Easy iPhone Ringtone Hack

I recently learned the easy and free way to create ringtones for a non-jailbroken iPhone. I know I'm behind the curve on this one but I'm sure there are others out there like me.

Each ringtone is actually just a short (30-second or less) sound file that is saved in Apple's proprietary ACC format with a "m4r" extension, as opposed to the original extension "m4a". The iPhone automatically recognizes any files in it's library with this extension as a ringtone.

So how do you prep and convert a standard music file into a ringtone? Here is a link to two sites that provide a clear outline of this process. Now you are free to rock whatever ringtone you want on your iPhone.

Using GarageBand
Here is a link to a post on the Lifehacker blog regarding how to use GarageBand (version 4.1.1 or newer) to create a ringtone from existing music files. If you have GarageBand this is definitely the better and easier way to do this.  Link: http://lifehacker.com/334073/create-custom-iphone-ringtones-the-free-and-apple-way

Using iTunes Only
Here is the alternate way to accomplish the same thing. In this scenario you don't need GarageBand - you do it all through iTunes. The one important limitation is that this will only work on unprotected music files such as mp3s. Link: http://theappleblog.com/2008/08/07/free-custom-iphone-ringtones-using-only-itunes/

Reading List: Interactions, March & April 2009

It has been a long time since I've posted anything regarding my readings lists (or my Interaction Design exercises for that matter). Today l'll focus on addressing the first of these deficiencies by sharing my reading list from Interactions March/April issue (I've already read the May/June issue but don't want to get ahead of myself).

Article 1: Problems before patterns: a different look at Christopher Alexander and Pattern Languages
In this piece Molly Wright Steenson examines Christopher Alexander's notion of pattern languages, and the importance of the  problem definition element of a pattern. So what the hell are pattern languages? Pattern languages are developed to help non-experts participate in the design process. Patterns are self-contained entities that describes a problem that reoccurs within a given environment. The pattern also contains the core solution that enables the people to use this same solution "a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice." If anyone knows of other good resources on this topic please leave a comment.

Article 2: Embodied Child Computer Interaction: Why Embodiment Matters
The next interesting piece from this issue comes from Alissa Antle. In this article she explores the importance of embodiment in child computer interaction, and the cognitive role the embodiment plays in general. Alissa also investigates briefly opportunities that are afforded via embodied interactions and cognition (check out more about The concept of embodiment from my previous posts regarding Dourish' book).

Article 3 and 4: Identity theft and the challenges of caring for your virtual self and The Ambient Mirror: creating a digital self-image through pervasive technologies
These two piece are part of this issue's focus on privacy and security in our digitally connected society.

The first piece, by Jennifer Whitson, adresses the security of the digital representations we create to communicate our identities in the virtual world of bits and bites. These representations encompass our profiles on ecommerce and media sites, as well as our data from social networks. One interesting area that is explored by Jennifer is how individuals are often positioned as the source of identity theft, despite the systematic prioritization of profits and self-interest on the part of organizations who hold the data.

Dimitris Grammenos's piece offers an interesting exploration regarding how pervasive computing may impact our lives, as it continues its invasion of our physical and social worlds. The world he paints is a stark contrast to the notions of Big Brother. He examines how pervasive technologies, embodied by the idea of an "ambient mirror", could augment and enhance our lives - from extending our memory to self-knowledge and improvement. He also briefly addresses social considerations of such a technology.

Article 5: Taking a broader view of the human experience
Mark Vanderbeeken provides a valuable counter-perspective to most designer's narrow focus on usability (and aesthetics) at the expense of broader human considerations such as technology, ethics, economics, culture, belief systems and sustainability. The broadening of our perspective is crucial for designers to be able to play a positive and constructive role in shaping our fast paced

Dancing and Traveling

During the past several weeks I have been devoting less time to my interaction and experience design journal for two reasons: Lauren and I have been planning an around the world the trip for this summer; and we have been rehearsing for a dance performance that we delivered at a friend's wedding this past weekend.

