Category Archives: Design

Oliver’s Simple Fluid Dynamics Generator

June 10, 2009

God damn this is cool. Click and drag in the black square to make the magic happen. Works best in the smokin’ Safari 4.0, because this beast is heavy on the Javascript. In any other browser you’ll wonder what in the hell I’m gettin’ so worked up about.

Stuff like this just feeds my existing obsession with introducing deliberate thought and consideration into the texture and materiality of our digital interfaces. Seriously, computer interaction that exhibits natural physical properties, either felt, observed or otherwise perceived, really gets my blood going.

fluid-dynamics

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Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

June 9, 2009

I started using Safari 4.0 yesterday, and I like what I see so far. The new Javascript interpreter is fast. The controls for Google Maps are so quick they’re frightening. Just try using your scroll wheel (or two-finger gesture on the trackpad of your new non-removable-battery MacBook Pro) to zoom in. If there’s a faster way to reach the surface of the earth from space, I’m sure Burt Rutan is working on it.

Err, the opposite, I’m sure he’s working on the opposite. Sheesh.

Anyway, I will leave you with the coolest, blockiest typeface I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, check out these titles:

Golden Gate Bridge Plaque

Beautiful. Let’s get a little closer, shall we?

PAST OFFICERS, PAST DIRECTORS

And once more, for the people in the balcony:

DIRECTORS detail

Man.

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Sublety and Nuance in Physical Interaction

June 5, 2009

I had a great conversation during tea time at Adaptive Path this evening with Jesse James Garrett, about the role of subtlety and nuance in physical interaction design. Central to the conversation was Microsoft’s Project Natal, an upcoming system for the Xbox 360 that lets you use your full body to control games.

While large motions, like punching and kicking the air, make for an impressive flourish, it’s interesting to consider what a system like this would look like in a few years, as it becomes increasingly fine-tuned. What if it knows where each one of my fingers is, like a musical instrument? What kind of interactive applications could this have in a non-game environment? Or, as Jesse mused, how can we learn from gaming to bring more game-related themes, from the concept of play to the interactive vocabularies we establish therein, into everyday computer-mediated interactions?

Part of Jesse’s work on the Ajax approach to web development was based on a desire to make web interactions feel more game-like in nature. Before we had instant asynchronous updates, whether backed by XML or not, the web had a distinctly evaluative feel to it. The cost of submitting web input was high, as it resulted in a long pause before I would know whether or not my submission had been accepted. Games typically offer instantaneous feedback and so this delayed, high-cost transaction felt more like taking an exam than playing a game. Thus, the web-two-point-oh-social-media-user-generated-content revolution is not about Ajax or Prototype or Scriptaculous or jQuery or MooTools, but about removing the barriers of time and cost previously associated with contributing to the web.

And so, with sophisticated physical input devices on the horizon, how can we use the most familiar input devices ever, our own bodies, to enhance our computer-mediated experiences? Further, given the fine-grained control we have over our physical selves, how can we draw on the rich human tradition of having a body and allow people to interact with a system in a more subtle and nuanced manner?

Just something I’m pondering.

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Tactile

June 3, 2009

This morning I learned that I might need to start dosing myself with caffeine before starting my daily bicycle commute. While traveling in a pack of bike commuters I realized I was pretty zoned out, which isn’t exactly the safest thing when biking in traffic. Things can turn gnarly in an instant, and it’s imperative that I stay in tune with my surroundings.

Nevertheless, I have learned a few things. While the working-class Mission hipsters like myself typically commute to downtown on Harrison, the hipster-class Mission hipsters commute on Valencia. Truly, the flow of bicyclists represent two totally different demographics depending on what street you take.

Tonight Chris and I grabbed some falafel goodness at Ali Baba’s Cave, and took in a late showing of Pixar’s Up, which was surreal, touching and absolutely beautiful. The story was heartfelt and lovely, and I couldn’t stop geeking out over the texture of everything. From paper to glass to fabrics to embroidery, everything had this complex richness to it that made it believably tactile. Incredible.

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Fainting Spells

June 1, 2009

Kate is back from her canoe trip, which proved to be a frigid paddle through the arctic wastes of northern Minnesota. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the ethereal orange glow of a fogged-in city.

Today was my first day at Adaptive Path, and I’m likin’ what I see so far. There’s a lot of stuff goin’ on in that space, and while we spent most of the day getting settled in with online accounts and paperwork and other necessary features of orientation, I can’t wait to start digging into some work with these fine, talented folk. I’ve been getting caught up on all of the projects going on around me, and tomorrow my own project should finally condense out of the vaporous mists of ambiguity.

Whiteboards and markers, Post-It notes and sharpies, pencil sketches and Photoshop mockups and Keynote presentations, these are all the units of thought at work. Projects take over entire rooms, with ad hoc affinity diagrams and screen printouts for use scenarios covering the walls.

