping computers, including applications like the sky/moon/sun dress is the kind of thing his book (and Spark!) talks about (of course, you already know that).
The example of the iPod Touch is a good one and I can’t also help to think about Swedish industrial design; functional and stylish.
Thanks, Daniele! I’m very interested in the idea of paradigm shifts and the mental frameworks that tie us to one view of the world.
The new technologic explosion that is L.E.D., has far reaching potentials expanding to literally any surface! They will be used in everything from windows to walls for every use from television to a pseudo-sceneries. Give it twenty years and our computing powers as well as our visual displays will have not only revolutionized the way we think of the normal desktop, but will be an integral part of our lives. Once we move computers from a clunky desktop machine to an interactive intuitive tool it will become more then just a machine but a companion, becoming more then just an extension of ourselves. What I’m most interested in is the future of A.I. There is currently a team of scientists creating every minute function of the human brain on a computer program called the Blue Brain Project. If they succeed they hope to create a true ‘virtual’ brain in the hopes we create ‘virtual’ consciousness! True A.I. a program that can think for itself and learn, think of the possibilities!
I enjoyed the show and, as always it got me thinking about so many ideas. What struck me most however was the discussion on the “billboards that look back.” With these new technologies (and new uses of existing technologies) there are always privacy concerns, and these concerns are always addressed by the service provider assuring everyone they don’t store personal information, or that it is generalized, or only for statistical purposes. But what is interesting about this is that it involves installing physical infrastructure that would permit “spying” or other less innocuous uses if the underlying software where changed. Mr. Prandoni claimed that their system had no way of doing any kind of facial recognition or generating personal information, but once you have the camera in place, it seems to me it is much more trivial to alter the underlying software to change the purpose of the camera. Would they report this change of use? Would they have to?
Fantastic show, the topic of Audience Measurement of Digital Signage is something that interests me. My comment is in response to the last comment by Stuart Croall. He mentioned something about, “installing infrastructure that would permit spying,” and goes on to say that, “if there is no face recognition, it seems to be much more trivial to alter the software application and avoid the installation.”
This is not the case and is not correct. Paolo says in the broadcast that they don’t do face recognition, but Quividi does do “face detection” without the webcam it’s impossible to detect if someone viewed the screen. Simply modifying the software application will not work, because their needs to be some inflow data in order for the software to tally, or filter the data. This can only be achieved with some sort of camera that detects when someone walks in front of it and/or stands in front watching the screen. If you want further information visit my site and drop me a line I’d be more than happy to take the time to explain the underlying technology.