The good news is that these preparations are coming to an end. The not so good news is that I won't be able to get back to my curriculum because I've decided to take a detour and focus on considering what aspects of technology, culture, design, and experiences I can explore during our trip around to world.

There are two main perspectives on digital communication technologies that I want to explore: first, I want to leverage technology to capture and share my and Lauren's experiences; second, I want to investigate how different cultures relate to technology and are designing and adopting technology to support local endeavors.

From a personal perspective I am looking for a mobile/portable solution that will enable me to capture and publish experiences from this trip. This solution will include multiple hardware and software products. Here is a brief overview of the tools currently under consideration:

• Personal communication hub: the main contender for my personal communication hub is my first generation (aka 2G) jailbroken iPhone. This device would enable me to capture quick snapshots, lo-res video, audio, and journal entries. The main downside of selecting the iPhone as my platform is that I will not be able to publish directly from the iPhone, even in a wifi area, as I have not found any acceptable blogging apps. A secondary drawback is that the 2G iPhone has lower quality audio and video capabilities (available on jailbroken phones only), and no GPS. I am not willing to take a laptop due to considerations related to portability (we'll be on a 34-day trip) and theft.
• Additional devices: I will also definitely take a camera for higher quality photos and video. I am uncertain about whether I will be willing to invest in a new Canon G10 - the temptation is strong, it is hard to resist. We will likely take our existing camera as well, a Canon SD950.
• Publishing tools: to publish all of the content that we capture and create I plan to use several platforms including a blog (on blogger), my existing flickr account, google calendar and maps, daytum, and youtube; I'm still considering if and how to integrate twitter and facebook without driving myself crazy.
  

From an observer's perspective (with no real claim of being objective) I want to explore how people from different cultures leverage familiar technologies in different ways; and what different technologies they have developed that are specific to local contexts.

For example, how are mobile phones used differently based on local cultural, and economic contexts; what different services are available, and how have they adapted other services to meet their needs; what meaning does the society ascribe to cell phones.

Over the next three weeks I will share more about the technology-related aspects of the planning for this trip. Once we are off I will also document how technology ultimately enhanced, or totally screwed up, our trip (after all I do believe that technology can be both a force of good and evil).

Statement of Purpose for ITP

I am excited for this opportunity to share with you more about what I am up to. Below I have posted the statement of purpose that I submitted with my application to the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU.

Writing this piece was difficult and cathartic. It required that I take a long and hard look at the reasons why I am pursuing this goal, and do a good bit of soul searching to identify which questions I want to explore in this program. This process forced me to start to crystalize what I want to create through my involvement at ITP. At the end of it all, I was more excited and energized than ever to pursue this path.

Over the next two years I will work to bring into existence many of the possibilities that I discuss in this piece. I look forward to sharing my experiences while on this journey, both the successes and failures. Not to mention that I'm sure I'll need guinea pigs from time to time. My only request in sharing this with you is that you feel free to share your own thoughts and ideas in return.

Statement of Purpose

"I’ve cultivated a passion for design and technology since I was teenager. My interest in design has inspired me to undertake numerous personal projects spanning industrial, graphic, web, and sound design, while my passion for technology has supplied valuable tools that have supported my projects and opened doors to new experiences. The increasingly pervasive role that technology plays in my life has given me a deeper understanding of the ways in which people engage with technology. As users of technology, we constantly shift between acting “through” it, as a tool, and acting “on” it, as an object of engagement itself.

I have become fascinated with the possibility of combining these passions in a new configuration: acting “through” design in order to act “on” technology. It is evident to me that the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University is the right place for me to explore this convergence of design and technology.

My interest in harnessing the power of design to enhance technology is not for technology’s own sake. It is driven by a belief that technology can have positive and negative consequences. Designers have an important role to play in shaping the evolution of technology by appropriately designing our interactions with, and through, technology.

On a personal level, I am inspired by the power of technology to enable connections between people, and to communicate meaning in engaging new ways. My iPhone has revolutionized the way I stay connected to people, content and places, and has also altered my expectations regarding their accessibility. The Nintendo Wii, by designing interactions that mimic the familiar gestures we use to do things in the physical world, enabled me to connect with friends who had no previous interest in video games.

