January 19, 2004
StoryCorps -- listen closely
StoryCorps is a national project to instruct and inspire people to record each others' stories in sound.
We're here to help you interview your grandmother, your uncle, the lady who's worked at the luncheonette down the block for as long as you can remember—anyone whose story you want to hear and preserve.
To start, we'll be building soundproof recording booths across the country, called StoryBooths. Our first one opened in New York City's Grand Central Terminal. You can use these StoryBooths to record broadcast-quality interviews with the help of a trained facilitator.
We've tried to make the experience as simple as possible. We'll help you figure out what questions to ask. We'll handle all the technical aspects of the recording. At the end of the hour-long session, you'll get a copy of your interview on CD. And thanks to the generous contributions of our supporters, all this costs only $10.
Since we want to make sure your story lives on for generations to come, we'll also add your interview to the StoryCorps Archive, housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, which we hope will become nothing less than an oral history of America. (See the press release on the Library of Congress Web site.)
Posted by richard ting at January 19, 2004, 05:03 PM
January 15, 2004
IDEO overview on interactive spaces
Read about IDEO's Tim Brown or Colin Burns on interactive physical spaces
Posted by richard ting at January 15, 2004, 12:03 PM
Retail Store of the Future
A virtual tour bellow:
http://nrfannual04.expoexchange.com/expoexchange/usercontent.asp?ID=116&EventKey=1
http://www.future-store.org/servlet/PB/menu/1000373_l2/1064515370423.html
Posted by richard ting at January 15, 2004, 11:58 AM
The 8 Hottest Kiosk Applications for 2004
The 8 Hottest Kiosk Applications for 2004
1. Digital Finishing & Printing
We hate beating a dead horse, but in this case the horse is still running the track in top form. The sale of digital cameras continues to outpace the sale of traditional film cameras. With so many digital files floating around, the demand for the ability to transform those files into good old pictures has never been higher. Kodak is leading the kiosk race. Fuji is in a close second. And the longshot Polaroid is betting the farm to finish. It is expected that the New Year will usher in the age of digital photography, and finishing and printing kiosks will take the trifecta.
2. Bill Payment
Sure, many of us pay our bills with a check or online. However, for the millions of un-banked Americans and those of us who are at the right place at the right time, expect the newest generation of bill payment kiosks to be coming out in 2004. Not only will we see new stand alone bill payment terminals, but bill payment will also appear as a major add-on feature to existing multifunctional kiosks.
3. Quick Service Food Ordering
The king of burgers has dabbled with them. The golden arches is using them in pilot locations around the country. By the end of 2004 expect to see little signs over food ordering kiosks stating, "Over 10 Million Served." And why not? Self-service food ordering is hot with consumers and cool to operators. Imagine having a technology that costs less, works double shifts, noticeably decreases order errors, and has lower turnover rate than a cemetery. And don't forget about the "do you want to supersize that order?" upselling opportunities. QSR meet kiosk.
4. Anything Outdoors
Kiosk technology has finally tamed the elements. No longer are temperatures, precipitation, or sunlight dictating interactive, self-service applications in the great outdoors. Want visibility on a street corner? Need customer service out in the parking lot? You will see in the year to come numerous kiosk applications shaking hands with Mother Nature.
5. Cellular Phone Top-up & Ringtones
Alexander Graham Bell once summed up his approach to life and invention by stating, "Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do so you will be certain to find something that you have never seen before." For all you internet access kiosk providers out there looking to diversify on your service offering and income stream, the New Year will bring a tremendous opportunity to meet the demands of millions of cellular phone users by allowing them to top-up their credits and buy ringtones at your terminals.
6. RFid Verification & Administration
Radio Frequency Identification (RFid) is sure to be mainstream in the next five years, but it's already receiving praise now (see article on page 23). RFid is sort of like faith. You cannot see it, hear it, or touch it, but you know it's there. Now think of kiosks like a church where you go to get closer to RFid. Ascending into 2004, kiosks will be used as a means for consumers to control and transcend their experience with RFid, while being enlightened.
