Posts Tagged ‘HCI’

Digital Video Illumination

// May 31st, 2011 // No Comments » // Networking, opencv, Technology, Thirdimension

Recently I got a wonderful opportunity to work with FreidchWood Theatres group at UBC to work in their latest innovation named “Digital Video Illumination”. The objective of this project is to create a modular framework for people from non-technical background to create content on the fly for 8-12 different project, and all of them synced together with monitoring system so that previewing and creation of content becomes easier. Currently we are going through Design and Research phase, I have started working on setting up basic framework. With all legalities dealt within upcoming months, this project will be open-sourced on Github. Yes Developing for the world and with the world. I must say I love open source communities and it is always a pleasure giving something valuable back to community. Sounds like some sort of tech governance, whatever it may be, its good.

I am working with Robert Gardiner the head the theatre mentioned above and here is a glimpse of what he thinks can be done. The applications of this project are quiet wide open interms of what you may do with it, every abstract innovation has it and I see this project along similar lines. Apart from theatres I can also think of huge installations for which it has good use. Especially when it will have added element of interactive with various sensors/cameras later on.

Peace  >:D<
Dhruv

Visiting MIT Media Labs

// January 6th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // antarikShamM, MIT, Technology, Thirdimension

I was recently given opportunity to visit MIT media labs and also present the work
we do at Dsign Labs. Nearly 80 prospective students and several industry guests
are allowed to visit the labs in a year. My visit was for 3.5 days and fortunately I could stay
at Seth Hunters place during my visit. Seth Hunter is 2nd year PHD student for
fluid interfaces group at Media labs.

Structuring of Media labs comes very close to SIAT research labs. The only difference
that I found between SIAT research labs and MIT media labs is that of focus.
While SIAT focuses more on content side, Media labs focuses more on interface side. Their internal
culture amongst faculty and student is similar to GNWC as well. At media labs they have
masters and PHD program in the field of media arts and sciences. That means it is
highly interdisciplinary course. Many of the known programs like processing, scratch,
open frameworks were the work of this lab.

They have several groups which focus on the given set of problems. For example,
Object Based Media group focuses on interface related to various objects in our
day to day life. Tangible media group focuses on everything that is tangible and how
that tangible thing can be used to represent relevant digital information.

Because of Seth Hunter, I got a very good tour of MIT media labs and Boston at large.I actually felt
at home as we do similar work at Dsign labs in the field of machine vision based interfaces.

I primarily met with 3 professors; Henry Holtzman of Information Ecology Group, Pattie
Maes of Fluid Intefaces group and Micheal Boey of Object Based Media Group. And all
were quite impressed with our work at Dsign labs. Some of them found our ways of
reaching out to people through interface a unique approach and strong philosophy.

Along with professors, I met around 15 students and they all spent a good deal of time
to explain me what they had worked on and about their current projects. From them, I came
to know about one more similarity with GNWC and that industry guests and affiliates. They very
much encourage a hacking and practical culture. They often have industry guests visiting and
sponsoring the projects. In this way students are not only able to think in terms of innovation but
also in terms of its usability in the relevant market and commercializing their products.

All in all I found I was back to GNWC and SIAT Research Labs in many ways.

Organic media – THE WAY FOR HCI

// May 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // antarikShamM, Biomimicry, organic media, Thirdimension

As I talked about Organic media in my last post, What is that organic media has to offer that HCI of today lacks? I think most of the HCI lacks HHI. HHI means Human Human Interactions. HCI brings all the wonderful interactions of providing information just in time with seamless gestures which are so easy to use by any layman.

On the other hand what it lacks is, the consequences of the interaction. What is the takeaway from the interaction? Yes information, maybe not health, maybe not inner joy.

I think of organic interactions in which interactions are answered for the inner world. I think of interactions through computer which would better help human human interactions. I think organic media will help us answer when the technology be used? is it really necessary in time?

There are many questions and its answers which I am after. Its a wonderful journey of interactions when I think of both HCI and organic media and how they are connected or how they can be?