The power of technology is ever more defined by its ability to connect people to other people, communities, and organizations. As a marketing communications professional I have realized that people have become empowered by technology to challenge the control once held by corporations over distribution of information. Traditional marketing communications now compete with the voices of millions of individuals, who on an aggregate level have a higher degree of credibility. At the same time, the connective power of technology has enabled the fragmentation of society into distinct communities that subscribe to different beliefs and value systems.

These are some of the realizations that have sparked my desire to experiment with design of technology-based interactions and experiences. My pursuit of this goal is driven by passion, curiosity, discipline, and integrity.

I designed a three-year plan and curriculum to channel my passion and curiosity in a disciplined manner. The first phase, currently in progress, is focused on building a theoretical foundation of knowledge through consumption and production of content that supports the development of an analytical design-perspective. The second phase concentrates on development of design production skills using a project-based approach that provides opportunities for learning through practice. The curriculum will then culminate with a focus on creativity driven by an integration of my analytical and production skills through continuous theoretical and hands-on engagement.

I have used similar strategies to achieve other important personal goals. When I moved to New York City in January of 1999, I created a similar plan to pursue DJing. After three years I was transformed from having no knowledge of how to spin records to moonlighting as a DJ with bi-weekly residences at popular parties in downtown lounges and clubs.

These pursuits have other important features in common: a genuine desire to share something of great personal value, and a focus on integrity. Sharing the joy and energy that music brought to my life was key to my success as a DJ. Acting with integrity also contributed to my accomplishments, though until recently I failed to notice that my actions did not support this same goal at a community level. I’ve realized that acting with integrity includes not only standing by my own promises. It also requires holding others accountable for their commitments. I failed to notice that I had too often sacrificed my authenticity and honesty because I was afraid of hurting someone’s feelings or not being liked.

This failure undermined my ability to grow as a leader and to contribute to the growth of other individuals within my personal and professional communities. Now, while I still place emphasis on getting along with others, I am also conscious that my integrity depends on direct and honest communications.

My interest in human growth and development is one of my main inspirations for applying to ITP. Beyond investigating how to improve interfaces with machines, I want to explore how technology can enhance the way human beings experience the world. How can technology create constructive new ways for people to communicate? How can we guide its continued expansion into our physical and social worlds so that it has a positive impact on the way we conceive and communicate our identity and individuality? How can it help to transform our consciousness so we depend less on a conditioned response and become more actively engaged?

I also want to explore how technology can be made accessible to a greater number of people. How can we create new and more natural and delightful ways for human beings to interact with computational devices? How can we enable communities of people who have special needs such as illiteracy or disability to interact with computational devices?

I know that the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU would provide me with unrivaled opportunities to investigate these areas of interest. I am attracted by the program’s focus on hands-on experimentation and the self-directed project-based framework on which it is built. I have limited experience writing code and building physical computing devices, but I have passion and desire to learn, which is evidenced by the assortment of cell phones and computers I’ve collected for hacking.

I have already started down the path of interaction design, and I would consider it an honor if I could integrate studies at ITP into my journey. In return I am eager to dedicate my passion, energy, commitment, and contagious optimism to ensure the continued success of this program."

ID FMP: Distributed Cognition Models

Distributed cognition models conceptualize cognitive phenomena as happening across multiple individuals, objects, and internal and external representations of knowledge.  In contrast to the Information Processing Model, which is only focused on activities that happen inside the head, this model focuses on internal and external activities and encompasses External Cognitive Processes and Coordination Mechanisms described in my previous posts.

In comparison to these three frameworks, distributed cognition models provide more precise descriptions of internal and external cognitive activities. They are less abstract because their domain is limited to cognitive activities associated to specific contexts (e.g. piloting an airplane, doing taxes).

