Spark 168 - January 15 & 18, 2012
On this episode of Spark: Eye Tracking, Virtual Work, and Total Capture. Click below to listen to the whole show, or download the MP3 (runs 54:00).
You can also listen to individual stories below.
Alternative Interfaces at CES
This week the biggest buzz in tech is in Las Vegas at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, or CES. It's the place to see the latest in electronic products - some ready for market, and others still light years away. Spark contributor Peter Nowak has been there all week, and has a debrief on the exciting new alternatives to traditional computer interfaces on display. (Runs 6:44)
You Haven't Come A Long Way, Literature
Paul La Farge is the author of Luminous Airplanes, a hypertext novel. It unfurls a branching, non-linear story based on the links you click. The genre was all the rage in the 90s, but quickly puttered out. Now that we're in the age of Kindles, microblogging, and iPads, are there any bold experiments in literature? Why are we satisfied with porting the same old-fashioned novel format to futuristic gadgets that are capable of (almost) anything? Nora speaks with Paul about why literature seems stuck in neutral. (Runs 10:50)
- Paul La Farge
- Read an excerpt from Luminous Airplanes here on the Spark blog
Gait Fingerprinting
On Spark, we always like a good talk about monitoring and tracking. From your web browsing fingerprint to facial recognition and retina scans...it can get kinda creepy. Now there's another way computers may be able to identify you in the real world - your gait. Nora Young speaks with Todd Pataky, a researcher who is teaching computers to identify individuals by the way they walk. Yup. (Runs 4:34)
- Todd Pataky
- Related Spark stories you may like, like this one on facial recognition or this one about how your web browsing is being tracked right now.
Virtual Work
Working from home -telecommuting- is a dream scenario for many people, and advances in technology have helped that dream become more realized. Nora speaks with Ian Cook, director of research and learning at British Columbia's Human Resources Management Association about what's fueling the trend towards telecommuting, and then she speaks with Shawn D. Long, a communications studies scholar at the University of North Carolina, about how telecommuting can end up leaving people isolated from office politics, gossip and camaraderie. (Runs 15:28)
- Ian Cook
- Full uncut version of interview with Ian Cook
- Shawn D. Long
- Related Spark stories you may like, like this one on workplace relationship intelligence or this one on why work doesn't happen at work
Total Capture and Human Memory
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