7. Registration
Whether you're checking in at the hotel, or filling out insurance information at the E.R., kiosks will be the customer-facing technology of choice for front desks around the country. The queue-busting capabilities of kiosks have already captured the hearts and lobbies of all types of businesses, but the best is yet to come. The time-terse public, for some reason, is willing to spend ten minutes at the kiosk rather than wait three minutes in a line. A customer we talked to who was using a Department of Motor Vehicle self-service kiosk best summed up this scenario in two words: "Screw humans!"
8. After Hours Service
So you're open 9-5, but what about the other sixteen hours in the day? Unattended after-hours kiosks will be that extra employee you always wanted, but couldn't afford for $35k a year. We're seeing interactive, self-service kiosks popping up everywhere from storage rental facilities to touch-through-glass window-shopping. If staying open when you're closed is ever going to become a fad, we think it's going to happen in 2004.
Posted by richard ting at January 15, 2004, 11:38 AM
January 13, 2004
BIX: Info Display + Architecure
The Kunsthauz art museum in Graz, Austria is employing an interesting fusion of display technology and architecture.
BIX is a field of 930 standard, circular fluorescent light tubes which is integrated into the biomorphic facade structure of the new Kunsthaus. All the lights can be controlled individually via a computer controlled data-bus system - i.e. the lights can be switched on and off and the light intensity can be changed at an infinite variability 18 times per second.
In this way the installation transforms the eastern main facade of the Kunsthaus into an approximately 45 meter wide and 20 meter high low-resolution gray scale display which is highly integrated into the complex double-curved facade structure.
Simple messages, icons and animations are send out into the city of Graz, becoming a unique artistic message format for the new kunsthaus.
See the live webcam looking at it's facade.
The Bix installation in the Kunsthaus Graz was designed by a company called Realities:Unite (the brothers Tim and Jan Edler), in Berlin.
Posted by richard ting at January 13, 2004, 03:28 PM
January 07, 2004
InfoDesign: Understanding by Design | Special on R.S. Wurman
Each month, InfoDesign interviews a thought leader in the design industry, focusing on people who are identified with or show strong sensibilities to the design of information and experiences. This month, Dirk Knemeyer interviews Richard Saul Wurman.
Wurman coined the term 'information architecture' almost 30 years ago. While 'information architecture' has a different connotation today, for the purposes of this interview, it is treated as synonymous with 'information design'.
Posted by richard ting at January 07, 2004, 10:39 PM
Shocking Roulette Game
Feel The Fear! Fear isn't the only thing you'll feel when you play this exciting game of chance. It's truly electrifying! Select the number of players, put your finger in one of the four slots, and let it 'spin.' Lights and sounds start out fast and gradually slow down (just like a roulette wheel) to prolong the tension. When the sound stops, someone gets the shock of their life -- and everyone else gets a big laugh!
Carlos was right. Rise of pain indeed. Found via boingboing.
Posted by richard ting at January 07, 2004, 10:27 PM
January 06, 2004
Midwizest
details here : http://www.midwizest.com
or read this fun filled description:
mid-wiz-est
jan 9 - feb 11
stay gold gallery
451 grand street
brooklyn
Opening Reception
Friday, January 9, 2004 / 7pm-12am
A collective of established and up-and-coming artists will be graphcally exploring their interpretations of the Midwest. As a highly under-rated part of the hip hop culture and design world, the Midwest is thriving with talent that does not have the direct opportunity, outside of the world-wide web, to be exposed to the culture of the coasts.
This show will be an opportunity for these artists to gain exposure outside of their immediate environment. Each artist will create an individual interpretation using any medium and application. All artists have roots in the Midwest and a range of styles from graffiti art to experimental web based design. Included will be a performance by a group of Chicago based MC's and DJ's.
Posted by richard ting at January 06, 2004, 10:57 AM
January 02, 2004
NBA Blog Squad
Welcome to the NBA Blog Squad, a varied collection of insiders, media members and fans from around the world who will share their thoughts about the NBA, WNBA, and whatever else comes to mind on an ongoing basis in online journals - or 'blogs' - right here on NBA.com.
