the post links aren’t working..I’m not really sure why!My fault.. fixed!
Archive for October 2008
pixeltag update
The pixeltag project has progressed once again;* the interface has been amended slightly to allow for yaw input (not just roll) as the ‘x’ axis data,* the ‘cursor’ item has been implemented, allowing the user to see where they are about to draw prior to doing so,* The up/down ratios have been adjusted to allow for nicer wrist movement.Tony Curran came by the studio today to give the pixeltag a test drive – he seemed pleased with the current level of interaction and novelty of the system, but asked for the following things;* IR sensor location for the ‘z’ axis (depth into/off the screen)* different input sensors (such as any one of the many phidget interfaces)* tighter control over strokes* pressure sensitivity for subtle differences (computer intuition, perhaps?) between strokesthis last point is an interesting one, as it would allow for varying conditions to be created by the user’s own interaction with the system, rather than a simple closed system with a predefined output. I have some ideas for the nunchuck that could work well with the wii as a dual mode interface (left/right hands doing different things..!)
Read or add comments to this article
Related Posts:
Indecision is the key to flexibility
Classic!I saw this random line in a joke book in the outhouse at work (yes, we have an outhouse, and it’s great), and thought it was just such a poignant statement, given my current situation of consistently flipping between my homepage, wiki and blog.More on this to come…
Related Posts:
pixeltag update
The pixeltag project has progressed once again;* the interface has been amended slightly to allow for yaw input (not just roll) as the ‘x’ axis data,* the ‘cursor’ item has been implemented, allowing the user to see where they are about to draw prior to doing so,* The up/down ratios have been adjusted to allow for nicer wrist movement.Tony Curran came by the studio today to give the pixeltag a test drive – he seemed pleased with the current level of interaction and novelty of the system, but asked for the following things;* IR sensor location for the ‘z’ axis (depth into/off the screen)* different input sensors (such as any one of the many phidget interfaces)* tighter control over strokes* pressure sensitivity for subtle differences (computer intuition, perhaps?) between strokesthis last point is an interesting one, as it would allow for varying conditions to be created by the user’s own interaction with the system, rather than a simple closed system with a predefined output. I have some ideas for the nunchuck that could work well with the wii as a dual mode interface (left/right hands doing different things..!)
Related Posts:
project ideas
Lately there have been many ideas/thoughts flying around regarding potential project outcomes for my fledgeline Ph.D. research.I wanted to get some of them out into the blogosphere, so I can get them out of my head and into some kind of intelligent format. So here goes;bus trackerWeb based interface for seeing real-time locations of buses (user defined, the 370 route for example).gps/wifi units installed in sydney buses, which update on a 30/60 second interval to a central server. The data for this can be accessed via the web (for computers or mobile devices), specific to each bus route or roadway. This could be achieved via an intelligent algorithm to parse gps info and isolate the particular road/street the bus was on, or compare the data to typical route windows for particular routes.Possible configurations for this could allow for the actual bus times to be compared with the ‘timetable-d’ buses (think ghosting from car racing games), so you can see if the bus is early or late, or an automated ‘location-destination’ mode for finding the buses most useful to you.(the motivation for this idea came to me one day as I stood waiting for a bus for about 20 minutes!)Notes: This idea could be fairly quickly mocked up using freely available tools, such as google docs and google maps (I’ll have to find my demonstration of this, which does not work in real time but can update a google map with a gps location as it is plugged into the spreadsheet), which are already web based and would work well with handheld web-able devices.pixeltagRealtime collaborative grafitti, using depth/physics/tag manipulation all from a single hand-held device. Inspired by the mobispray project, but looking to take the work much further.This idea is a bit of a cheat, actually, as I’m currently implementing bits of it as we speak. At the moment I am able to create a drawing, however primitive, using the wii remote as an input device. The prototype can control location (X/Y axis) using a trigger and the accellerometer data of the wii, and colour (up/down) and size (left/right) using the ‘d’ pad of the remote.Ideally I would like to be able to relate the wii location relative to the screen (possibly using IR) to control the ‘depth’ (Z axis) of the drawn element, as well as adding some imitative features of real graf (such as drips, splashability etc) based on the wii’s accell data. Also there is the possibility of taking the project to new levels by multiplying the users possible, the canvas space (which theoretically is an area measurement approaching infinity) and even the networking ability to allow for users to grafitti much larger environments – such as a whole room, the entire inside of a building or even an entire street/suburb.This is definitely a possibility, and within reach as the current input device is so widespread. As Johnny Lee would put it, the Wii remote (not the console, the remote) has outsold most tablet pcs or devices, making it the most commonly owned computational input device on the marked. All that is required is a number of (possibly networked) pcs and projectors and you’ve got your own grafitti city. Theoretically.So that’s where I’m at currently. The first project could get up off the ground over the summer, but I’m also very keen to get my hands dirty with the arduino module and some more bluetooth-able projects before next semester begins. The computational environments students won’t know what hit them~!
Related Posts:
Palin vs science
Make that; Palin vs fundamental, accepted and peer-reviewed science.David Burns of SO-AD recently posted this article on Sarah Palin on his facebook profile, which brought it to my attention. The article outlines some of the already known problems with the Palin campaign, but neatly wraps them all up into one article.What worries me most about the GOP strategy behind Palin is that the Republican party seems to like the idea of gambling with America’s future. Should this initial ploy pay dividends and land McCain in the Whitehouse, it’s clear that the resulting policy ‘shifts’ and outcomes from the new government are not going to be looking forward to a new global future, but backwards to a closed, limited and even worryingly simplified view of the world.The article goes on to talk about other grey area issues such as Palin’s prior involvement in religious or quasi-religious ceremonies and – whilst I feel that these insights to her character point more towards a candidate that is not what the country deserves – do somewhat distract the point of the article.I would like to put more weight on the argument for genetic testing on fruit flies – as outlined in the Richard Dawkins’ book ‘Climbing Mount Improbable‘ (paperback, 1997). The book discusses the genetic testing that has been done on the same species of Drosophila, which have had a remarkable impact on the understanding of gene evolution and sharing between species. Scientists (i’ll dig up the reference in a moment) have had success in isolating the gene for creating eyes in the DNA of the fruitfly (ironically labelled ‘eyeless’, the reason being that when the gene is removed the resulting fly develops without eyes), and have also been able to manipulate the gene to the extent that flies have been grown with eyes on various parts of their bodies.These same scientists have also isolated the same gene in mice, and used that gene in the Drosophila DNA to generate eyes on the fruitfly independantly of it’s own ‘eyeless’ gene. Just incidentally, the eyes generated were not mice eyes, rather fruitfly eyes generated as a result of the inclusion of the ‘make eyes’ gene.What these examples (which are more than 10 years old) show is that development and testing of the fruitfly DNA can lead to a much richer understanding of the evolution of genes and the extent of specialization which occur in naturally selective evolution.So how would a McCain/Palin government affect science in America, let alone the rest of the world? Well, the points rasied in the Slate article speak of a VP candidate that doesn’t believe in the benefits of understanding genealogy, let alone believe in a world where animals evolve. As Matt Damon famously put it, does Sarah Palin truly believe that the earth/universe is only 4000 years old?I struggle to believe that this candidate is the right candidate for the VP role, in 2008 or any other time post 1950 – and that’s being generous.
Read or add comments to this article
