(Tsutomu Mutoh, Researcher at the International Media Research Foundation)

In his collective work, “Cathedrale de Rouen”, Monet captures the effect of changing light conditions on the same scene. Citing this work as the main influence for this project, Mutoh purposefully takes the concept one step further to manipulate our perception of colour in a controlled environment. The result is a visually compelling interactive piece that appeals to all.

Imagine four opaque, freestanding, barbell-like instruments arranged equidistantly from each other and partially enclosed in a three-sided room. Each are weighted such that the instruments return to their original, upright positions in an inverted, pendulous manner.

When interacted with, the instruments are meant to look like “…globes emitting color…floating and flying in the dark.” A three-axes acceleration sensor embedded in each bottom-weighted globe detects the motion of the top globes. The data generated is input into an “Optical Tone Algorithm” which determines the LED colour output of the top globes. Rotation adjusts hue, whereas swing adjusts brightness.

Each wall has a different pattern in a colour composition determined by the algorithm. The wall colour changes wherever light hits it and is determined by the colour of the light emitted by the globe and the wall’s pattern.

Slightly confusing? Just look at the pictures here.

It’s been an exciting and busy fall at the mod7 studio. So we took some time out to let our hair down with our 2008 Mod7 Holiday E-Card. We worked hard, cutting cardboard and gluing together this simple holiday diorama for your viewing pleasure. We hope you enjoy it!

Have a happy holiday season and best wishes for 2009 from everyone at mod7.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 described its Emerging Technologies showcase as “…interactive, mind-expanding explorations in virtual and mixed reality, haptic interfaces, ubiquitous systems, digital tools, HD displays, robotics, and more.”

Two installations translated from interesting program summaries to downright mind-blowing physical manifestations. I describe the first here. For more details, check out their website.
“An Augmented Tabletop Video Game with Pinching Gesture Recognition”
(Contributors: Kentaro Fukuchi - Japan Science and Technology Agency; Toshiki Sato, Haruko Mamiya, Hideki Koike - The University of Electro-Communications)

On approach, it looks like an average air hockey table, but this is where the similarities end. The table surface functions as an interactive video game display, wherein the game objective is to shoot little solid circles before advancing to the “big boss” circle. A high-speed camera positioned above the table registers the circle created when a user touches thumb and forefinger together over the table surface. The system then generates a hollow circle for the user to shoot with. The motions are intuitive and simply brilliant - after creating the “weapon”, the user shoots by tapping (”pinching”) thumb and forefinger together and is easily able to control the speed and direction of shooting. The best part? Any number of people can join in. Each person can create two weapons (or four, if you have amazing toe control). How cool is that?

• Jetstream, Leisure & Entertainment - Leader Award
• Exploration Production, B2B Service - Innovator Award

• Business-to-Business: Shift Control
• Self-Promotion: Shift Control
• Entertainment, Arts & Tourism: Jetstream Online
• Education/Reference: BCDF Calcium Calculator

Northern Israel Small Business Documentary, Charitable Organizations/Nonprofit - Gold
Jerde Partnership, Professional Services - Silver
Jetstream, Television - Silver
Shift Control Media, Corporate Communications - Silver

• Shift Control Media Site, Experimental category
• IEC Small Business Documentary, Non-Profit category
• Jetstream, TV category

Wish us luck! And don’t forget to cast your votes for People’s Champ!

A great place to go to see where the bar is set.
http://www.designcharts.com/

This is one of the best (if not the best) resources I’ve seen on visualizing data. Not only does the site collect and display innovative visualizations, it has lots of content on how to create them as well.
Have a look see http://flowingdata.com/
 

It’s 3am in Seattle. I have just returned from a day and night out meeting the ’movers and shakers’ at Seattle’s Casual Connect Games Conference. Attended this year by over 3000 professionals, a whole lot of busy people from such companies as Sandlot games; Play First; Microsoft Casual Games; EA’s Pogo ; Iwin and Big Fish Games (to name a few companies) have converged on Benaroya Hall to discuss the future of casual gaming. And how does the future look? According to the Casual Games Association, the industry which was reported to have represented 2 billion dollars in revenue in 2007 looks not just bright, but optimistically stellar! In fact, projected earnings alone have been estimated this year to represent an overall increase of 20% from 2007!Furthermore, it was noted that innovations in platforms and gameplay including the hugely popular Nintendo WII, mobile, Nintendo DS as well as new experiences represented by games such as “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” have brought “casual” games to a whole new audience hungry for fun and engaging experiences! And that means of course that ‘casual’ games are becoming more and more ubiquitous with each passing year.

The Casual Connect Conference began with a good start expounding new ways of thinking in a field ready to pounce on innovative approaches. In this hodge-podge of emerging talent and business models, new deals that will revolution game play as we know it are as I’ve come to witness, already in the works!

1. The IEC Small Business Site, Award of Excellence, Structure and Navigation category and Award of Distinction, Non-Profit and Education categories.
2. Israel: Packed with Experience, Award of Excellence, Rich Media Business to Consumer category and Award of Distinction, Email and Viral Marketing categories.
3. The Shift Control Media Site, Award of Distinction, Corporate Communications, Games, and Professional categories.
4. The Vidfest 2007 website, Award of Distinction, Visual Appeal category.
5. The Jerde Partnership Site, Award of Distinction, Professional Services category.
6. The mod7 Demo Reel 2005, Award of Distinction, Self-Promotion and Music categories.