The three frameworks previously mentioned provide general descriptions of how human cognition works across all contexts. Their focus is on defining general laws that describe how our brain processes information and leverages the external world to enhance our cognitive capabilities. The distributed cognition model offers a phenomenological perspective that explores cognition as an embodied activity that takes place in specific physical and social contexts.

For example, a distributed cognition model that describes the activities that take place at an agency during creative development would differ considerably from that of a law office. They would feature many commonalities but the important thing is that the differences matter.

This perspective is important because designers need to understand how their product or service will actually fit into people’s day-to-day life. The insights that can be gleaned from the Information Processing and External Cognitive Activities Frameworks do not provide this type of understanding.  Distributed cognition models focuses on mapping these mundane day-to-day activities. They provide insight into how people actually make and share meaning and decisions within specific contexts.

A distributed cognition analysis is usually carried out as the basis for development of a distributed cognition model. Here is an overview of the main areas of examination in these types of analysis. As an example (and to work my brain just a little bit) I’ve carried out a high-level analysis of the distributed cognitive activities that take place at an advertising agency.

• How does distributed problem solving take place? How do people work together to solve problems? In an agency environment, tasks are distributed across several departments with specific areas of expertise (e.g. client services, account & strategic planning, media, production, creative and traffic). People work together by coordinating their actions using documents (such as schedules, briefs, spec sheets and emails), events (such as meetings, phone calls, and presentations), and shared work practices (such as common vocabularies, understandings, and culture).
• What ways does communication take place throughout the collaborative process and how is knowledge shared and accessed? Does it change as the activity progresses? Communications take place via meetings, emails and document artifacts such as presentations, briefs, schedules, conference reports, creative comps and spec sheets. The most important information is documented to facilitate sharing. Many of the document artifacts evolve as the activities progress. For example, a creative brief may be updated to reflect changes in strategy. The creative comps also change via multiple rounds of client reviews.
• What is the role of verbal and non-verbal communication? What types of things are said or implied? Verbal communication is the primary type of communication associated to the management of projects (and communication associated to those projects). Non-verbal communication plays a fundamental important in the activities of the project itself. Layout design, videos, images, graphs, and even experiences are be used to brief creative teams regarding products or brands, and in client and internal presentations. The final creative product delivered by Agencies also employs both verbal and non-verbal communication. To elicit emotional responses from people agencies use non-verbal tools such as images, visuals, videos, sounds, interactions online, and more. In agency communication is often reinforced through by verbal and non-verbal communication.
• What coordinating mechanisms are used? What are the rules and procedures that govern the workflow? There are several important coordination mechanisms that are used in an agency. These mechanism leverage external representations of knowledge such as schedules, job jackets, spec sheets, readers, status reports, conference reports, emails, calendars, scopes of work, etc. They also include meetings such as internal and client reviews, status meetings, and production kick-offs. Many rules and procedures are outlined in the agency’s process manual. These processes govern how work flows through the agency.

[source: Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, page 129.]

** What the hell is ID FMP? **

Chapter 5 Homework: What is Interaction Design

This assignment was taken from the fifth chapter of the book Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interactions, written by Helen Sharp, Jenny Preece, and Yvonne Rogers.

Assignment Questions
This assignment requires you to write a critique of the persuasive impact of a virtual agent by considering what it would take for a virtual agent to be believable, trustworthy, and convincing.

Question A: Look at a website that has a virtual assistant, e.g. Anna at Ikea or one of the case studies featured by the Digital Animations Group (DAG) at http://www.dagroupplc.com, who specialize in developing a variety of online agents, and answer the following:

• What does the virtual agent do?
  
• What type of agent is it?
  
• Does it elicit an emotional response from you? If so, what kind?
  
• What kind of personality does it have?
  
• How is this expressed?
  
• What kinds of behavior does it exhibit?
  
• What are its facial expressions like?
  
• What is its appearance like? Is it realistic or cartoon-like?
  
• Where does it appear on the screen?
  
• How does it communicate with the user (text or speech)?
  
• Is the level of discourse patronizing or at right level?
  
• Is the agent helpful in guiding the user towards making a purchase or finding out something?
  