Any sane person would balk at such apparent chaos, but a true interaction designer would no doubt swoon upon entering the AP office. There is indeed a madness to the method, and I can’t wait to completely throw myself into the arms of the process.

Also posted in Interaction, Work | Comments (2)

Imperative

May 30, 2009

Drew and Daniela dropped by for dinner this evening on their mystical journey through the American West, and we had a delicious and rowdy time at the Velvet Cantina. I also had a long and wonderful conversation with Sally tonight about life, interaction design, freelancing, the underlying philosophies of biking, and the obvious moral imperative that Jake and I start a business together and call it Unstoppable Force.

Today I went to Maker Faire down in San Mateo, which was full of awesome stuff that awesome people built that was awesome. This also allowed me the opportunity to see some real life steampunks, who otherwise don’t have a whole lot to do during the other 357 days of the year that aren’t Burning Man.

Steampunk Keyboard

I do enjoy the aesthetic of steam punk, however, as I love wood, brass, cogs and springs as much as I love lavish Victorian elegance. Oh yes, and goggles. Always with the brass goggles.

Here is something that is on fire (that is presumably supposed to be on fire):

Pnuema Fire Sculpture

And this is the walking robotic version of President Barack Obama, inexplicably welded to a chariot and carrying an American flag:

Walking Obama Bot

Also, you may be interested in these videos, which depict events that happened days ago and thus would be considered historic artifacts by today’s standards.

Here Josh gives us bold statements regarding his surfing proficiencies:

Here an angry pack of gulls attack a wetsuited fellow, but only if you have no depth perception and believe that everything that happens in front of your eyes happens in only two dimensions:

And finally, here is the welcoming parade that the city of San Francisco was kind enough to throw in my honor:

Also posted in Life, San Francisco | Comments (1)

Every man has his limits.

May 28, 2009

My grandiose plans for the day were aborted this morning when I locked myself out of the house. Our flat is on the third floor so squeezing through a window was out of the question, and after hopping our 15-foot gate and squeezing through its greedy wrought iron spikes I discovered that yes, the back door was locked as well. I took the BART into downtown so I could grab my roommate’s keys, and by the time I had sorted myself out of my little predicament it was too late to leave on my prescribed bike ride.

Oh well.

This evening I went to Adaptive Path to learn about Mobile Literacy, a research and design project where they traveled to rural India to understand how illiterate users interact with mobile technology. It’s a fascinating project, with strong currents of cultural sensitivity, social justice, and the role that empathy should play in design. Their blog continues to reveal further details regarding Mobile Literacy, so it’s worth a look if you’re into this sort of thing.

What’s super cool is that Adaptive Path has released all of their primary research under a Creative Commons license. Research findings, interview videos and transcripts, the whole shebang is open for you to study and pick apart, firsthand.

Their process culminated in two proposed devices. One is the MobilGlyph concept, which aims to make data tangible by sharing it through two-dimensional bar codes, similar to Cheng Fan’s wayshowing work last semester. The other is the Steampunk concept, which aims to make the functions of the phone as physical as possible, granting them affordances that invite dismantling and tinkering.

Finally, it’s been nearly five years but it still rings true today. Jeffrey Veen is still larger in life than he is in legend. We are lucky that he is such a kind and gentle soul, because he could very well crush every last one of us. Fortunately, instead of scheming how easily he could mash humanity into a fine paste, he directs his energies into building amazing things like Typekit, which stands to revolutionize how you use typefaces (or “fonts”, for those of you who aren’t an insufferable snob like myself) on the web.

Yes, Jeff is a benevolent giant, but I am a man of small stature and predictable bitterness. Thus I will use these newly found typographical powers only for evil, blanketing the landscape with cruel renderings of Papyrus, Hobo and Copperplate.

But not Comic Sans. No one would dare go that far.

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Genius Often Has Trouble Buttoning Its Own Shirt

May 21, 2009

My father just finished washing the car, and now he’s drying it off with the leaf blower. I don’t know whether to commend him on his brilliance, or curse him senile and sentence him to a home.

Also posted in Culture, Life | Comments Off on Genius Often Has Trouble Buttoning Its Own Shirt

JJ Abrams Is All Over The New Star Trek Movie

May 8, 2009

And the world is a better place for it.

  • Location names are set in Futura. Come to think of it, Futura is all over the place.
  • They discuss “Slusho” in the bar at the beginning of the movie.
  • I swear one of the doctors who delivered James Kirk was the scientist from the Dharma Initiative videos in Lost.
  • Angry ice world beast thing looks like a puppy version of the Cloverfield angry beast thing.
  • Time travel.
  • Movie totally kicked ass and I want to see it again.
  • And again and again.
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Freshening up my sewing skills.

May 5, 2009

You *wish* you were bookbinding.

That’s right, you wish you were bookbinding tonight.

Also posted in School | Comments (2)