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We’re working a couple new projects focused on gestural and touch UI at RDVO. Some of our work may be applied to future Microsoft Surface table applications. We’ve found that actually procuring a Surface isn’t easy, so in its absence we developed a cool simulator using projectors and sensors we had lying around. Works pretty good, too.
Click on the image below to see a larger version.
I spent a day with the winemakers at Pax Wines in Sonoma. RDVO is helping them develop a new website and online marketing strategy.
It’s amazing to watch wine being made. The process is fascinating –a combination of chemistry, botany, elbow grease, and classic taste-and-feel. Below are a few shots taken “behind the scenes.”
Pax logo on the grape bins
Many wines were sampled over the course of the day
The first press is done the old-school style
Head winemaker Tyler Thomas
Testing wine right from the press
I’m now somewhat fascinated with winemaking…wondering if I can get a barrel or two in my condo…
I’d like to introduce Mr. Lizzo, RDVO’s official mascot and office pet.
We found him in the office a few weeks ago. It appears he stowed a ride on some tropical plants we recently bought. He likes to eat spiders sit motionless on rocks for hours.
He also has his own website.
Remember the futuristic user interfaces used by Tom Cruise’s character in Minority Report? He was able to interact with the system and manipulate data through hand motions. This user interface technique is known as gesture recognition and is one of a number of emerging new computer-human interaction models.
Gestural recognition allows users to interact with a system without providing a direct input like a tap or click. The system recognizes hand movements and other signals and responds accordingly. Combinations of gestures (or a gestural system not unlike sign language) could be used to interact at much higher speeds than current interface techniques. It’s not a stretch to imagine gestural UI systems that adapt and personalize to a user’s specific gestural mannerisms. When combined with voice recognition, gestural UI will create new paradigms for computer/human interactions that could revolutionize how we interface with machines.
And we’re not that far away…
Gestural UIs are already out there in rudimentary form and are evolving at frighteningly fast rate:
I expect we’ll see more and more applications and prototypes emerge in the next few years.
When Minority Report came out in 2002 the technologies it envisioned seemed far off. Gestural UIs were only one example—the film showed paper-thin LCDs, personalized ad displays, and 3-D imaging. With advances in materials and processors we may see these technologies a lot sooner than we think.
I recently noticed that my monthly pending on iTunes has spiked to over $30.00—more than double than my previous monthly average. Not surprisingly, the increase correlates precisely with the time I’ve owned an iPhone.
If that wasn’t enough, I also noticed that there was a 3X increase in the number of purchases in July and August. I’m usually careful about my spending and I didn’t notice any real additional spending; the iPhone’s purchasing experience is dastardly clean and effortless.
Is this common among new iPhone owners? Apple has been vague about the amount of profit made from iTunes—mostly due to scrutiny from the entertainment industry. If you look at their Q308 financials, they indicate a 35% over the year in “Other Music Related Products and Services.” I’ll be interested to see if the numbers increase in Q408 with more iPhone 3G users.
I may be an anomoly, but it’s clear that the iPhone makes it much easier (and transparent) to purchase from iTunes, and I’m curious to see if this becomes a real boon to iTunes.