• Is it too pushy?
  
• What gender is it? Do you think this makes sense?
  
• Would you trust the agent to the extent that you would be happy to buy a product from it or follow it guidance? If not, why not?
  
• What else would it take to make the agent persuasive?
  

Question B: Next look at an equivalent website that does not include an agent but is based on a conceptual model of browsing, e.g. Amazon.com. How does it compare with the agent-based site you have just looked at?

• Is it easy to find information?
  
• What kind of mechanism does the site use to make recommendations and guide the user in making a purchase or finding out information?
  
• Is any kind of personalization used at the interface to make the user feel welcome or special?
  
• Would the site be improved by having an agent? Explain your reasons either way.
  

Question C: Finally, discuss which site you would trust most and give your reasons for this.

Assignment Answers

Question A

Site selected: ikea.com 

What does the virtual agent do?

The virtual agent inhabits a pop-up window and is comprised of an avatar of a young blond woman who blinks and moves here head. The interface is primarily text-based, both input and output are provided in this format. The output can be enhanced with audio that sounds computer generated.

The primary function of the virtual agent is to provide help to visitors on the Ikea website. This help encompasses supporting users in all aspect of their shopping experience (it provides essentially a new interface for users to interact with the site). The agent provides support by enabling users to search for answers to common customer service queries using natural-language questions. These questions are posed through a text box. The response is provided via text and, optionally, audio (audio is available on the UK site but no on the US site). When appropriate the agent will load a relevant page on the main screen of the browser.

What type of agent is it?
The agent is a customer service representative. It is a friendly female avatar that offers a stylized representation of a human female that does not attempt to provide a realistic image of a female Ikea employee.

Does it elicit an emotional response from you? If so, what kind?
I must be upfront about my general dislike for avatar-based interfaces, with the notable exception of videogames. I often feel as though I am being patronized when I interact with an agent on a website, the Ikea agent was no exception. One of the few online agents that I found successful was Ms. Dewey [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms._Dewey], a search-engine prototype developed by Microsoft. I can understand why it did not scale but it was pretty damn cool.

What kind of personality does it have? How is this expressed? What are its facial expressions like?
The agent has a friendly and relaxed personality. This is expressed through her facial expressions and the movement of her head. The agent is smiling all the while she opens and closes her mouth. Her large eyes blink at a natural while pace while she moves her head from side to side in a relaxed manner.

Where does it appear on the screen? What is its appearance like? Is it realistic or cartoon-like? What kinds of behavior does it exhibit?
The agent is situated in a pop-up window. Its appearance is stylized and cartoon-like. Her behavior seems for the most part fluid and natural until she responds with audio and her lips do not move. The computer-generated voice that is used only detracts from the experience because it is cold and is neither cartoon-like nor human sounding.

How does it communicate with the user (text or speech)?
The agent accepts questions via text input and is able to provide response via text and audio output.

Is the agent helpful in guiding the user towards making a purchase or finding out something? Is the level of discourse patronizing or at right level? Is it too pushy?
The Ikea agent can be helpful in guiding users towards making a purchase, or finding a product or retail location. One of the strongest features of the Ikea agent was its ability to load content that is relevant to the user’s query onto the main browser window. For example, when I searched computer desk it took me to the Ikea website’s computer solutions category.

Though I find agent-based interfaces patronizing in general, this one is much less so than most. The agent provides straightforward and short answers coupled with additional information on the main browser window. I actually found this agent to be useful, a fact that helped me overcome my initial aversion to this type of interface.

What gender is it? Do you think this makes sense?
The agent is a female. I think this makes sense largely based on my assumption that Ikea online shoppers are mostly women. I suspect that most men also prefer to deal with a female agent – especially since even the shiest guy would not be intimidated by an online agent. In the US there is a tradition of portraying customer service representatives as friendly females with a girl next door look.

