David Merrill Welcome to my list of interesting projects, people, resources, and other useful stuff. If you have a site that you think ought to be in my list, or you find that one my my links has broken, please send me an email . I can't promise to post everything that I'm sent, but if it's cool, chances are good that I will add it to my list. Kiva is a micro-finance nonprofit organization founded by my good friends Matt and Jessica Flannery. Blogs by makers Make blog C. Brandon Stafford Kits for building hardware/software interactions Make Magazine's list of open source hardware -- lots of great stuff! Arduino - A hardware platform that implements the processing/wiring language Wiring - A hardware platform build to work like Processing Phidgets - cool USB-compatible hardware modules (sensors, actuators, drivers, displays, etc..) for projects. BlueSense - hardware interface boards, and a standalone pd-running box . Music Controllers and Music Tech (under construction) the Vocaloid by Yamaha MusicXML linux CNC
Trapped Girls Updated Facebook Status Instead of Calling For Hel Too much social media can be a bad thing. Two girls lost in a stormwater drain in Adelaide, Australia, updated their Facebook status instead of calling emergency services on Sunday night, in a situation authorities called “worrying”. It’s not clear how much danger the 10- and 12-year old girls were in: Australia’s ABCNews describes them as both “lost” and “trapped”, but it’s possible that they felt no imminent danger. Nonetheless, the Metropolitan Fire Service expressed concern that the youngsters, equipped with phones, would raise the alarm on Facebook rather than calling 000, the Australian equivalent of 911: The 10- and 12-year-old girls updated a Facebook status to say they were lost in a drain on Honeypot Road at Hackham in Adelaide’s southern suburbs on Sunday night. Glenn Benham from the MFS says it was fortunate a young friend was online at the time and was able to call for help for them.
10+ virtual reality apps transforming education – Haptical Recent reports indicate, by 2025 virtual reality will mostly disrupt the video game industry followed by health care, live events and engineering. However, there is one other area that may have the most pervasive impact; education. VR can provide low-cost, low-risk and effective methods of training that all industries may benefit. Thinglink — Virtual reality lessons VR Lessons by ThingLink is a collection of interactive images and videos on a variety of topics including science, language, and arts. Through the app, students are shown different places like French Alps, the archipelago of northern Australia, a Norwegian tundra or a cold winter forest in Finland. Titans of Space — A tour around the universe Titans of Space is an experience that takes the user for a virtual tour around the planets and earth. Egyptian Mysteries — Explore the ancient Egypt As you may guess from the title, Egyptian Mysteries is a game that teaches users about the ancient Egypt. Woofbert — Art virtually anywhere
40 Helpful Resources On User Interface Design Patterns - Smashing Magazine Advertisement If there is a commonly reoccurring need for a particular solution, there is a great probability that someone has – by now – solved that need and has finished the legwork involved in researching and constructing something that resolves it. At the very least, you will find documentation on general solutions to related problems that will enable you to gain insight on best practices, effective techniques, and real-world examples on the thing you are creating. A design pattern refers to a reusable and applicable solution to general real-world problems. For example, a solution for navigating around a website is site navigation (a list of links that point to different sections of the site), a solution for displaying content in a compact space are module tabs. There are many ways to tackle a specific requirement – and as a designer – the most important thing you can do is selecting the option that best reflects the needs of your users. Yahoo! Flickr Collections and Groups
Home The Laws of Simplicity Featured Events | AltspaceVR | AltspaceVR Attend these events in AltspaceVR Welcome to AltspaceVR! Meet other new users and ask the helpful AltspaceVR Concierge any questions you have. Calling all Audio Engineers, Sound Designers, Musicians, and Gear Gurus alike! The Sound Hour: Audio Meetup Wednesday, November 16th Curious about what sorts of things you can do and how to use AltspaceVR? AltspaceVR Tour Starts in about 1 hour It's like geeks and artists got together and had babies, and "Chew on This Storytelling" was the result. AltspaceVR presents Chew on This Storytelling Come Play Dungeons and Dragons with us! Chase's Dungeons and Dragons Bonanza Thursday, November 17th Starts in about 23 hours Echo Space veteran, Just Jovanni, is joined by his partner in crime, Dymonds, to form the ultimate duo for rocking The Spire. Echo Space: Champagne Syndicate Starts in 1 day A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the crewed Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station with members of the next Expedition crew. Starts in 2 days
12 Standard Screen Patterns 2010 Update- 15 patterns and 80 new examples By Theresa Neil As Bill mentioned in an earlier post, we don’t want to limit this blog to just the principles and patterns found in the book. For that you can check out our Explore the Book section. This is the first article in a three part series. With more companies turning to RIA frameworks for enterprise software development, these screen patterns are indispensable for product managers, UX designers, information architects, interaction designers and developers. 01. Master/Detail screen pattern can be vertical or horizontal. 02. The Browse screen pattern can be vertical or horizontal. 03. The Search screen pattern can range from very simple to quite advanced. 04. The Filter Dataset screen pattern can be vertical or horizontal. 05. All Form screens should be approached with a solid understanding of usability and design best practices. 06. 07. 08. 09. 10. 11. 12. Bonus. Missing Patterns? References
HCI Degree Programs - Resources The following North American programs offer graduate training in human-computer interaction or software ergonomics. (There are other types of human factors/ergonomics programs as well; these are not listed.) If you know of any errors or omissions, please let us know. Another great list of graduate programs and undergraduate programs in Human Computer Interaction is available from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Which is more appropriate for me — an HCI degree or HFI certification? If you are already a praciticing UX professional, then HFI certification can help advance your career.
Research Groups and Projects Each Media Lab faculty member and senior research scientist leads a research group that includes a number of graduate student researchers and often involves undergraduate researchers. How new technologies can help people better communicate, understand, and respond to affective information. How technology can be used to enhance human physical capability. How to create new ways to capture and share visual information. How new strategies for architectural design, mobility systems, and networked intelligence can make possible dynamic, evolving places that respond to the complexities of life.
Mobile VR and the Web (which is already mobile) - 3dspace If 87% of VR headsets in consumers’ hands (or on their heads) are mobile VR – then the experiences we create will have to give good UX on mobile VR. I’m a web guy, and I’m fascinated by the onset of VR. And as a web guy, I’m convinced that mobile VR will be essential to the 3D web. I was considering picking up some of the high-end VR goggles and experimenting with technologies like WebVR. Trouble is, the high-end ones need a heavy-duty computer to even function. The “easy way” to get into VR these days is with mobile VR. Based on a number of factors, I’ve decided to take the plunge into mobile VR, and leave that high-end stuff alone for now. First up – the web is already mobile. But here’s the kicker: Mobile VR headsets are projected to account for 87% of headset deliveries in the near future. We hear a great deal about the debut of the big non-mobile VR rigs these days – and fair enough. Author: Pete