Would you trust the agent to the extent that you would be happy to buy a product from it or follow it guidance? If not, why not?
I would trust the Ikea agent because she is informative, helpful and non-intrusive – she never initiates interaction with the user. The Ikea agent helps shoppers to find things and get answers to frequently asked questions regarding store and website policies.

What else would it take to make the agent persuasive?
Though I did find the agent useful, there are several things that can be done to improve its persuasiveness: improve interaction and visual design; enhance functionality; and upgrade audio interface.

Improve interaction and visual design: from an interaction standpoint the conversation with the agent should be recorded in a manner that enables the shopper to scan the queries and responses in search of answers (or a new chair). The look and feel of the agent should be upgraded to better reflect the design sense of the Ikea brand. Additional details should be added to enhance the enjoyment of users (e.g. have the rep read a book while she is waiting for the user). Since many shoppers like to go back and forth when they shop, the agent should help the user find products that they’ve looked at during their visit to the website.

Enhance functionality: additional functionality that could enhance the agent’s usefulness includes the ability to provide tips regarding other Ikea products that match pieces of furniture being viewed by the shopper. These recommendations should be provided in a non-intrusive manner.

Upgrade audio: The last thing that I would change is to upgrade the audio quality. This was one feature that I found to be very poor. Currently, the agent “speaks” in a computer-generated voice with a slight British accent. For the US version of the agent they should consider adding sound functionality, as if it is done right it can add to the user’s interactions with the agent.

Question B
Site selected: cb2.com (US furniture retailer akin to Ikea)

Is it easy to find information?
The cb2 website is pretty well organized, which makes it easy for the user to find information. Aside from the standard categorization of products by furniture type and context, they also provide lists of new and most popular products. These elements of the site help people find products through browsing. The search feature provides users with a way to shortcut the browsing process in an attempt to find a more direct route to the information they seek.

What kind of mechanism does the site use to make recommendations and guide the user in making a purchase or finding out information?
The CB2 site actual does a better job at making recommendations, though it is only equally effective at guiding users to find information regarding products, and features less compelling interactive guides. From a recommendation standpoint, the CB2 site provides shoppers with tips on other products that work with any piece that is being viewed. Though both sites differ in the way they categorize their product offerings, from a findability standpoint both the CB2 site and the Ikea site (including the agent and general information architecture) are equally effective.

Is any kind of personalization used at the interface to make the user feel welcome or special?
The CB2 site does not offer any personalization. Shopper’s are not asked to register and log-in during their visits to access special recommendations or offers. The Ikea site does provide a log-in feature, however, it has been down since I have been working on this assignment.

Would the site be improved by having an agent? Explain your reasons either way.
I don’t think an agent would have a big impact on the experience at CB2. The reason being, content on the site was easy to browse and find without the help of an agent. I believe that an agent would only improve the experience of a very small segment of the shoppers on the site. If voice-based interaction becomes more common on computers then there would be value in adding an agent to the CB2 experience. This is not an unlikely phenomenon considering that many applications now-a-days are striving to become voice-enabled to facilitate use via mobile phones (check out the new google search on iPhone and Android, cool stuff).

Question C

Finally, discuss which site you would trust most and give your reasons for this.
Both experiences were on par for one main reason: on the Ikea website the agent provides users with a supplementary interface that does not replace the traditional browsing paradigm on which the rest of the site is built. The Ikea and CB2 websites both provide well-designed information architectures that make information and products easy to find. Also, both companies have strong and respected brands that stand for modern and affordable design. I guess I have officially copped out of answering this question.

** What the hell is ID-BOOK ? **

Time for the Redesign

For over 6 months I have been working through my interaction and experience design curriculum. Its hard to believe that during this time I've read a bookshelf's worth of publications and I've written over 60 posts related to my studies. At this point in the game I am going to widen my focus to incorporate practice, shifting from an exclusive concentration on theory.

My goal is to achieve a new balance in my pursuits by combining my on-going exploration of theory with additional practice - I do not plan to merely replace theory with practice since there is still much for me to learn from both of these perspectives. This shift will take place gradually beginning with the redesign of my blog (which you may have noticed, has already started).

Over the next several weeks I will redesign my project blog with the following goals in mind:

• Making all information related to my project accessible from a single location. This will require that I find a way to aggregate project data from various different sources (such as bookmarks, tweets, blogs and book lists) into a single project portal.
• Ensuring that this information is easy to digest. To deliver on this objective I will need to logically organize the content so that readers (including myself) are able to quickly understand what the information means, and how it is connected.
• Creating an experience that is more pleasurable. In other words, I need to make this project blog more aesthetically pleasing (it needs to look better). Of course, improving my writing would also help a lot to make a reader's experience more pleasurable. Unfortunately, that requires more than a redesign.

The changes have already begun to take place. For example, I just launched the three column design earlier today. Be ready to for several changes (including changes back and forth) as I explore different ways to design this information. Make sure to scream (or at least comment) when you see something you like or not (in case there is someone actually reading this blog besides myself).

Taking GPS Games to the Next Level

Earlier today on PSFK I came across a posting from Hamburg about an awesome GPS-based game showcased in this year's Ars Electronica Festival. There are several cool thing about this game: it offers an immersive multiplayer experience that is based on the concept of a "hungry pack of wolves chasing after a sheep herd"; to succeed players have to react to real- and virtual-world obstacles on their pursuit; to impact the game players can also place real objects that have virtual properties; lastly, it enables "visitors" to keep track of the game's progress on a real-time map that keep track of the location of the wolves and sheep (players). Check out the video on the original posting on PSFK.

Wii Hacks from Johnny Lee

I always thought the Wii was pretty cool, but now I understand the true potential of what you can do with the Wii's technology - if you have the courage and time to tinker with it. Johnny Lee is a researcher who became a star on YouTube for his ability to hack the Wii remote to create a low-cost multi-touch whiteboards and and head tracking device for desktop visual reality (VR) displays (check out the video below). Another video from Johnny that is not nearly as popular but more informative, is Johnny's talk at Ted ealier this year.

Multi-Touch Whiteboard Video from YouTube


Video of Johnny Lee's Talk from Ted


If you have the time and the motivation, check out Johnny's site where you can access the how-to instructions and software required to re-create these awesome gadgets for your personal use.

Alan Kay: powerful ideas for teaching ideas

This is a great talk that I recently discovered on TED.com that was given by Alan Kay earlier this year. In this video Alan shares an interesting perspective on the ways in which human beings experience reality and learn; he then goes on to discuss the implications of his perspective on education. Below I've put together a brief outline of what I found to be the most interesting parts of his talk.

Here is a little bit about Alan: he is a pioneer in the filed of interaction design. He has worked at XeroxPARC, Apple, HP and Disney developing numerous technologies including laptops and graphical interfaces long before they became widely available. You will have a chance to read about him soon in my summary of Bill Moggridge's book "Designing Interactions".

Key Concepts from Alan Kay's Talk

I will start with an insight that Alan shares from Betty Edwards regarding how we experience the world visually. In Alan's own words: "The way your brain perceives images is faulty. It is trying to perceive images into objects rather than seeing what's there." He uses a classic visual illustration from Edwards to provide proof for this claim. Having established that "human beings see things not as they are but as we are", Alan goes on to discuss the implications of this perspective:

1. What we call reality is not an objective phenomena but rather a subjective experience that can be likened to a "hallucination, a 'waking dream'";
   
2. What we consider simple and understandable might be complex, and what we deem complex might be transformed into simple and understandable;
   
3. You cannot see how what is simple may be complex and vice versa until you admit that you are blind to "reality".

Alan goes on to discuss how over the past four centuries human beings have developed powerful ideas (which he terms "brainlets") that have enabled us to see the world in a different ways. In my view these ideas can be likened to new distinctions that have arisen in language and that have brought to life new shared perspectives, which in turn enabled us to extend our sensory and reasoning abilities.

After sharing these key concepts, Alan goes on to provide several examples related to children education to illustrate how some concepts that we believe to be complex can be transformed into simple and understandable. Check out the video here.